Sad Fish: Are you skipping fish feedings and does it have a negative effect?

Is skipping fish feedings unhealthy for your fish?

  • Yes

    Votes: 95 12.1%
  • No

    Votes: 367 46.9%
  • Not sure

    Votes: 161 20.6%
  • Depends

    Votes: 148 18.9%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 11 1.4%

  • Total voters
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JordanS01

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I sometimes forget a few days if I'm very busy with schoolwork or my job. I know it's been too long once I start getting dinos :confused:
 

Chrille26

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I have 7 fishes in my tank right now, and I feed them once daily with a mix of frozen foods, I also add sinking pellets for my Diamond goby once per day. Sometimes I add some flakes but my fish are mostly too spoiled to eat it.
I try to not skip feedings since I dont know if it will trigger aggression or make my Wrasse more prone to target inverts.
 

MamaP

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1. Do your fish ever go without a daily feeding and if so why?
Once in a blue moon if I get busy and forget, but usually I feed once a day. I feed a variety of foods so they're not bored. I switch between thawed cubes of mysis/spirulina-brine/angel food all mixed together with Selcon Boost for extra vitamins, quality flakes, & LRS Reef Nano so they never know what they're getting, and they all love it all! I also hang nori occasionally for my grazers like my lemon peel.
They all let me know when it's dinner time by gathering at the spot where I feed them every day. They start chasing each other like they're "hangry" if I don't go feed them and lights start going down, so I try not to forget. I've even fed after lights out a time or 2 b/c I felt guilty for not doing it!

2. Do you think missing feedings has a negative effect on your fish?

I think it depends on the fish and their overall health, as well as availability of stuff to graze (if they're grazers).

3. What's the longest your fish have ever went without a feeding?

A day. I don't want any aggression or picking at no-no's.
 

Tamberav

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I never miss feedings...the auto feeder feeds twice a day and I feed once on the days I work and 2-3 on the days I don't....so I guess 3-6 feedings a day.

I never treated any of my wrasse for internal parasites but they seem to get fat and do just fine. I guess I am feeding their parasites enough too!
 

Dburr1014

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I have gone a long weekend when camping. I would feed heavy before I leave and after I come back.
As of late, I'm battling aptasia so I only feed every other day. The fish are not getting skinny so for now this is what I'm doing. If it looks like they are not healthy I will go back to feeding everyday.
 

|Tom the Bomb|

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Ok admit it. Sometimes you don't feed your fish! Why and how often only you know but sometimes it's just going to happen. But how long can they go? How unhealthy is it? Let's talk about it today and compare notes!

1. Do your fish ever go without a daily feeding and if so why?

2. Do you think missing feedings has a negative effect on your fish?

3. What's the longest your fish have ever went without a feeding?



FEEDINGS.jpg
I think it all depends on the fish you have and their metabolism. Many large predators eat one large meal infrequently whereas you have species like anthias that snack throughout the day. That being said, I've never gone a day without feeding the fish at least once. Every time I walk past the tank, they give me their best oliver twist!

Yes very true...
I was gonna say that fish like morays and lions need feedings every 2-3 days or large quantities.
Even a wobbegong shark needs only 3 feedings a week if you have one.
Wobbegongs are very sedentary and ambush prey when they near.
Same with freshwater bettas, i feed mine every other day a pinch of pellets
 

|Tom the Bomb|

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I have gone a long weekend when camping. I would feed heavy before I leave and after I come back.
As of late, I'm battling aptasia so I only feed every other day. The fish are not getting skinny so for now this is what I'm doing. If it looks like they are not healthy I will go back to feeding everyday.

You know doing that is a very bad idea. Your fish cant eat all of it and it would only mess up the water quality and parameters. Even so they might be tooo full thats overfeeding.
Why dont you spend 20 bucks on an autofeeder.
EHEIM's is cheap and very accurate
 

Spydersweb

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I used to skip a day or so With my lionfish back when he would only eat from tongs, but now, he competes with everyone else to eat anything. So he eats every day now
 

DeniseAndy

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I just added my Eheim autofeeder for pellets. I still feed the frozen and flakes and nori. I notice the fish gather where it dumps at certain times of the day. Very funny they have already figured it out after only a few days. :)
 

HB AL

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I feed mine everyday most of the time but when I skip they start getting grumpy. When I'm on vacation I have the person feeding them do it every other day with the food in premeasured containers. Most fish can go a long time without eating.
 
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revhtree

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I have gone a long weekend when camping. I would feed heavy before I leave and after I come back.
As of late, I'm battling aptasia so I only feed every other day. The fish are not getting skinny so for now this is what I'm doing. If it looks like they are not healthy I will go back to feeding everyday.

Berghia nudibranch! I'm telling you they will take a few weeks but they will strip the tank of aiptasia!
 

Sisterlimonpot

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I'm surprised no one has touched on boiload.

I religiously feed heavy 4 times a day and rely on that to keep my N and P in check. I notice that if I skip a feeding, I run the risk of bottoming out nutrients.

I'm quite certain that fish can survive long bouts of famine. But my corals seem to hate it when I skip a feeding.
 

fish farmer

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I'm surprised no one has touched on boiload.

I religiously feed heavy 4 times a day and rely on that to keep my N and P in check. I notice that if I skip a feeding, I run the risk of bottoming out nutrients.

I'm quite certain that fish can survive long bouts of famine. But my corals seem to hate it when I skip a feeding.

That's a good point about bioload. I have noticed that many people also dose N and P to keep that in line...so that could be considered a calculated coral feeding instead of flinging more food which is what I'm currently doing.
 

danieyella

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Autofeed 2x a day, pellet/flake mixture. Then additional varied feedings most days of the week.
 

tigre44

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Ok admit it. Sometimes you don't feed your fish! Why and how often only you know but sometimes it's just going to happen. But how long can they go? How unhealthy is it? Let's talk about it today and compare notes!

1. Do your fish ever go without a daily feeding and if so why?

2. Do you think missing feedings has a negative effect on your fish?

3. What's the longest your fish have ever went without a feeding?



FEEDINGS.jpg
I feed frozen each morning and have recently started feeding lightly some faked goofing the afternoon. I recently lost my false lemon peel for seemly no reason I had him about 2 months I thought it might be due to lack of food. Thought he picked around the tank all day not sure he was getting enough food. He was probably the least aggressive of all the fish.
 

Royce White

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My tank faces the clock and my fish know when 9am and 6pm and they start congregating at the glass to keep me on my toes and if for some reason I do forget they turn there tail fins toward me.
 

CalebWBrink2000

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I've got two clowns, a chromis and six-line wrasse in my Nano. I've had them all for about three years now. I feed daily the majority of the times, but I'll skip a day here and there. They're primarily fed 70% pellet 30% frozen when I feel like it.

If I go somewhere for the weekend I don't worry over it. I'll go on a week vacation w/o feeding and have no problems, though I wouldn't feel comfortable going longer than a week without feeding. Sometimes I might get someone to throw some food in during the middle of the week.

Healthy fish are resilent and my tank is mature enough to tie them over.
 

hikermike

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I feed daily but go on vacations. the longest was 10 days left some long acting food not sure how long it lasted but fish and corals all survived. Might get an autofeeder for next trip though. (I wrap my tank tops with saran wrap to keep evap down).
 

alton

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Office tank the fish get fed 4 to 6 times a day during the week. Very seldom do they get fed on weekends. If I get a new fish in I will come in on Saturdays to feed. They have the rocks and back glass to graze on otherwise. My home aquarium the fish get fed 2 to 3 times in the evening during the week, 4+ on the weekends. I have cameras on all my tanks and its funny when I am not around how natural my fish just graze on the rocks and glass, as compared to when I am near they just sit in a corner of the tank begging for food. An off the topic story but my brother in law purchased a undulated trigger from me once and it killed his niger so he refused to feed it. After 4 to 6 months he told me to come pick it up he was taking the tank down. To my surprise the Undulated was fat because all he did was graze on algae all day long and thrived on it. I got $10 from the fish store.
 

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