# how can you tell if your fish are underfed?



## bmeate (Feb 9, 2014)

snail population seems very low, but is that possibly cuase theres a snail eater? a couple weeks ago i spotted a snail with a long pointy shell and was like "wow, where did this guy come from?"
my shrimp population has exploded, tho

I have more fish now and they are growing, i just dont know if theyre under/overfed. im def leaning towards underfed since they always eat what i give them. but i heard they will continue to eat even if they are fed an adaquite amount

tank parameters should be in my sig. i figure i need to be extra cautous since im not running a filter
six growing plecos!


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## kep (Feb 3, 2015)

chances are your fish are not underfed. i believe there are more cases of overfeeding than underfeeding. it would be difficult to see if they are underfed, but overfeeding you could see fat fish, or too many nitrates. in your case without a filter you're right, you do need to be careful.

directions on a lot of fish foods say to feed as much as they can eat in three minutes, but it should be more like, as much as they can eat in like 30 seconds. think how many fish you have, and how tiny their stomachs are, compared to how many flakes or worms or pellets or whatever you are putting in there. they don't need that much.

fish are like dogs and will eat and eat and eat in most cases as i understand it.

how do you get by without running a filter? just curious on how that works.


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## adamfish (Feb 3, 2015)

Not to mention they're cold blooded, they don't need to heat their bodies, which requires a lot of energy.


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## walzon1 (Jan 28, 2014)

Curious as well how you are running a tank with so many fish without a filter. 

The first sign they are over fed is bloated stomach/underfed they will lose color and literally start getting bony just like humans do. Most fish are never at this point cause as mentioned they are fed more than enough. 10ppm nitrate and everything is growing is a good sign not to change anything.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

I have heard the fishes should always be a little hungry. Once just out of curiosity I followed the directions on a food packet and gave the fishes as much as they ate in 3 min- I timed it. It was a bad idea. They all stuffed themselves and for an entire day did not move, were constipated and bloated and one died. I never did that again. Imagine their stomach is the size of their eyeball- for mine I try to estimate about two flakes per fish per feeding, and fast them one day a week.

On the flip side, once when I was gone on vacation the housesitter neglected my betta and he quit eating- even after I got home and cleaned his bowl he still ate very poorly for several more weeks, and here's a picture (that makes me very sad to post). The head should not look so much larger than the body, or the belly sunk in. He starved.








Healthy was like this:


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

There are microorganisms in all planted tanks. Assuming you only have small fish, they can nibble on things. 
If a fish is underfed, you can usually see the belly sunk in. They have tiny stomachs, though, so it's rare to see underfed fish.


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## bmeate (Feb 9, 2014)

i have a foam tube releasing little bubbles along the length of the tank. i suppose that is where bacteria processes everything

I was also wondering if i dont need to have a midday lights off period for the co2 to replenish, as that is constantly putting in outside air


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## bmeate (Feb 9, 2014)

and how would i know if the bn plecos are over/underfed? 
some are huge, some are tiny


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

bmeate said:


> and how would i know if the bn plecos are over/underfed?
> some are huge, some are tiny


 
Can look at their bellies which should look plump as opposed to concave/sunken.
Tiny baby bristlenose should have some foods available nearly all day for first few week's after they come out from the cave.
Can also consider how often you are feeding to determine the likliehood of over fed/underfed.
Course if you want to get all scientific ,, You can weigh the fish each week to see if it is losing weight or gaining weight.


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

kep said:


> directions on a lot of fish foods say to feed as much as they can eat in three minutes, but it should be more like, as much as they can eat in like 30 seconds. think how many fish you have, and how tiny their stomachs are, compared to how many flakes or worms or pellets or whatever you are putting in there. they don't need that much.


I think my Tiger Barbs would all be dead after a 3 minute all-you-can-eat fest! I give them 2-4 feeds per day, about 10-15 sec worth each time.....


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

My betta takes about 2 minutes to finish a meal, but the staple food I use is a very small granule. It just takes him a while to gather it all up. 
Same for my blacktail shiners. They eat fast, but it takes a lot of little bits to get them a decent meal.


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## bmeate (Feb 9, 2014)

1 algae 'marine land' algae wafer a day for 6bn plecos?
theres also cories nibbling on that same wafer i believe, i try to break it into 2 small chunks and one big one


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

I would add some fresh or lightly cooked vegetables for the BN, especially if they are young. Grazing animals (land or water) ought to have a pretty steady source of food. 

If you see snails eating the vegetables then remove it. 
See how long it took and how much you fed, then feed less next time, and perhaps remove it sooner. Pretty much all the vegetables we eat are OK, but some will be eaten more rapidly than others. 
Peas- start with frozen peas. Defrost in some water. Pop them out of the shell. It will break into 2 halves. Put in 1/2 pea per 1-2" of fish. Start conservatively at 1/2 pea per 2" of fish, see how well they do. The shrimp and BN should eat these. 
Hard squash: Pumpkin, Butternut and similar. Bake it rather than boil it until it is tender, but not falling apart. You could feed a larger slice with the skin to hold it together and see how much they eat. Maybe start with a 1" x 1" cube for the 6 baby plecs. 
Inner core of Broccoli- Keep the skin on, and slice lengthwise to expose the tender core. Steam or blanch until it turns bright green. 

I feed a leaf of lettuce (romaine, lately, but other kinds, too) to 2 tanks almost daily. My Plecs are a lot bigger, but they finish a leaf overnight. 
There are no snails in these tanks; there are Clown Loaches.


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## bmeate (Feb 9, 2014)

i have some iceburg going bad.
i give them the ends of my squash, but the rest is mines 

i threw onion and bellpepper both in, apparently not all veggies are great for a tank, whoops


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

I do not consider iceburg lettuce as food. It is 'dish debris'. Real lettuce will be rich green, or red and have real vitamins in it. Do not put 'going bad' foods in there for the fish. If it is already rotting it will just continue to rot in the tank. 

Yes, some vegetables are not eaten. In my tanks, no one seems interested in carrots.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Onions and bell peppers might be irritating, I'm not surprised they weren't wanted.
Dark green leafy things are usually good, like spinach.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

An underweight fish can hollow out just behind their head, about where their neck would be, if fish had necks. This is commonly seen in Loaches with Skinny Disease (A combination of parasites and bacterial infection). 
The bottom line of fish will vary with species but should be flat to slightly rounded. 
Bottom fish like Cories should be more flat. Mid-tank swimming fish should be slightly rounded. A fish that normally perches on the bottom ought to be able to perch there without being rolly-polly. A flat to very slightly rounded belly is just right. Mid tank swimmers need a smooth line for the best water flow, the most efficient swimming. Too fat, and the water flow does not work as well. A smooth curve is optimal for most species. 
Similarly, the fish should not bulge out too much on the sides. This will vary: Pregnant or gravid fish will be larger than non-pregnant females. Males will almost always be leaner. The species is important here, too. Cories and many other cats are wider fish when you look down from the top. A slight curve to the shape is about right for many, but some fish are just right when they are pretty much straight (Kuhlie Loaches, for example) They should not be concave.


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## Oceangirl (Feb 5, 2013)

I am cutting back feeding them all to 3 times per week for a while. 1 angel I had was such a pig he would sniff out the night time stuff for the cories and ate himself to death. I feed rich foods and they are fine. in the wild they don't get food everyday.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

My cherry barb do that too- if I try to put in food at night for the loaches, they smell it immediately. I've started feeding the loaches separate in a fish trap. Thinking of skipping feeding days more times per week, like Oceangirl said.


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## Oceangirl (Feb 5, 2013)

As long as they eat a couple times per week I think they are okay. I do not suggest it with incompatible species tanks like those with shrimp/fish or Angels with smaller fish because you'll come home to a tank with nothing but the predator. I only keep peaceful tanks, shrimp only tanks, and similar sized fish tanks. My only except is my Angel/ram/cory tank, there is one cory in there a little bit smaller, and I am down to 1 angel.


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