How often (or at all) do you give your fish a fast day?

Hey Guys,

So we all have some of those things we know we need to work on but for some reason we can’t. Some are lazy with WC (this is where I don’t fault- did it yesterday with a hangover... these fish better love me!), perhaps others carefree with quarantine or mixing incompatible breeds - whatever.

With me it’s over feeding. I try to give a small amount and even went from “what they can eat in two minutes” to “less than a minute” - really watching fish eat, two minutes does seem long. Yet I believe I’m still heavy handed. I’m like an Italian Grandmother plonking more pasta onto your plate when you’re fit to burst! Except I’m not Italian, a grandmother... or a woman!

HI everyone, my name is Acuario and I’m a feeder.

Cut to the chase: once a month I do a fast day for my fish. I do it on a day where I’m at work the longest so I can’t see them all excited to see me (the food dispenser) which happens to be today. In my apartment you cannot avoid tanks - though the rainbow fish are the hardest to ignore - they follow me end to end waiting for food. Breaks my heart. I can’t ignore my cats or dog - fish are tough too.

I’m interested to hear your thoughts on fasting fish and how often you do it? Do you find it?
beneficial?

Note; My juvenile Cichlid tank is not fasting as I’m trying to get them to grow so the Oscar doesn’t end up eating them all (this weekend he ate a small Saratoga in similar size to him. If you don’t know what a Saratoga is - that’s an Australian Arowana! As the jack Dempsey and Green Terror are pretty much on par with the size of the Aro, they need fattening up ... though thankfully Oscar has not yet seen them as tasty morsels! - I cannot afford for the Oscar to eat any more expensive fish Saratoga was daaaaaaang expensive!)

I may start another thread on what our worst bad habits are re: fish keeping too!

go!

 

I fast my fish quite often, which is also due to the fact that many of my tanks have tasty snacks growing or thriving in them due to heavy planting. Feeding once a day every day, particularly in my larger tanks which have mainly omnivores, leads to obese fish. Even without explicit conditioning my females all get fat with eggs anyhow. Which is convenient
The exception, like you, is the fry tanks, those are never skipped or I'd never see the fish mature. Plus it makes the fry less likely to eat one another if they are not entirely the same size.

 

I fast my fish usually once or twice a week but sometimes I don't It really depends on the stocking. Hungry Tiger Barbs can be a nightmare on a good day.

 

I feed my fish everyday. Sometimes less than other days but still everyday.

 

I try to feed my fish decently monday through friday, then give them little to no food on saturday and sunday. Of course, fry are exempt from that fast period (or, in the case of older fry, get only 1 day of fasting).

 

Usually once a week. Right now, I've been fasting the one a couple times a week bc he is constipated

 

I feed twice a day.
Once in the day and something at night.

 

Cardinals, twice a day very small amounts. But the day before water change I let them fast, and give them a treat after the waterchange.

 

I try to never fast my fish. I don't see the need as the the energy and nutrition keeps their immune system up. Even if I fasted them, they'd just hunt the shrimp in the tank. My gourami and spotted congo puffer do that all day anyways. The danios don't hunt as much but they absolutely do when they're hungry.

That said, I travel a lot in the winter. I basically do weekend skI trips every other weekend and go up to the mountains for day trips every Saturday when I'm not on the weekend trips. So they will go at least a day, sometimes two, weekly. But that's only 4-5 months of the year. I stay local the rest of the year for the most part so they eat every day then.

 

When I feed 2x a day I fasted my bettas. bettas only get fed in morning, though at times I will give them bug bites as a rare treat.

My Silver Dollar Fish look at me hungry anytime I walked past their tank , just like my dogs know when it's 5 pm and dinner! they get flake for breakfast ( a large pinch) and dinner is an algae tablet split in 4 or small mound of kale rolled up.

Featherfin squeaker gets feed 2x a day as well.

I never fast my tetras because they are in the tank with Cory cats which are extremely active and some are (very large imo) 3 inches now. Cories are busy, busy, busy and fasting them seems cruel.

My large sorority tank has to be fasted The most I ever did was 3 days fasting. they are larger & healthy, not obese. I only fast if there's a reason now.

 

I've seen obese fish before. It's pretty obvious when you need to cut back on the feeding. Lol. This calico bass at the denver aquarium looks like a football! Super cute, but he needs to go on a diet or swim more.

But if you're not over feeding and your fish look healthy and are active, I don't see a need to fast regularly. I understand fasting bettas or if a fish gets constipated. But fish like to eat! Let them eat!

 

I don't have a fasting schedule. I have an 'ooops', I fell asleep on the sofa last night and forgot to feed the fish schedule!" It happens more often than I'd care to admit, because the sofa is much more conducive to good sleep than the monstrosity that is my bed!

 

I only feed my fish every other day. I prob over feed them on the days they eat but that's just the way I do things, all are thriving and well. I know they aren't starving cuz their bellies are still pretty full the day they don't eat.

 

I would suggest fish owners to try fasting themselves for 24 hours before imposing this on their fishes. Fish spend their entire day searching for food, why deprive them?

 

Mine are constantly eating algae and picking things off the plants and duckweed. People may not agree with how I do it but it works fine for me.

 

I feed every day, twice a day. Once at 7:00am and once at 7:00pm. But I also vacuum substrate and do 40% water changes twice a week. Not a lot of food left laying on the bottom for days at a time.

 

As I posted earlier, I accidentally forget to feed the fish. I forgot to add that I constantly forget to feed myself. Not feeding myself isn't a worry, but I do feel guilty about forgetting the fish! Honestly, I can forget to eat for at least 24 hours! It never occurs to me to eat. When I realize I haven't eaten, I ask myself whether I'm actually hungry. If the answer is "no". Then, I don't eat. ps, it's not that I'm anorexic, it's simply that I .... I don't know, frankly, why!

 

I used to fast twice a week but I recently added cherry shrimp to my aquarium. I noticed on fast days that my female Betta would start hunting the shrimp, so I've stopped fasting. When she's fed she leaves them alone!

 

I try to always feed my fish every day. However, I would say I probably fast Probably once a week or once every two weeks.
I work long hours and get home like at 8 pm everyday, so sometimes I fall asleep or am too tired to feed so I skip that day. My plants are heavily planted though, and there’s shrimp and such in there to pick at when hungry.
I think it’s actually beneficial. Before , I would get the occasional bloating, and now my fishes don’t bloat.

 

I feed my tanks every other day.

 

Fasting won't hurt your fish, but it doesn't do them any good either. If you're overfeeding, fasting one day a week isn't going to do anything to solve the problem. There's nothing in the wild compared to fasting, fish eat all day long.

If a fish looks "obese," it's got a disease.

 

My community tank I don’t fast. But my bettas I fast once a week. My shrimp go days without food because they have algae and java moss for munching

 

I feed all my fish everyday, I try the same time if I can.

 

Not bad, but not particularly good either. Fish are perfectly capable of going for a few days without eating much but they obviously take no offense at a steady stream of food either.

 

I think the argument for fasting is: Fish require very little energy to live healthy lives and probably less so in aquaria, in the wild fish are opportunists and feed when they can and have an anatomy adapted for it, meaning fish will overindulge if we give them the opportunity which can have negative repercussions.

 

I would suggest fish owners to try fasting themselves for 24 hours before imposing this on their fishes. Fish spend their entire day searching for food, why deprive them?

Your comparison is way off on multiple levels. For starters not feeding your fish doesn't mean they don't eat, there is plenty if food for them to eat in a healthy tank. Fish spend all day looking for food because they don't eat and don't need to eat every day. You also haven't considered the direct health benefits for your fish.


My fish don't get fed every few days and my dario darios don't get fed at all

 

I feed my betta twice daily because he turns into a killer when he gets hungry. 2 pellets in the morning and night, but on frozen food days he gets the frozen foods at night instead of pellets. He keeps a healthy weight and remains a good Samaritan

My ADF, however, only get fed once every few days. They're not fish, though, so maybe I wasn't supposed to answer about them? My snails and shrimp get fed the same time my ADF get fed too. There's plenty to snack on in my jungle. Especially algae

 

I try to feed my fish decently monday through friday, then give them little to no food on saturday and sunday. Of course, fry are exempt from that fast period (or, in the case of older fry, get only 1 day of fasting).

I’m the opposite, I only feed once a day when I get home from work. But in the weekends I tend to give normal flakes, but also give a treat of frozen shrimp, peas or potato.

 

I fast my bettas once per week.

 

I think the argument for fasting is: Fish require very little energy to live healthy lives and probably less so in aquaria, in the wild fish are opportunists and feed when they can and have an anatomy adapted for it, meaning fish will overindulge if we give them the opportunity which can have negative repercussions.

I appreciate you at least saying "why," because that's the first question that comes to mind when I see people who fast their fish. Most people don't say why (and probably couldn't explain it if you asked).

I do have a disagreement with "fish will overindulge." I mentioned in an earlier post that many think that fasting a certain number of days a week will ease the damage caused by overfeeding. If overfeeding is a problem, fasting will do nothing to solve the problem. Overfeeding is the most common cause of problems with aquariums, but if fish overindulge, it's because they're overfed. If they're overfed, that problem will exist whether they're fasted or not.

 

I appreciate you at least saying "why," because that's the first question that comes to mind when I see people who fast their fish. Most people don't say why (and probably couldn't explain it if you asked).

I do have a disagreement with "fish will overindulge." I mentioned in an earlier post that many think that fasting a certain number of days a week will ease the damage caused by overfeeding. If overfeeding is a problem, fasting will do nothing to solve the problem. Overfeeding is the most common cause of problems with aquariums, but if fish overindulge, it's because they're overfed. If they're overfed, that problem will exist whether they're fasted or not.

Totally agree, fasting isn't a solution to overfeeding, feeding less when you do feed or potentially changing what you actually feed them is.
Another reason i've seen is it allows the intestines to clear, I'm not sure exactly how beneficial it is.
smee82 makes a great point, in a healthy aquarium you'll have algae or plant matter the fish will have constant access to.
Of course you need to take into consideration of type and age of fish.

 

Totally agree, fasting isn't a solution to overfeeding, feeding less when you do feed or potentially changing what you actually feed them is.
Another reason i've seen is it allows the intestines to clear, I'm not sure exactly how beneficial it is.
smee82 makes a great point, in a healthy aquarium you'll have algae or plant matter the fish will have constant access to.
Of course you need to take into consideration of type and age of fish.

Fasting is the wrong word to use as they still eat we just don't feed them.

Fasting isn't just because of overfeeding, I don't over fed and I still fast.
Depending on what you feed a lot of stuff in the feed might be just fillers so theyre not getting enough healthy food, its like we can eat mcdonalds every day but its nit healthy and will kill us in the long run.
Not feeding them will encourage them to forage and get some natural food in their diet and also help them process all the junk in what we feed them.
It also limits the amount of waste in the water and cleaner water is always good.

An example are dario darios so many people say that they are hard to take care off because they don't understand their diets but in reality they are probably one of the easiest fish to keep. Just make sure they have a constant supply of live food and don't feed them bloodworms and you can almost forget about them.

 

Fasting is the wrong word to use as they still eat we just don't feed them.

Fasting isn't just because of overfeeding, I don't over fed and I still fast.
Depending on what you feed a lot of stuff in the feed might be just fillers so theyre not getting enough healthy food, its like we can eat mcdonalds every day but its nit healthy and will kill us in the long run.
Not feeding them will encourage them to forage and get some natural food in their diet and also help them process all the junk in what we feed them.
It also limits the amount of waste in the water and cleaner water is always good.

An example are dario darios so many people say that they are hard to take care off because they don't understand their diets but in reality they are probably one of the easiest fish to keep. Just make sure they have a constant supply of live food and don't feed them bloodworms and you can almost forget about them.

I can go along with that.

I'm just guppies. I try to feed a wide variety of foods. I agree the fish will eat if you don't feed them, and they're eating nutritious food. I feed for growth so I try to keep them full all the time, but it's hard to argue against the method as part of a feeding program.

 

smee82 my dario dario has been with me for weeks and has refused all the foods I've offered but is always full. They're very efficient little hunters and in mature planted tanks there is no shortage of microfauna!

 

My thinking on fasting is this: fish will eat anything they find in the wild and that variety results in a healthy diet that provides all they need. In the home aquarium the food is literally handed to them and packed full of all the nutrients they need (provided it is a good quality brand), so like a high energy protein bar but for fish. If they are eating high energy protein bars all the time but not necessarily using it like an athlete or body builder would, then there's no need to feed them all the time. Plus, as others have mentioned, in a healthy planted aquarium the fish are likely feeding on micro organisms, snails, and plant matter throughout the day. Fry and high energy species are a bit different of course, they need the consistent food supply to support their growth and natural activity levels.

I will also say that if you are feeding your fish the proper amount (which can be hard to judge) then there's no harm nor benefit to fasting IMO. I'm sure I have some tubby Africans but it's kinda hard to prevent the aggressive eaters from hogging all the food, in the same tank I've likely got one or two on the slI'm side.

I fast when I decide I'm too tired to travel the entire house, going from tank to tank and waiting for each aquarium to finish eating before lights out. So let's say once or twice a week. During vacation they don't get fed for a week or so. I do prefer to keep some fish well fed to prevent predation on their smaller tank mates (shrimp, snails, juveniles) and to prevent a bit of aggression in the African cichlid tank. Not to mention fasting before shipping fish off.

 

smee82 my dario dario has been with me for weeks and has refused all the foods I've offered but is always full. They're very efficient little hunters and in mature planted tanks there is no shortage of microfauna!

Your right about that, I love watching mine hunt down shrimp babies.
Dont be surprised if they never take to prepared food mine won't even touch frozen daphnia, they only eat what they hunt themselves. Mine live quite happily in my 110 with everything else and are often out and about.

 

I only give my goldfishes once a week,and after that I give them either dried daphnia or coocked peas to clear their digestive system completely

 

What day I eat what day my fish eat.They are happy I am happy with them.Which day they die that day I was sad but I will forget it next day.Life is too short and memory is not that empty.

 

I feed my fishes once every 2 days. I've started this 6 months ago, with no negative effects. I still give them normal amount of food on feeding days, not overfeeding. Fish are healthy and active as always.

By feeding less, water quality is better. I can extend my water changes to every 10 days now, as opposed to 7 days previously. That means 3 times per month, instead of 4.

As a result of this practice, I get to:
1. Save water
2. Save fish food
3. Save time

 

I really don't have a fasting schedule. My bettas and Goldfishes fries also the Nerite snails eats once during weekdays when I have my pet sitter, 2x every weekends when I got home by weekends. Freeze-dried tubifex by morning and other type of pellet at night for my bettas. Freeze-dried tubifex by morning and broccolI by night for the goldfishes fries and snail. Then they are back to normal pellets, powder and algae wafer by weekdays.