Overfeeding?

[mr.bigglesworth]

I feed my four bristlenose plecs 10 algae wafers a day. 5 in the morning and 5 at night. They are 6", 3", 2", 2". Their is no leftover food as far as I know. But highly possible its been swept underneath my lava rocks.

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[rastoma]

10 sure seems excessive. Fish only need to eat once a day. I think 5 covers it. 2 for the 6" and 1 each for the others.

[Ptrick125]

As long as the pleco IS eating them, but you don't want the pleco to become obese


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[SubRosa]

10 sure seems excessive. Fish only need to eat once a day. I think 5 covers it. 2 for the 6" and 1 each for the others.

True, in the wild most fish eat one meal a day. It starts when they wake up and ends when they go to sleep.

[Nereus7]

I cut my guys back from feeding once a day to everyother day, and have skipped the occasional day inbetween that and no weight loss etc. They got a little aggressive at first but now they've gone back to normal behavior since getting used to it. I think I could probably even cut back a little more. As long as they're healthy and have normal fat stores I'm starting to get real surprised on how little they need, and can get by on with no stress.

[jpappy789]

Plecos constantly graze...if you give it to them, they'll likely continue to eat. I doubt you need to be feeding so much though.

[AbbeysDad]

Can you really overeat with algae wafers? About like overeating at the salad bar! ;-)

HOWEVER, fish will overeat - they are 'programmed' to eat whenever food is available as in the wild, food can get very scarce at times. I don't know much about plecs, never having had one, but you just might cut back to feeding once a day and see what happens. Generally speaking, hungry fish are healthy fish and over feeding tends to create less healthy fish and more polluted water.

[Glabe]

if you lessen the feeding, keep an eye on the bully. mean fish get meaner when they're hungry