Am i overfeeding? fishes are getting fat.

[Harold999]

I always wonder why people who eat at least 3 meals per day and extra's in between think that it is a good idea to feed fish only once per day or even less.
If you're worried about excessive nutrients, all the uneaten food lands in your filtersock or filterfloss if the flow is well. Just clean that at the end of the day.

 

[Jimbo327]

just big boned

 

[HuneyBear]

He's a happy looking chunk! Mines getting there quickly

Very friendly. I can actually pet him. My hippo is bigger then him. I have an auto feeder set to feed 3 times a day but small amount just to make sure anthias get fed. then I give nori sheets and food in the evening. Mix of flake and diy frozen and purchased frozen depending on what I feel like that day.
tangs will feed all day in the wild so I try to make sure there is something to eat frequently. I have a camera and watched to get it spaced out enough that they still pick at rock and scavenge still. As soon as that feeder activates they shoot for the food ring.

 

[ceaver]

oh man.. if you think your fish are fat then I’m in trouble. Mine chase me around wanting more. Even steals food from corals when I spot feed.

Yeah I have a purple tang who just steals food right from my acans/micros. I have to just sit there and keep him away till they digest. I'll try to shoo him away with the pipette, like gently hit him with it, and he doesn't care. I could probably hand feed him. He's a piggy

 

[SHINYSuccubus]

so im at a point where im a bit concerned with my fishes health, not from starving but the opposite. My newest addition, a regal and a majestic angel are getting along well with the previous inhabitants. because of the added inhabitants, i have added the ammount of feedings i do and they are now looking rather wide? not sure what to call it. The regal is a pretty slow eater compared to the others. Eats well and chases all kinds of food but nothing compared to the older inhabitants that just zoom around the tank. well to compensate for the regal eating slower, so it gets enough to eat i add more than it eats as some will of course be eaten by the others. so my question is are fatter fish healthy? unlike obese mammals?

What i feed right now:
- 4x daily pellets (nls, hikari, ocean nutrition mix)
- 1x daily diy frozen mix
- every 2 days nori
- brine shrimp (treat)
- occasional ON flakes
- blackworms (treats)

Here they are:
New additions

Old inhabitants:

i wouldn’t worry about your fish getting too “thick”. my 12yr old regal is fat as a butterball, and he’s doing great. my one spot foxface is also a fatty. i only feed twice a day. one thing i would worry about is the obvious problem of blowing up your nitrate levels, but if those are ok, then whatever makes you happy!

also, my regal isn’t one to pursue food very aggressively, but he’s a picker - directly after a feeding he picks at the rock, tank floor.

your fish are gorgeous!

 

[SHINYSuccubus]

i mean id rather have plump fishes than my high energy fish/smaller fish starving of course so i guess its a pretty fair trade off. the slow eating regal had a hard time in qt and won't eat much so he came in the DT a bit thin. I think once he get a bit of girth ill decrease the feedings a bit.

Wanted to keep chromis but they keep picking each other off for me.

re: chromis i stared w 7 itty bittys abt 5yrs ago, now i have 5 big boys - they do ok as long as they’re close in size and have plenty of room

 

[fish farmer]

I personally think you can feed the fish too much, but each fish in this hobby have different metabolisms, behaviors, activity level and there probably aren't studies done on the "proper" amount of food to be fed daily for growth/maintenance. I doubt many fish pathologists are slicing open tangs to look for fatty liver disease. https://reefbuilders.com/2015/02/06/fatty-liver-disease-in-captive-marine-fishes/

Our fish probably don't get the exercise that they would get out in the wild swimming against tides, etc.

I work with captive/domesticated salmonids and I have seen obese fish first hand. To the point of a fish doing great all week long, then cleaning day comes when the tank is cleaned and partially drained. Oxygen levels dip and the 52 pound salmon takes a nap on the bottom for a few hours while other smaller salmon do fine.

 

[Karen00]

re: chromis i stared w 7 itty bittys abt 5yrs ago, now i have 5 big boys - they do ok as long as they’re close in size and have plenty of room

That's amazing about your chromis! Most threads I read, members start with five or seven and they're lucky if they still have one by the end of the month. Post a pic when you get a chance.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I noticed the other day the bulge, wait hold it,that was my reflection in the glass. Never mind.

 

[GradientHurdle]

so im at a point where im a bit concerned with my fishes health, not from starving but the opposite. My newest addition, a regal and a majestic angel are getting along well with the previous inhabitants. because of the added inhabitants, i have added the ammount of feedings i do and they are now looking rather wide? not sure what to call it. The regal is a pretty slow eater compared to the others. Eats well and chases all kinds of food but nothing compared to the older inhabitants that just zoom around the tank. well to compensate for the regal eating slower, so it gets enough to eat i add more than it eats as some will of course be eaten by the others. so my question is are fatter fish healthy? unlike obese mammals?

What i feed right now:
- 4x daily pellets (nls, hikari, ocean nutrition mix)
- 1x daily diy frozen mix
- every 2 days nori
- brine shrimp (treat)
- occasional ON flakes
- blackworms (treats)

Here they are:
New additions

Old inhabitants:

Look good from here and I would say pleasantly plump.

 

[fish farmer]

I always wonder why people who eat at least 3 meals per day and extra's in between think that it is a good idea to feed fish only once per day or even less.
If you're worried about excessive nutrients, all the uneaten food lands in your filtersock or filterfloss if the flow is well. Just clean that at the end of the day.

I burn more calories in a day than my fish. I've noticed since it got cold my 3+ meals a day are going to heat generation since I work in cold climates most of the day and do some manual labor. If I don't get my snack at 10 am, my coworkers will hear about it.

As for my fish, two domesticated clowns and a six line wrasse. When I cut back feeding to every other day I did notice the clowns were not laying eggs as much, but were not hollow bellied. When I went back to feeding once a day they started laying eggs again. I'm not going to overfeed just to remove it down the line if I don't have to. I would prefer to feed the proper amount and have organisms in the tank consume it.

 

[Sparkymarc]

Nah. Let me show you plump. Lol. I swear I only feed once a day with some nori here and there. Be nice. Lol

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Nah. Let me show you plump. Lol. I swear I only feed once a day with some nori here and there. Be nice. Lol

I don't feel bad now, my Foxface and scopas look just as rotund!

 

[HuneyBear]

That's amazing about your chromis! Most threads I read, members start with five or seven and they're lucky if they still have one by the end of the month. Post a pic when you get a chance.

I started with 5 chromis 2 1/2 years ago they where the only fish I had for almost 2 years. I lost 2 of them in the first 3 months. They where tiny, like barely an inch. The 3 that are left are around 3 1/2” now.

 

[Sparkymarc]

I don't feel bad now, my Foxface and scopas look just as rotund!

Haha. I have a fox face and a hippo that’s pretty thic too. Have had most of them since they were little babies. They love to eat.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

Started with 9 chromis around 5 years ago. Lost one right away, as he/she ventured in the corner I had separated my aggressive 4 stripped damsel and got killed. Then around 6 month later, lost another one, which looked like it had an injury on one side. Since then I have 7 chromis left. IMO I have 4 males and 3 females, as 4 are bigger. They spay often and the larger ones are males and defend very vigorously their eggs. Today I have 2 males on opposite corners of my aquarium who are chasing anyone coming near. The rocks/shells are covered with eggs.
On the other hand, my clowns have never spayed. I do not know why. They are older than the chromis.

 

[Diveks]

oh man.. if you think your fish are fat then I’m in trouble. Mine chase me around wanting more. Even steals food from corals when I spot feed.

Woah chunky tang you have there. All my fishes (exept for clowns) follow me around the tank even right after a feeding. Sometimes i want to feed them more but they already have a schedule to keep my nutrients stable.

i wouldn’t worry about your fish getting too “thick”. my 12yr old regal is fat as a butterball, and he’s doing great. my one spot foxface is also a fatty. i only feed twice a day. one thing i would worry about is the obvious problem of blowing up your nitrate levels, but if those are ok, then whatever makes you happy!

also, my regal isn’t one to pursue food very aggressively, but he’s a picker - directly after a feeding he picks at the rock, tank floor.

your fish are gorgeous!

Thank you! My regal now is not thin but wouldn’t call him chucky either. Probably on the slim side, not sure why but after going in the DT it started hating frozen and prefers pellets and nori.

Not sure if hes too thin or not. If he is, i might need to up the pellet feedings. Even the newer DT addition, the moorish is gaining more girth. (Have to mention the regal is recovering from i think a sting from the anemone? (Not sure). from a few weeks ago)

Nah. Let me show you plump. Lol. I swear I only feed once a day with some nori here and there. Be nice. Lol

Wow one feeding? For my 50 gallon i also feed 1x and after feedings my wrasse looks swollen but after a few hours it would go back to being its slim self.

I started with 5 chromis 2 1/2 years ago they where the only fish I had for almost 2 years. I lost 2 of them in the first 3 months. They where tiny, like barely an inch. The 3 that are left are around 3 1/2” now.

Im seriously considering chromis now as my lfs had some came in with also a shipment of dispars. Been waiting for bimacs to come back in stock but now i don’t even know what group of fishes im gonna get as my last batch of additions.