Whoops, I Think I Overfed Them!

[ccskitten]

Hello

In my tank I have

9 platys
2 rainbow fish
1 chinese algea eater
2 bristle nose plecs

Yesterday I bought 7 mollies (I know its a lot in one go but the were buy 6 get one free!)

As a treat I gave them some blood worm today. I normally defrost half a cube but seeing as there were 7 new additions I did a whole one. I always add a few at a time so that they don't sink to the bottom and everyone seemed to have thier fair share alothough the mollies were a bit slow.

Anyway my platys have been a bit of a pig and 3 or 4 of them are hanging around at the surface by the filter with the hugest bellies. I obviously overfed them. Do you think they will be alright? Shall I just leave them for a few days and then give them some cooked, shelled peas if they look like they are struggling??

I have tested water and got Amonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10 but changed 10% of the water just incase they are not coping with the addition of the mollies (last change was 25% Tuesday).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cindy

 

[Truck]

there stomachs will soon reduce in size, but bloatation and constipation are a sign of over feeding, stick to half a cube.

shelled peas may help but i wouldnt yet.

 

[minxfishy]

Doesnt sound like too much to me, platies are piggies (least mine are), Im sure they are just feeling fat and full and it will go thru them pretty quickly, if they do seem stuffed still tomorrow, yes try some cooked shelled peas, but Im sure they will be ok.

 

[Neon.Tetra]

Just remember, fish don't often know when to stop eating. They don't get the size meals we give them in aquariums! Hope your fish recover well!

 

[Chris&Phia]

I occasionally give my guppies frozen blood worm and they did exactly what your fish did! they ate them all and were slower in swimming and had very full bellies but after theyd pooed it all out they were perfectly fine afterwards! I don't think it'll be too much to worry about!

Phia.

 

[Tolak]

Bloodworms are a protein heavy food, as a matter of practice I fast for 24 hours after feeding bloodworms. Don't feed them for a few days, peas are a great idea after that.

I don't feed my fish bloodworms but twice a month, it seems a more frequent diet does lead to constipation, bloat, and other related problems. Omnivores such as platys have a longer digestive tract, vegitarians such as many plecs have an even longer one. This means food takes a little longer to digest, and can actually rot inside of them, creating some serious problems. Bloodworms on occasion are fine for platys, but should be considered more of a treat than a staple of their diet.