Overfeeding

[AmazonRainbows]

Ok,
well I known that I have been point out as some one who overfeed my fish. I do believe it's true but I think that there is something I don't understand and I would like more explanation about it.

What is overfeeding. I known it sound funny..

Is overfeeding giving fish so much food that they can eat everything?

Is overfeeding giving eat to fish too many time in a day?

I'm asking thoses questions because I feed my fish 4 to 6 times a day. I give them smal amount of food and everything goes out of the way in less then 3-5 minutes. My fish don't have bloat stomack after eating but eating that many time they do a lot of wastes. So many that I feel that some food just make is way out before it as been trasnform. I can see what the fish eat in ther waste (worm, shrimp, etc..).

Some time I have planaria and this week start to have another swimming worm harmless but symptom of overfeeding.

My wonder is do I get this because the fish eat too much or do I get this because some food and fish waste go in my filtrer. I clean the tank once every 3 days at least and my filter once every two to 4 weeks.

Thank you very much for the help.

[pcsb23]

Well, in general little and often is a good approach, there needs to be a reasonable time between feedings, say a couple of hours. If they eat everything in 3 minutes then I would not say it was overfeeding. Whilst overfeeding is the prime cause of planaria poor amintenac must be the second. I saw the post re your worm too! I would up the cleaning regime aq bit, clean you filters every 2 weeks max, particularly if they are cannister filters. In my experience in planted tanks it is easy for bits of food to get trapped in the plants and substrate that the discus can't get to. In these tanks a clean up crew is essential. Not sure what your tank type is. For most sizes of discus 4 feedings a day is plenty.

Suspect its the frequency and bits of food getting trapped in filters and plants etc.

Paul.

[AmazonRainbows]

Hello Paul,

I have a bare bottom tank. No plant, no gravel and only one peice of drift wood that I clean with brush if it look dirty. When my fish get hit by many deases I feel going back to basic was the best way to put back thing in the right way.

I feed my fish a 8h in the morning, 12, 16h00 and 20h00 with frozen food. sometime I give pelet or flake in between. There is never food remaining in the bottom after feeding time but some goes right in the filter specialy blood worms. Feed fish at least one hour after waike up and before sleep time.

When I clean my filter I also clean the inside of the bucket. My bio filter is fill with noodles, smal bio ball and sponge. I clean noodles every time I open the filter. I clean, rotate and move out sponge almost every two weeks. My LFS tell me not to clean the bio ball so I never clean them. I guset I most clean them now. This will be my next try.

When I do my water change I use a sponge and clean all tank glass including bottom one. I also clean filter tube, heater and other part in the tank as need.

Planaria is not growing fast on my glass but is growing realy fast on my filter tube. I buy my filter tube at home depot to save on them. I use the 3/4" instead of the one supply by fluval. It works and I have no leak at all. I start worry if the plastic is not as good as the one buy in LFS.

I may also cut my filter during feeding time so they don't catch much food.

[Ardan]

I would clean the sponge in used aquarium water and reuse the sponge.
Always use the same sponge in the filter.

I would feed a little less and change water more often.
At least 50%/day until you get the planaria under control.

hth
Ardan

[RyanH]

If you are replacing your sponges every two weeks, they are doing absolutely nothing for you and you are wasting your money.

As Ardan said, just squeeze them out in a pail of aquarium water a couple of times per month.

[sam_y]

Hi,

What kind of filter are you using? If food is getting sucked in, you might want to consider fitting a sponge over the intake (e.g. an Aquaclear sponge). Food that gets into the filter will just sit there and rot, which is exactly what encourages planaria growth. I find my discus sometimes eat food right off the sponge if it's stuck there. Squeeze it out often to get rid of leftover food.

[kaceyo]

I agree with Sam in that you need a sponge prefiler over the intake of the filter tube. You shouldn't have to clean the balls at all (not sure about noodles) if food and large particles can't get into the filter. Also, as Ryan and Arden said, just clean the sponge gently with tank water in a bucket. And I think 4 feedings a day is enough, but many do feed more often.

Kacey