Will fish eat them selves to death or just till they are full?
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CoralsAddiction
Active member
My fishes ignore excess food once they get full. But they are pretty fit. My fishes go to Orange Theory 3 times per week. So.
ThRoewer
New member
Some of my fish just don't eat enough, while others stuff themselves until they are visibly full, but none really overeats.
What I noticed is that some of my fish are just crazy picky. Especially my Sumatra Regals. Their favorite foods are flakes and pellets, while they mostly spit the mysis I offer. The percula and starcki damsels in that tank are pretty much the same. I would stop feeding mysis altogether there if it wasn't for the pipefish and mandarins.
Pretty much the same species of fish in my 40 gallon tank goes totally nuts about mysis.
So I think there is also a social component to this.
If you have at least one crazy eater in your tank it may "infect" all the others. On the other hand, if most of your fish are picky, it may also spill over to other fish.
Pipefish and mandarins are a bit of a special case. They definitely copy from other fish which foods to take, but I seriously doubt other fish copy from them.
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What I noticed is that some of my fish are just crazy picky. Especially my Sumatra Regals. Their favorite foods are flakes and pellets, while they mostly spit the mysis I offer. The percula and starcki damsels in that tank are pretty much the same. I would stop feeding mysis altogether there if it wasn't for the pipefish and mandarins.
Pretty much the same species of fish in my 40 gallon tank goes totally nuts about mysis.
So I think there is also a social component to this.
If you have at least one crazy eater in your tank it may "infect" all the others. On the other hand, if most of your fish are picky, it may also spill over to other fish.
Pipefish and mandarins are a bit of a special case. They definitely copy from other fish which foods to take, but I seriously doubt other fish copy from them.
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hogfanreefer
Active member
Some of mine will eat as long as I continue to put food in the tank. When they start to get picky about the size of the food or spit it out after taking it in, they are full. I usually don't feed enough to get them to that point because their stomachs will be visibly bulging by then. Others will eat a reasonable amount and then ignore further food.
I'm convinced they're all individuals even though some types of fish eat more readily/aggressively (wrasse).
I'm convinced they're all individuals even though some types of fish eat more readily/aggressively (wrasse).
Jeremy1988
New member
Definitely +1 on this one. Couldnt agree more with how some eat what they need and others stuff there faces! My Blue Assessor, and scissortail are bad about this...
Fish are like going to a party hosted by Caligula.
Sharks will disgorge and then continue eating. But in the aquarium, ambush predators like Frogfish,,etc--can eat too much and die, according to folklore(they cant descriminate the potential toxins in the food that swims by).
But in general, common SW and FW fish will just stop eating when full. IME
Sharks will disgorge and then continue eating. But in the aquarium, ambush predators like Frogfish,,etc--can eat too much and die, according to folklore(they cant descriminate the potential toxins in the food that swims by).
But in general, common SW and FW fish will just stop eating when full. IME
scooter31707
New member
IME, I have notice that the Tangs I have had in my years will eat and eat and eat non-stop.
More likely the goldfish died from the pollution or low oxygen caused by the excess food, rather than by eating to death.
cougareyes
New member
Sadly some fish will eat themselves to death, as mentioned above specifically ambush predators. I just lost my fuzzy dwarf lionfish to bloat. I had 4 lions in a 90g and fed them live food. I had the fuzzy for 4.5 years and he was a beast, I had to use a feeding stick to block him from eating everything in site. After feeding sometimes I'd leave a few ghosties or saltwater mollies hiding in the tank for them to hunt until the next feeding. They ate good a few days ago, and the day after I saw the fuzzy had probably hunted down everything in the tank. His stomach was huge and I was immediately concerned. He died 2 days later.
Jeremy1988
New member
O wow...I'd like more comments on this. So essentially and I'm not attacking you...you overfeed your lion?
davocean
Active member
I have had some fish eat until they had food sticking out of their mouth just hanging there(mysis) because they just could not get anymore down!
As for lions, piggies, I once had a small one eat a coral cat that was way too big, swam w/ tail sticking out for long time, thought it was going to kill it, especially w/ those pec spines they have, and that lion just sat on a rock all day looking miserable, but it was fine next day.
As for lions, piggies, I once had a small one eat a coral cat that was way too big, swam w/ tail sticking out for long time, thought it was going to kill it, especially w/ those pec spines they have, and that lion just sat on a rock all day looking miserable, but it was fine next day.
