Feeding every other day

[Fish-Addict]

OK, I will spell it out. fish addict is assuming that because the Op said that they were upgrading to a larger tank, that the current tank is overstocked. We do not know if this is true, do we ? I am currently upgrading one of my 40 breeders to a larger tank - does this mean that my 40 breeder is over stocked ? Not necessarily. It could well be, but without the OP or myself expressly stating this, it is an assumption. The OP asked about feeding every other day. Stick to the question, do not assume that the tank is over stocked. STICK TO THE QUESTION. Maybe the OP just wants a larger tank. There was NEVER anything mentioned about being over stocked until bfm brought it up. Stick to the question and leave out the insinuations. That's it for me on the subject, I am done. Have a nice day.

I'm sorry but I could see what the OP was saying without BFM's input. If you have to feed less to "slow the growth" of your fish, then you are obviously planning to keep a fish for as long as possible in a tank which would potentially be too small should the fish grow at its normal rate.

Tell me, why else would you want to slow the growth of your fish? Granted the OP mentioned to keep nitrate levels down, but by actually saying that they they can't upgrade to a larger tank and SO they will feed less to slow growth it's quite obvious that soon the fish would and will be too large for the tank. We don't know if the OP will ever get a larger tank, in which case he/she would need to rehome some fish.

If you had 10 tiger barbs in a 100 gallon tank would you feed every other day because you were concerned that they might outgrow it? No. When you have to limit growth, as BFM said, the fish are obviously beginning to get too big.


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[Nereus7]

First off, thanks for the replies. Everyone makes good points.

Basicly, the fish I'm talking about are clown loaches which get HUGE. So in me saying "to slow growth" I'm basicly saying there's no need to rush a good thing. They're not, nor will they ever be stunted. As far as the tank goes, it's appropriatly sized, filtered, and maintained. Nitrate count if perfectly fine, as are all the params.

I havn't been able to upgrade because I havn't found a deal I like. But I'm sure my guys will enjoy the extra room when time comes. Also, with feeding every day, they're pretty fat. So, I'm thinking cutting back will like stated, probably be healthier for them, as well as 1 preserve water quality longer, and 2 cut feeding and wc costs (why not save money when you can) and everyone will be fine.

Also they're 3-4 years old, so they have a good start, I won't be starving babies that need to eat for fast growth so it's all good.

I'm not cutting corners, just refining my practices. Thanks again for the replies, everyone has good points - N

 

[verbal]

I have been feeding all my fish every other day for 2 or 3 years with no adverse effects. The only exceptions are to the fry grow out tank and they get fed every day. In the wild, fish do not eat every day. Yours will be fine. Good luck.

I am curious is any one aware of studies of fish feeding frequency in the wild? Not that we want to replicate every aspect of the wild(such as predators), but a lot of time knowledge of wild conditions is helpful with aquarium keeping. I also would expect that the frequency would vary quite a bit based on the diet. I would expect that vegetarians feed the most frequently and carnivores that go after large prey eat the least frequently.