What the Beginning and Advancing Aquarist Absolutely Needs to Know and Do When Starting An Aquarium

What A Beginner Needs To Know About Feeding Fishes

Most important to understand about feeding is not to overfeed.  The reason is that excess food decomposes  and pollutes the water, causing harm to the fishes and other organisms.  Overfeeding is one of the biggest mistakes that aquarists make.  As cold-blooded animals, the fish's metabolism is much less active than for mammals -- such as for man, dogs, and cats.  Under normal conditions, fish and other cold-blooded animals can easily go days, a week and often more without eating. 

For many aquarium fishes what they find as a satisfying snack is the bacteria and algae on the surfaces in the aquarium.  When they are picking over the gravel, glass, rocks, and other surfaces, that is often what they are mainly looking for.  What fishes need at most for active growth is about 2-3% of their body weight in food per day, and in confinement in small spaces, less than 2%, often considerably less.  The more their living water space is confined, and the less active that they are, the less that they need to eat.  As a general rule, feeding what the fish will eat in 2-3 minutes at a time is sufficient.

What usually happens, particularly by beginners, is to start out overfeeding.  When fishes are getting used to new environments, or are sick, they usually do not eat.  The food readily decays in the water, causing pollution and worsening water conditions.  This is all part of what is commonly called "New Tank Syndrome," and can cause havoc to successful aquarium keeping. Therefore, be conservative in feeding.  It is much better to feed small amounts regularly, than large amounts irregularly.

Also, realize that for many fishes, they are smarter than many think they are.  If fed erratically, there are those fishes that will stuff themselves when food is available, not knowing when they will next be fed.  They will even encourage overfeeding by their actions, just so that they have extra food on the bottom to go back to later.  Such fishes as koi, carp, and goldfish can be trained to push a lever to get food released from a feeder.  They may then keep pushing the lever to get an over supply of food, "stocking up" for the future.  Therefore, you need to be sure that you are not over feeding, even while the fish are eagerly signalling that they want more food.

As a general rule for aquariums, live foods are going to be the most nutritious for the fishes, being the most likely to provide all the components needed for a balanced meal.  Frozen foods are going to be the next best, and prepared dried foods will be the third best.  At least, the live and frozen foods for aquarium keeping can be provided as a special treat, and to vary the fishes' diet.  Since no one dried food has everything that the aquarium inhabitants need, varying the feeding of different formulations of dried-food products can overcome deficiencies in any particular diets. 
 
Prepared dried foods that float and do not become soaked with water will retain more nutrients, than those that sink in the water, thereby dissolving part of their nutrients out into the water.  The more that the dried food floats, the more that it is retaining its ingredients essential for the fishes' health.  Whatever foods are used, having a floating feeding ring or frame to hold the floating food at a selected spot has its advantages.  It allows you to observe how well the fish are feeding and which need extra attention.  It also allows you to examine more closely the fishes to see if you can spot any infections. 


Depending upon the conditions, when you will be away temporarily and not able to take care of the fishes, it can be best not to have someone else come in to feed them, who is unfamiliar with their feeding habits.  The reason?  The temporary caretaker is most likely to overfeed the fishes, worsening the aquarium water conditions, and not be of help as intended.  Also, be wary about the use of an automatic fish feeder while away.  If the fish stop eating for any reason, the over feeding can become a toxic pollutant.

If you are going to be away more than a week and a half or more, and are going to have someone come in to feed them, measure out the portions for each feeding -- keeping at the minimum, so that the feeder does not overfeed.

Also to consider while being away is to have a timer on the lighting to turn the lights on and off during the day, particularly so if you have live plants. 


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