How Do You Know If You're Overfeeding Your Fish?

Overfeeding your fish is an extremely easy thing to do. Feeding your fish is the primary way of interacting with your fish. The only time your fish will be excited to see you is when you are going to feed them.

It’s more often that a fish will die from overfeeding rather than die from being starved. This would be the case as not all the food put into the tank would be eaten or removed. This food is likely to fall to the bottom of the tank and stay there, where it will begin to rot over time. When the food begins to rot this will begin to pollute the water in the aquarium.

When cleaning the aquarium if the substrate is not siphoned effectively the rotting food will remain which could cause your water levels to fluctuate which could cause diseases with your fish which may cause death of livestock. We would suggest investing in a siphon gravel cleaner for your tank to help with this issue, and as a bonus they also help with water changes.

Happy healthy aquarium fish will always look hungry. When buying new fish, a very good way to test whether the fish are in good health and well cared for would be to raise your hand to the tank. If the fish in the tank swarm at the surface of the water this shows the fish are regularly fed and cared for.

How to ensure you are not overfeeding your fish

The rule with fish feeding is to not feed them more than what they can consume in half a minute. If you are feeding the fish more than they can consume in half a minute causing the food to sink and mix with the substrate then you are probably feeding your fish a little bit too much. Cut the food down to ensure what you are feeding the fish can be consumed in half a minute without wasted food being left in the tank.

If your tank is heavily stocked maybe feed them a couple of times with smaller pinches of feed to ensure none of the food is wasted in the tank.

It is not completely necessary to feed your fish everyday either. Most fish keepers will only feed their fish every other day. Therefore, the fish will go unfed 2-3 times a week. It is sometimes more beneficial if the fish go without food for at least one day a week.

Ensure you are feeding your fish a good diet

Many fish foods that are supplied online and in your local fish shop are high quality foods which will provide good nutrient for your fish and set up. You should mix the diet with dry food and frozen or freeze-dried fish foods. It’s also a good idea to use multiple foods as they will help to add different nutrients to the tank.

You could start by using frozen foods such as Frozen Fish Food or Bloodworm Frozen Fish Food.

If you're looking to purchase food to suite a specific species of fish such as goldfish, you could try goldfish flakes fish food or goldfish pellets.

If cichlids are more your thing then try them out on a variety of food, starting with different types of pellets

Still not sure on what fish food would be best? Have a read of our guide to Finding The Best Food For Your Fish.

Using these tips and tricks you can ensure you’re not polluting your tank by over feeding your fish!