Someone has recommended that i feed my tropical fish every 2 days....when i do they r always starving hungry.?

Question

.is this normal ??

Answer 1

ONCE EVERY TWO DAYS??? Who ever told you that know'as nothing about tropical fish. I feed my angelfish 3 times a day and a variety of food's. My fry even eat as much as 6 time's a day when they are very young and in a critical stage. Twice a day is a good plan to stick by. Try feeding them something other them flake food if you don't alrighty to, like Bloodworm's, Brine shrimp, BBS(baby brine shrimp)for baby fish, beef heart(its messy if you make your own mix and you have to know how lol).You can find all but the beef heart at your local pet store or online if you want. Those are some of the best foods. Throw flakes in once a day and lets say Brine shrimp the other meal and your fish will be happy.


EDIT: 2 Thumbs down huh, You people have no clue!!!

Answer 2

You can get by with feeding them less often, but twice a day is good enough generally, and 3 times a day is great. Consider feeding habits in the wild. Some fish will eat constantly throughout the day, others won't feed at certain times (like catfish), and some may not eat for months, possibly years (lungfish in "hibernation").
Feeding only every other day will NOT starve your fish.

Answer 3

In my experience I have found feeding once at night to be preferable.( I keep tropical fish - balloon mollies, guppies, platys, various catfish one of which is now six inches long, head & tail lights, various tetras. )

I have found that they like to much the plants anyway, but feeding once a day stops any nipping from the larger ones. I also feed mosquito larvae occasionally. I have a few babies in there that disappear if I dont feed often enough. Having said that if I miss the odd day it does not seem detrimental although I would then feed early the next day.

I agree that water quality can suffer. I change the water periodically, I never change the water completely, I do not put in additives, and If I have a problem with one of the fish I remove it to treat it.

I would consider myself to be a novice, however my tank has been a happier thriving tank with less deaths that it was when I went 'by the book'. Its about a year old now.

I would suggest trial and error to find what suits you. Good luck (-:

Answer 4

It depends if your tropical fish are herbivore or carnivorous. Herbivores, such as goldfish, can be feed twice daily, very limited amount, and daily. They require more food simply because being feed every second day, the won't have enough energy. Omnivores/carnivores can be feed every second day, and be perfectly healthy.
The reason fish tend to always look starving hungry is because they haven't evolve enough to realize that food will always be there, whether it's daily or every second day, so their mentality is that they have to stuff themselves full of whatever food they can get as often as possible.
The important thing is to feed your fish the proper food. Herbivores need food low in protein and high in fiber, otherwise the food can rot in their tract and they can become ill or die; this is especially important for goldfish. Carnivores/omnivores require more protein in their diet.

Answer 5

The most common cause of death for pet fish is overfeeding. Fish don't get fat - they pass excess nutrients out into the water, and the water gets fouled. They are slowly poisoned to death. Owners want to feed fish too much for emotional reasons. We think it's cruel to feed them "too little" or "too infrequently," when in fact it's better to underfeed than overfeed. Also, feeding is about the only time when we can interact with our fish, so we like doing it. But it is not necessarily good for THEM.

In the wild, fish do not necessarily eat every day. They will eat when they can find food. And they live in lakes and streams where the water is constantly being changed out, so that even if they do overfeed, they are not stuck in toxic water.

As a previous poster said, they have very slow metabolisms, and feeding every other day is fine.

Answer 6

Fish are opportunistic eaters and always look like they are starving. You can feed a fish until it looks so fat it is in danger of exploding and if you put a nice yummy bloodworm into the tank it will still race for it and slurp it up like it hasn't been fed in a week!

Most tropical fish can safely go up to a week without being fed without any ill effects. Healthy adult guppies can go two weeks without starving, fry can go for a week, although this will stunt their growth. If you have a well established, cycled tank with plants in it, you are not actually starving your fish as they can pick at bits of algae and microscopic organisms growing in the tank water to eat. By feeding them every other day you are not actually making them go without food, you are just making them hunt for their own food in the tank. Think of it like making them eat their veggies and clean their room. They might not like it as well as having the yummy stuff fed to them, but it won't hurt them a bit and is good for them.

If you are very good about the amount you feed your fish, feeding them a very small amount twice a day is also perfectly healthy, but skipping at least one day a week is always a good idea. Most tropical fish keepers who know their stuff have a once a week "fast day" for their fish. Far more fish die from overfeeding than from starvation.

Answer 7

I have got a fish pond too but i don't have time to feed them daily i do feed them only once a week but my pond is a natural pond there worms arround which i think they get into the pond and fish feed on to them. Please tell if i feed like this how long will my fish take to be havested/ thanks Send answer to my email [e-mail]

Answer 8

Wow we got a lot of opposing ideas on here so i guess this doesnt leave you with any solid information LOL!
Fish eat because without food they will not be able to produce enough energy to perform automatic body functions such as heartbeat. Just like you they breakdown the food in the digestive system to produce energy by glycolysis. This is where the use glucose to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to provide them the energy to perform these automatic body functions. Fish don't need to eat as much because they are cold blooded so they don't need as much ATP to be used to regulate body temperature. Aside from excess food that just sinks to the bottom of the tank and decays, overfeeding will also cause excess waste produce by the fish. The body will take what it needs and all extra will be passed out as waste. That is why overfeeding really leads to poor water quality.
Since fish are cold blooded, this is the reason that tropicals need a heater. They need the warm climates to maintain body temperature in order to metabolize food and other such process that body temperature would play a factor in. Think of ATP as potential energy not kinetic. Therefore it can be stored for later use.

Since warmblooded animals use a lot of energy (ATP) just to maintain body temperature they have a higher demand for food which is where they get the glucose to breakdown into ATP. Warmblooded animals i believe use around 25% of all ATP synthesis just for body temperature regulation. (I'd have to check that percentage it's been awhile since bio class!)

Since coldblooded animals will synthesize ATP in the same fashion they in turn have all this excess ATP which can be stored for later use because a large sum is not needed for body temperature regulation. This is what enables them to go longer without eating and why its ok to not feed your fish at all if you go away for a week or so on vacation. So feeding every other day would not be harmful to the fish. The fact is we see them as pets and we like to spoil our pets. Hope this clears the air on the subject and feel free to email me with any other questions.
This is a basic overview there is more to it but for all intents and purposes i want kill you with crazy details!LOL

Answer 9

I think fish are always going to appear starving or hungry... You have to consider if it is better for your water to only feed for two days or if it is better for your fish to feed every day.

The only reason I would feed every two days is to improve water quality.

Answer 10

actually fish have extremely slow metabolisms, and they also dont have a receptor in their brain to tell them that they are full, so yes these fish will always appear to be starving. its better to feed them everyother day, but if you wish to feed everyday, just make sure one day is in smaller amounts, and its good to put one day a week, as your fasting day, so your fish can fully digest their food before filling their bellies up again. if you want use 2 days a week, to give them some plant matter (depending on exactly what kind of tropicals you have,) you can use spiralina flakes, or even household foods, such as fresh or frozen pea halves, tiny tiny bits of zucchini, or leafy greens. also you can switch on and off with blood worms, tubafix worms, and brine shrimp. always remember to switch your foods regularly and variety is the key to a healthy fish diet.