10 Reasons Why You Should Not Overfeed The Fish

Overfeeding fish is one of the most common mistakes contributing to a lot of aquarium problems including the death of fish. We must avoid it at all cost to have healthy and happy fish.

Aquarium fish hobbyists love their fish. Although, most fish species are not very interactive with humans. Feeding them is one of the few scenarios where interaction is taking place. Sometimes it is just hard to resist the temptation to feed them again, and again, on the same day. It is a big mistake.

The following is a list of the reasons why overfeeding fish is bad.

1. Fish do not need as much food as humans
Most humans have three meals a day. We need the extra energy to keep our body temperature at constant. Fish has no such need. They only require very little food to sustain themselves. Three meals a day would be overkill for creatures like fish. They can also go hungry for three weeks or more without a problem. Just like humans, eating more than they need can be unhealthy, and it is the least worries here.

2. Fish has a stomach the size of their eyes
It might be a generalization, but most of the fish species have a tiny stomach. It is as small as their eyes. While a fish stomach can stretch, it is the best not to stretch it too much to avoid stress and digestion problems.

3. Fish often do not know when to stop when it comes to feeding
In the wild, fish do not have the leisure always to have food on time. Sometimes they might not find any food for days. As a result, they will eat as much as they can when food is available.

In captivity, most of us feed our fish on a daily basis. There is no risk of starvation. Fish do not know that. They will often eat as much food as we provide them until they are too full.

4. Commercially available fish foods will expand once wet. Fish can die directly from overeating

Unlike the natural food, items fish find in their habitat, the commercial fish food is mostly dry food. Dry food will expand once they are wet. Pellets will grow the most. They often do not have the time to expand to the fullest before the fish swallow them whole. Once in the fish’s stomach, the fish food will continue to expand.

If a fish overeats dry food until it can’t handle it anymore; it will die once the food expands in the stomach.

Yep, I have to repeat it. Fish will die to overfeed due to indigestion.

5. Overfeeding the fish will cause pollution in the water
When you put too much fish food in the fish tank, it means more pollution whether or not the fish eat them all. Leftover fish food will rot at the bottom of the fish tank. It will create the toxic ammonia. Even the ingested food will turn into fish poop. Decomposing fish poop will also produce more toxic ammonia. Since we know about Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle, more ammonia is bad in an aquarium.  As a result, overfeeding fish can kill the fish with ammonia poisoning.

6. Overfeeding can result in an explosive algae growth
Algae feed on nitrogen compound such as ammonia and nitrate, as well as phosphate. The decomposing leftover fish foods and fish poop will produce a lot of all three. In a constantly overfed aquarium, the likelihood of an algae boom is much higher. It will make the fish tank unattractive to look at, and increase the workload for aquarium maintenance.

7. Overfeeding fish might cause the water smell bad
One of the questions I see often is “why my fish tank smells so bad.” Well, it is most likely the result of overfeeding. When leftover fish food and fish poop rots in the water, of course, it will stink.

8. Overfeeding fish might cause cloudy water
The ammonia production goes through the roof as a result of overfeeding. The good bacteria in the aquarium will attempt to grow in number to balance it. As the bacteria booming, you might see cloudy water in the tank. It makes the fish tank look dirty.

9. Overfeeding fish might result in pest snail boom
Some tiny pest snails can come into our aquarium through eggs in the water. They multiply fast when there is plenty of food. Cut back on feeding is the number one thing we should do when the population of pest snail is exploding. No food means population stall.

10. Overfeeding fish will cost you more on fish food

A lot of fish food manufacturers say on the label to feed the fish three times a day. Feed them as much as they can eat in three to five minutes. That is way too much. Their intention is clear. To have you go through your bottle of fish food sooner. So more money for them when you have to buy more fish food.

Apparently, the cost of fish food will go up when you overfeed the fish all the time. Cutting back on feeding will save you money on the fish food.

As we can see, we can avoid a lot of the aquarium problems by not to overfeed the fish.

So how much should we feed our fish before it is overfeeding?

First, make sure you take the fish food out by using your fingers. Never dump the fish food directly into the fish tank. Nor place the fish food on the top of the fish tank to avoid accidentally falling.

Second, we only need to feed the fish once a day. A pitch full of food is more than enough for a small aquarium. We need to figure out the exact quantity through trials and error since it is related to the number and size of the fish. Just watch the fish carefully during the feeding. If they can finish everything within a minute or less, then you are right on the target. Reduce the quantity if it takes a lot longer for them to eat. Reduce it further if there is leftover.

Third, for dry fish food such as pellets, it is a good idea to pre-soak them first before the feeding. They will expand to their fullest before fish swallow them. As a result, it avoids expanding in the fish’s stomach.  I usually pre-soak the dry fish food with Garlic Guard and VItaChem.  Not only they do the job of soaking the food just fine, but they are also great supplement to make fish healthier.

What if I have already overfed fish?

If somehow you have overfed your fish, you must remove all leftover fish food immediately to avoid water pollution. Use a fishnet to take out the floating fish food. Use a gravel vacuum to remove the remaining fish food at the bottom of the fish tank. Not only you must reduce the quantity for the next feeding, but you might also want to skip a feeding or two. Fish will be fine. Some people even routinely doing a day of fasting each week for the fish. While personally, I see no benefit for the fish, skipping a feeding will reduce the water pollution.

A natural way to take care of the leftover fish food at the bottom of the fish tank

Even when we are not overfeeding, sometimes it is hard to avoid having fish foods sink to the bottom of the fish tank. Most fish will ignore the food once it hit bottom. In this case, get some bottom feeders such as corydoras catfish if your fish tank big enough with extra room. These bottom feeder fish will only eat the food at the bottom. They are good cleaners for the leftover fish food. Some aquarium keepers even call them “model citizens” in a community tank. Just make sure we must not overfeed even if we have bottom feeders. With bottom feeders, we can allow sinking food to stay at the bottom a little longer before removing them.