Fish Eating Like a Pig? - Not so Good!

[leebca]

If a fish is ‘eating like a pig’ obviously, there’s something wrong. Fish aren’t pigs.

Do you think the fish eats like this in the wild? Ask a diver.

Why does a captive fish eat voraciously at meal time? Is it a disease? Intestinal worms? A health issue?

Let me tell you a true story:

I obtained a dying, 2.5" non-eating tang some time back. I couldn’t tell what kind of tang it was. It was totally off-white, without markings. I knew from its general shape that it should have been one of the genus Naso, but which one only Mother Nature knew for sure. It looked like a ghost. Quite emaciated and knocking on death’s door. It had a semi-catatonic look in its eyes, a kind of cross between “I’m checking out� and “Don’t let me go.� You know that kind of look this fish can seem to give you?

I got the fish to start eating in my QT. When it did, I immediately got it eating the right kinds of foods, 3 times a day, for a herbivore, like from my post: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=785228

I cleared the fish disease-free and since it was eating well, I introduced it to my community FOWLR aquarium.

In approximately 10 days after getting into the main tank, the fish began to ‘eat like a pig.’ It would gulp down foods that weren't even the correct foods for it. It was eating so voraciously during feeding times that I was honestly concerned about its chances of survival. It’s belly had noticeably bulged, and against the pinched dorsal area (where fish normally store fat), the belly bulge was huge. My concern was that the fish was going to explode – literally!

I watched closely to observe its excrement. A fish’s excrement that looks like what the fish is eating has digestive problems. If you feed gut-loaded brine shrimp, the poop shouldn’t look like brine shrimp! This fish’s excrement indicated it was not completely digesting its food. I verified to my satisfaction that the fish had no worms or microbe health issues. The conclusion was that the fish was eating too much and not allowing enough time for proper digestion of what was eaten.

During this short 10-day period of its eating frenzy, it was belligerent to other fishes in the community aquarium. A belligerent Naso you ask? Yes. It acted like all food entering the aquarium was its personal property and at meal time, in between gulping down food, it would ram or chase other fishes away from the feeding area. When not eating, it would chase fish twice its size. It even chased my Harlequin Tusk (which was pretty stupid of it). But the Tusk was, to my surprise, tolerant of the tang. Sometimes when the chase was ‘on’ the Tusk would stop and face the tang. The tang would slowly retreat.

I allowed this feeding frenzy to continue another 10 days before I took intervention action. To ‘slow the fish down’ I’d fake it out during feeding times. I’d decoy it to another part of the aquarium while dropping most the food for the other fishes at another part of the aquarium. I fed the fish algae before I fed the other fish, hoping to partially satiate its appetite. This only worked a little, since this Naso seemed to have a totally insatiable appetite. I worked on this ‘controlled’ eating frenzy for many weeks.

I continued to worry for 2.5 more months. During this time the dorsal side of the fish filled in nicely. Markings and coloration appeared slowly such that at the end of the 5 months I had a beautifully colored, orange-red lipped juvenile that was easily identified as Naso elegans.

And then the fish stopped eating. It stopped chasing the other fishes. The fish seemed almost. . .serene.

It missed a meal, then a second meal. It returned to the feeding area and nibbled at food. It missed another meal. It returned to the feeding area and nibbled at food. It nibbled at the algae. A week of this off-and-on moderate eating behavior and then the fish settled into a realistic eating pattern along with the other fish. It ate its proper foods and let the other food get by. It never attacked another fish during feeding after this. It ate neither voraciously nor piggishly; instead it ate its moderate fill at each of the three meals. Its excrement was now looking a bit sandy in appearance – indistinguishable from the food it was eating. The fish settled into this pattern and has so far continued this pattern for the last 3 years!

The story says something to me. Why does a fish each voraciously? Why does a fish eat like a pig? The answer is simple
A fish eats like a pig because it’s starving.

But. . .How can it be starving if it is eating so much?

Mother Nature has placed a subliminal ‘chip’ in the fish’s brain. If the fish isn’t getting the nutrition it needs, it is driven to eat more. If the fish is unsure of its next meal, it gorges itself when it can. The fish is eating so much because there is something missing in its diet – the right kind of protein, carbohydrate, the right kind of fats/lipids, vitamins, elements, etc.

I know from this experience that a fish fed with proper foods on a regular schedule will not ‘eat like a pig.’ None of my old tank inhabitant fishes eat voraciously. They dutifully gather at the feeding area within 20 minutes of their normal feeding time (which one has the watch I have no idea — I didn’t teach any of them to tell time), and wait for their food.

Aquarists should review the foods they feed and the frequency, and the consistency with which they feed their fishes to be sure that ultimately, with time, their fishes don’t eat like a pig.

So having a fish that ‘eats like a pig’ may be something to be concerned about.

[TOURKID]

EXCELLENT post. I read a few of your nutrition plans and schedules for feeding about a week or so ago. I had just started using selcon before that, and bought some more vegi food for my clown, along with zoe. (she doesent like zoe one bit! lol) But anyhow... My fish actually stops eating when its full, unlike before, it would stop eating when i stopped feeding it.

When i first got her she wouldent accept green flakes only orange, and emerald entree was forbiddeen by her. I think it just took her time to learn that anything being put in my me was acceptable and she will now eat anything I add. So dont think they 'wont, or refuse' to eat somthing healthy, just give it time. she was a mysis junkie for the first month.

[leebca]

Good point!

I wondered whether I should write another post about the issue of "My fish will only eat (mysis, or brine shrimp, or flake, or etc.)."

It's like, who's in charge? Are aquarists not smarter than fish?

If we don't let them get into a pattern, it's easy. But if they are in a pattern, there are ways to coax them out of it. Its our job as good aquarists to make sure they get the right foods with supplements. We're lucky in this Century because we have a variety of things to choose from.

[Psionicdragon]

Hey Lee,

can we get a mod to make a sticky tread with your latest info to hobbyists similar to the Ick thread that is already stick'd?