Feeding every other day?

[Mercfh]

I know this is a topic of a lot of opinions, but I guess I wanted to see what people thought of this in general?

I feed my 55g and 29g tanks every other day (but do a decent feed) and they seem ok, but I see a lot of people suggest this is bad as fish have small stomachs.

But then some people say they only need to really be fed once a week. 

I seem to have much less algae/etc... when I feed every other day. I mean is there any reason this is a bad idea? I don't have really any SUPER tiny fish.

[Whitecloud09]

On 2/6/2024 at 8:43 PM, Mercfh said:

I know this is a topic of a lot of opinions, but I guess I wanted to see what people thought of this in general?

I feed my 55g and 29g tanks every other day (but do a decent feed) and they seem ok, but I see a lot of people suggest this is bad as fish have small stomachs.

But then some people say they only need to really be fed once a week. 

I seem to have much less algae/etc... when I feed every other day. I mean is there any reason this is a bad idea? I don't have really any SUPER tiny fish.

I see no problem with that. But don’t over feed obviously. I see no issue at all! Just keep feeding the same and ya that’s it. @Mercfh

[Guppysnail]

From my experience if cutting down to less feedings decrease algae it’s because to much was being fed at one time.  
I do not think it would harm your fish for every other day feedings. I think taking the exact amount you are feeding every other day and split in half to be able to feed everyday would be better and more consistent for your fish. 
Splitting that amount may even lead to less algae because almost none would go to waste.  Feeding heavy there is always waste that fall between substrate pieces. The split ensures the fish actually consume more.  

[Whitecloud09]

On 2/7/2024 at 6:59 AM, Guppysnail said:

From my experience if cutting down to less feedings decrease algae it’s because to much was being fed at one time.  
I do not think it would harm your fish for every other day feedings. I think taking the exact amount you are feeding every other day and split in half to be able to feed everyday would be better and more consistent for your fish. 
Splitting that amount may even lead to less algae because almost none would go to waste.  Feeding heavy there is always waste that fall between substrate pieces. The split ensures the fish actually consume more.  

Yes I agree. I would just not stress it and continue!

[Tlindsey]

Definitely ok with the exception for fry that need daily feeding. 

[jo1414]

I am still pretty new to the hobby (just 13 months in) but I'm still working with feeding. I do tend to do every other day with all my tanks. I still haven't dialed in my 40GB feeding (I've had that one for 5 months and it's HARD, omg) it definitely works well with my other tanks. I think I'm actually feeding properly with all of them, but I always feel like I am feeding the big tank too little because they ALWAYS  lear the food within that 3 minute time mark but they seem to be ravenous doing it. I'm working on my mindset. LOL.

 

[MattyM]

In my 100g - what my fish don't eat, the cory cats eat (I also give them bottom-feeder food), and what the cory cats don't eat, my amanos and snails eat. This makes it very hard to overfeed the tank 🙂

[face]

Imo how much and how often you feed your tank is dependent on the fish a large predator is likely adapted to eat 1 large meal every few days or even a week a fish like a goldfish is adapted to eat constantly but the stuff they eat is very low in nutrients so in shorter it depends 

[jwcarlson]

It's all about your goals.  If you have mature fish in a community tank that you're simply enjoying.  I don't think there's anything wrong with every other day.  In general, I think there's more stuff that fish graze on in a tank than we might realize.  I feed almost everything twice a day.  But that's because almost everything is growing out or attempting to breed.  So that aligns with my goals.

I also thrive on a routine.  So that is a factor for me too.