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feeding too much?

3K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Varkolak 
#1 ·
I have recently trained my favorite fish (the gourami) to eat out of my hand, he also hangs out in my hand after the food's gone like my hand is his cave or something...which reminds me I wondered if they make some kind of floating roots or plants or caves made for the surface of the tank? I know the fish would love something like that... Anyway, I have been feeding the fish 2-4 times a day just flake food but they have big bellies and I am wondering if overfeeding them is deadly? I now know it can cause tank pollution so I've lessened the amount of food I give to them each time. But I just want to make sure each fish gets the proper amount of food and doesn't go hungry...they are well fed but is there a such thing as overfeeding them to the point where it could harm them? I don't want to do anything that would risk their health...they're part of my family.
 
#2 ·
Hand-feeding fish is a lot of fun. I've got my goldfish doing it and I'm working on the koi. As far as the dangers of overfeeding there are some. Overfeeding in bettas (basically cousin to your dwarf gourami) can lead to buoyancy problems. Overfeeding in goldfish (not nearly as closely related) causes GI bloat. You'll know when you are underfeeding your fish as their tummies will look sunken. Depending on how big the little round belly is, you might be overfeeding. You should just barely be able to see a bulge. Looking at the profiles of the gouramis (including dwarf gourami) here should give you an idea of a perfectly-fed gourami.


This is an overfed betta. If your little guys stomachs look anything like this, you should fast them for a few days.
 
#3 ·
And to your question on surface decor, definitely get some floating plants with gourami. Water Sprite is ideal. Clcik the shaded name for the profile with photos. Some stem plants like Brazilian Pennywort also work floating.
 
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