Is it possible to overfeed a fish

In nature, fish eat whenever they are hungry and the food is available. If food sources are plentiful, they will eat several times a day. On the other hand, if food sources are scarce, they might go for days between meals.

For this reason, fish are very opportunistic and will eat whenever they have a chance. That means that if you offer them food, they will usually gobble it up, even if they aren't starving. Keep that in mind the next time your fish "beg" for food. Fish quickly learn who brings the food to the tank and will jump at the chance to be fed, even if they are not in dire need of food. How often you need to feed your fish depends on the kind of fish you have.

In general, most fish do quite well on one feeding per day. However, some owners prefer to feed their fish twice a day. Young, growing fish might need to eat three or more times per day. Regardless of the quantity of feedings, the key is to keep each feeding very small. Most fish will do well with two meals a day. The timing is not critical, with the exception of nocturnal feeders. If you have nocturnal fish in your tank, such as certain catfish, be sure to feed them just before turning the lights out at night.

They will hunt for the food in the dark, using their keen sense of smell to find it. There are some exceptions to the once-per-day feeding rule. Herbivores vegetarian fish like Silver Dollars, Mollies, and Farowellas need to eat frequently because they have smaller stomachs that cannot hold a lot of food.

In nature, they would graze all day on plants. They should be given several small feedings a day or be provided with live plants they can nibble on. Goldfish do not have a stomach at all, so shouldn't be fed a large meal all at one time.

They naturally nibble on algae and other food items throughout the day, so it is better to feed them several small meals during the day rather than giving them a big meal only once a day. Newly hatched fry and young fish who are not fully grown require more frequent feedings of special foods designed for fry. A good rule of thumb is to give your fish no more food than they will consume in less than five minutes.

Goldfish will rarely eat food once it has fallen to the bottom of the tank. Believe it or not, the problem with overfeeding is not damage from overeating.

If there's too much food in the tank, a goldfish will most likely not be able to eat it all. Most of the damage from overfeeding comes from food rotting in the aquarium. Rotting fish food produces ammonia, which is toxic to goldfish. In the case of goldfish in outdoor ponds, don't feed them once the temperature drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

In this case, extra food inside the goldfish's tummies can cause problems once they begin to hibernate. A few guidelines can help prevent overfeeding. Only have one person feed the fish to prevent confusion over when the fish ate last.

Also, pour food into the lid of the fish food container before dumping it in the tank. This way, if you spill it, the excess won't fall into the tank. It may of course be replaced by others if overfeeding continues. Tiny, hair thin worms will sometimes appear on the walls of an aquarium.

These are almost always found in tanks of either young fry or large, pellet-munching fish like oscars, as they are generally eaten in tanks of more typically-sized community fish. Low dissolved oxygen , high nitrates, declining pH, and other chemical problems are also common in the overfed aquarium. This is a good thing, because anaerobic decay produces some really disgusting compounds, like methane and hydrogen sulfide, that the aquarist would just as soon do without.

There is still a price to pay, however, as the increased demand for oxygen by the decay processes mean less oxygen available to the fish. In addition, proteins in uneaten fish food are eventually broken down into nitrates and leftover hydrogen ions — just as fish waste is. The poor fish in the overfed tank have to deal with the pollution caused by the food without receiving the benefits of having eaten it! Time your feedings.

Fish in nature rarely get the opportunity to sit down to a leisurely meal. The time involved to finish dinner will vary from fish to fish; some of the smaller, eager-eaters like danios may get their fill in ten or twenty seconds, while the bottom-feeding catfish may need several minutes to search out a satisfactory meal.

Watch your fish eat, and try to get a feel for how long and how much they actually eat when you feed them — and then adjust the size of the feedings accordingly. Keep in mind that any food left after five minutes will likely never be eaten, and only serves to foul the water. Feed often, but sparingly. Their bodies are designed to deal with food in just that manner: a little at a time, but very frequently.

If these fish are fed only occasionally, but in massive quantities, they could well suffer both malnutrition and the resulting poor water quality from overfeeding.

You can keep a healthy tank while feeding two, three or four times a day, but the key is to keep the size of those feedings under control. The exceptions to this rule are some of the larger, predatory fish that may indeed go for long stretches without finding food and then gulp down a meal half their size. Feed the fish, not the tank.

Feed an appropriate food.