Guppies are always hungry. They will feed every time you serve food to them whether they are hungry or not. You can easily get confused and end up overfeeding them by such feeding behavior of your guppy fish.
Overfeeding can make your guppy fish suffer, but can they die from getting overfed. Can guppy die from overfeeding? Let us find out.
Guppy fish can die from overfeeding because of bloated belly, constipation, and swim bladder disease. However, guppies are voracious eaters and will eat every time you serve food. So, feed your guppy in such quantity that they can eat under 1-2 minutes to avoid overfeeding.
We will discuss how to spot overfeeding and how we can prevent overfeeding in this article. Also, we will discuss the best food to feed to our guppies. So let us get into it.
Contents
Will guppy fish die from getting overfed?
Guppy fish can come into critical condition when being overfed.
Overfeeding your guppies will make them bloated.
Bloated guppy fish will suffer swimming and will come into life-threatening conditions.
Even your guppy fish can pass away because of being overfed.
You must know that your guppy fish can also suffer from constipation when you overfeed them.
If we don’t treat guppy constipation, it will make your guppy suffer from critical conditions, and they can even pass away.
Overfeeding guppies can cause many issues that can result in your guppy fish’s life-threatening conditions.
Let us know how we can detect that we are overfeeding our guppy fish.
Also read: How To Treat Guppy Constipation?
How to spot overfeeding?
These are the signs which indicate that your guppies are being overfed:
- Your guppy food will lie in the bottom of the tank.
- Your guppy fish will suffer from obesity.
- Guppies aquarium gravel will be dirty.
- The pH level of your guppy’s aquarium water will get decrease.
- There will be a spike in ammonia levels.
- Your guppy will find it hard to move and swim comfortably.
What happens when you overfeed your guppies?
Guppy fish become bloated when you overfeed them.
Guppies and other fish have a swim bladder, which helps maintain buoyancy.
When guppy fish becomes bloated, there are chances that the swim bladder will leave its place, and your guppy fish will find it hard to maintain buoyancy.
There are other causes of bloated guppy fish, such as:
- Your bloated guppy will lose its appetite.
- Your bloated guppy will lose interest in swimming.
Also read: Why Is My Guppy Fish Swollen?
How often should we feed our guppies?
Guppies are always hungry.
This means that they will feed every time you serve food to them whether they are hungry or not.
With such behavior of guppy fish, you can easily get confused and end up overfeeding them.
However, when feeding our guppy fish, we should make sure that neither we underfeed them nor overfeed them.
To make sure that you are feeding your guppy fish in the correct quantity, provide them food in such quantity that they can finish in 1-2 minutes.
If your guppies finish the food in seconds after you serve them, you are underfeeding them.
And, if your guppy is taking more than 2 minutes to eat the food, you are overfeeding them.
You can provide your guppy fish with a tiny pinch of food and then increase the quantity every next time until they complete it in 1-2 minutes.
This way, you can feed your guppy fish in adequate quantity over time.
Best food for our guppies
Guppies are omnivores fish and require both plant and meat matter food in their diet.
Usually, your guppy fish will happily feed on pellets and flake food every time.
However, you should feed them a variety of foods to your guppy fish to ensure their beautiful colors and faster growth.
You should feed them complex food to ensure their good health.
Consider feeding your guppies vegetables like blanched cucumber, lettuce, zucchini, and cooked green peas.
| Guppy Food | Serving Quantity | No of Times |
|---|---|---|
| Veggie pellets | One small pinch at a time | 2-3 times a day |
| Brine shrimp | One small pinch at a time | 1-2 times a week |
| Mosquito larvae | 10-15 pieces | 2-3 times a week |
| Bloodworms | One small pinch at a time | 1-2 times a week |
| Tubifex Worms | One small pinch at a time | 1 time a week |
| Zucchini (Blenched) | One small slice | 3-4 times a week |
Also read: Best Food For Guppy Fish.
Conclusion:
Guppy fish can suffer from various conditions because of overfeeding which can make them pass away.
Constipation, bloated belly, and swim bladder disorder are the primary cause of overfeeding.
To ensure you are not overfeeding your guppies, serve the food in a quantity that they can finish in under 1-2 minutes.
If your guppies are eating food in seconds after serving food, you are underfeeding them. Consider increasing the quantity of food in such cases.
Reference: ResearchGate,