[ChadderCheeze]

My local pet store owner told me to feed both my 37-gallon tank and 18-gallon tank tropical freshwater fish every other day. The manager at the store said every 2 or 3 days. The label on my fish food container says 3 times a day. The Tetra brand brochure that came with a kit I bought says 1-3 times daily. I've googled it and I'm coming across a lot people who feed them once daily but only 6 days a week and make them fast one day a week...yet still I'm finding all kinds of different answers. I'd like to feed back here. Why is my local pet store owner (who's been selling fish for 30+ years) saying only once every other day when that answer is the most uncommon one I'm finding on the internet? Thank you!

 

[ladayen]

In the wild fish wont necessarily eat every day so every other day has in the past been an accepted practice. However new information shows that the fish will grow bigger and stronger if feed slightly smaller amounts every day. The day of rest usually coincides with water changes, where it's possible some old food might get stirred up, or the fish might be stressed and not eat anyways.

 

[JDM]

I feed once per day and don't skip a day. I feed in the morning so any food on the bottom has all day to get eaten. There is very little waste as the catfish clean it up pretty well. That schedule, with the skipped day, was the most common feeding schedule I ran across and seemed to make the most sense.

I think that the idea behind multiple feedings each day being not ideal is that the fish get to know that there will always be more food later so they become "lazy" eaters. There is more food waste left over as a result. You can expect that the food manufaturers/sellers want you to buy more food so feeding this way means that you have to buy more food faster.

Jeff.