Do Fish Overeat?

You may remember the children's book about the little boy who overfed his goldfish, resulting in a monster-size pet who grew too big for even the local swimming pool. It's far-fetched, but the lesson is valuable: Don't overfeed your fish. Chuck won't outgrow his bowl, but offering him too much food gives him the opportunity to overeat, and that is dangerous to his health.

  1. It's Instinct

    • Goldfish in the wild generally have to hunt far and wide before finding something to eat. Instinctively, then, they eat everything they can, any time they can get it. A captive goldfish won't eat to the point of popping, but he will try to eat everything you give him. Overfeeding can result in death just as surely as not feeding your fish at all.

    Controlling Chuck's Intake

    • It's difficult to pin down a certain amount of food to feed pet fish in general. How much a fish needs depends on what kind of fish you have, how old he is and whether he lives alone or has to share flakes with other fish in his aquarium. Younger, smaller fish don't need as much food, and they may need to be fed more than once a day, but even that depends on the type of food you're feeding them. David A. Lass of FishChannel.com tells readers the rule of thumb that has developed for feeding pet fish is to feed them as much as they can eat within a certain amount of time, typically anywhere from two to 10 minutes depending on who is giving you the advice. Lass gives his opinion that you should remove food after a half-minute and that you should skip feeding your fish one day a week to keep him from overeating.

    Keep It Clean

    • If Chuck leaves food floating in the water after eating as much as he can, you should scoop it out and discard it. Food that he doesn't eat will decompose, and that will create an unhealthy environment for your fish. Decaying food breeds bacteria, which cause the water's pH level to become unbalanced. That'll make Chuck sick or even cause death.

    Variety

    • You might not think variety in food is important to a fish, but it turns out that the healthiest diet for Chuck is made up of more than one type of food. Get two to four types of food appropriate for your fish, choosing among pellets, flakes, freeze-dried and frozen foods, then feed him a different food each day. If you have more than one fish, give them a bit of each every day and watch as they pick their favorites. Providing a variety of foods -- but in quantities that don't allow for overeating -- is the best way to ensure your fish gets all the nutrition he needs.