Concerned- Overfed?

h2oh

h2oh

Small Fish
#1
Sep 7, 2008
13
0
0
Seattle, WA
#1
I just got my African Featherfin last Sunday. By the advice of the PetSmart I've been feeding him flakes and bloodworms. They didn't specify the amount, but after reading I decided it would be appropriate to feed him a small amount of flakes in the morning, and a capsule of bloodworms at night. It's been working out until this evening...

Usually the bloodworms (which are frozen) float in a chunk and slowly fall down one by one to the gravel, where my bottomfeeder eats them. Tonight, I turned around for one second and when I looked again there's not a bloodworm in sight and my catfish has a large, bulging belly.

I don't remember it looking like that this morning, so my concern is... did he eat the whole darn chunk at once? Swallow it whole? Is this harmful??

It can't be great for the digestive system, and its got to be darn cold in his belly... The can of flakes suggested giving bloodworms as a "healthy treat" and now I'm horrified that I might kill my fish!

It would be my fault for not reading the packaging until now!

I suppose I will have to wait and see what happens, but my question is to those of you who feed your fish bloodworms... do you feed them as a meal or offer them occasionally as treats?
 

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#2
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#2
h2oh said:
I just got my African Featherfin last Sunday. By the advice of the PetSmart I've been feeding him flakes and bloodworms. They didn't specify the amount, but after reading I decided it would be appropriate to feed him a small amount of flakes in the morning, and a capsule of bloodworms at night. It's been working out until this evening...

Usually the bloodworms (which are frozen) float in a chunk and slowly fall down one by one to the gravel, where my bottomfeeder eats them. Tonight, I turned around for one second and when I looked again there's not a bloodworm in sight and my catfish has a large, bulging belly.

I don't remember it looking like that this morning, so my concern is... did he eat the whole darn chunk at once? Swallow it whole? Is this harmful??

It can't be great for the digestive system, and its got to be darn cold in his belly... The can of flakes suggested giving bloodworms as a "healthy treat" and now I'm horrified that I might kill my fish!

It would be my fault for not reading the packaging until now!

I suppose I will have to wait and see what happens, but my question is to those of you who feed your fish bloodworms... do you feed them as a meal or offer them occasionally as treats?
Click to expand...

I have been using my bloodworms as a treat only. But my fish are more into brine shrimp treats.

Also, I am a newbie fish owner with 50,000 fish in one little tank so basically - ignore everything I said.

Hope your fish is ok.
 

Lotus

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#3
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#3
It sounds like you're overfeeding your fish. They have fairly small stomachs. A few flakes or maybe 3 or 4 bloodworms per meal should be more than enough. A whole cube of bloodworms is definitely too much.

He'll be fine, but maybe skip a feeding today. Fish are fine for several days, or even up to a week, with no food.
 

fedorlikesfish

fedorlikesfish

Medium Fish
#4
Jun 10, 2008
72
0
0
in front of my tanks or on the ground
#4
I always thaw my bloodworms out before i feed them to the fish. Put the portion you plan to feed your fish in asafe container (clean,no soap residue) and let them thaw out in the fridge or you can even leave them sitting out(just that portion) for about 20 maybe 30 minutes. Any longer and Ive heard it could be unhealthy due to bacteria and such. It is less messy that way as you can drain some of the excess liquid. Your fish should be ok , most everyone that keeps fish have had one that greedily eats more than his share. The cold from the frozen bloodworms probably wont kill it but its not good for it either. Most fish need variety in their diet. I feed mine a bloodworm or brine shrimp dinner every other night and different flake and pellet based staple foods the rest of the time. I hope that helped a little.
 

Surprise_Clown_Loach

Surprise_Clown_Loach

Large Fish
#5
Aug 4, 2008
139
0
0
#5
Lotus said:
It sounds like you're overfeeding your fish. They have fairly small stomachs. A few flakes or maybe 3 or 4 bloodworms per meal should be more than enough. A whole cube of bloodworms is definitely too much.

He'll be fine, but maybe skip a feeding today. Fish are fine for several days, or even up to a week, with no food.
Click to expand...

What this man speakith it the trufth! I didn't feed my fish yesterday. They are still alive today.

This site has consistantly beat this into my head. And to my surprise, it's working!! If I feed my fish everytime they "begged", I'd be feeding them 20 times a day. They don't need to be feed often.
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#6
Jul 9, 2003
8,866
14
38
38
Columbia, SC
www.youtube.com
#6
Depends on what you want to do and your water change schedule. I pound the food into my Discus, and they always have swollen looking bellies after feeding. I then do daily water changes. But i am going for fast growth. If you are just looking to slowly grow the fish up, cut the feedings a little.

It would be bad to keep feeding and feeding with a constant big belly and not do really regular water changes.
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#7
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#7
Cichlid-Man said:
Depends on what you want to do and your water change schedule. I pound the food into my Discus, and they always have swollen looking bellies after feeding. I then do daily water changes. But i am going for fast growth. If you are just looking to slowly grow the fish up, cut the feedings a little.

It would be bad to keep feeding and feeding with a constant big belly and not do really regular water changes.
Click to expand...
lol nice, yea I want my fish to grow asap too so I can feel good for buyign this 60G tank... all because of that damn clown loach
 

h2oh

h2oh

Small Fish
#8
Sep 7, 2008
13
0
0
Seattle, WA
#8
His belly was back to normal the next day, and since the mishap I have been feeding him flakes only. I'll start back up with the bloodworms again but I'll be cutting up the chunks and feeding them as treats.

He really is a big beggar who just loves to eat, I've noticed. He isn't greed-eating because he's the only fish in the tank!

Anyway, thanks to all who replied.
 

h2oh

h2oh

Small Fish
#10
Sep 7, 2008
13
0
0
Seattle, WA
#10
He's only about four inches right now. He'll need a larger tank soon, and I'm trying to decide how big to go considering limited apartment space, whether or not I'd like to have other fish, etcetera.

The LFS said his max size would be about six inches, and I read somewhere online that it was eight... what size do you think I would need providing he gets to six or eight inches? I know that the inch-per-gallon rule is useless...
 

h2oh

h2oh

Small Fish
#12
Sep 7, 2008
13
0
0
Seattle, WA
#12
40 sounds rather large, considering I don't really want any other fish. I'm not saying I won't get a larger tank, I purchased him knowing I would have to upsize, but wouldn't a 25 or even 30 gallon tank be large enough?
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#16
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#16
also, isn't it a costly fish? as exotic as it sounds, and looks! The pricing gap isn't too far btw a 30 to a 50 as far as getting supplies, just don't buy into package deals. I would get the 50 just to be safe. Better to oversatisfy your fish than to under, esp if the cost margin isn't that much greater~
 

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