can a fish kill himself from eating to much

[drwwalker]

My fish eats alot I feed two times a day and I place 3 too 4 strips of seaweed selects and mixed flake food in tank and their stomach seem like they are going to explode they eat all day the next morning looks normal then and they eat until I stop feeding them. GREEDY

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm, good question (will/can a fish die from overeating? ).
I would be tempted to say no as they pretty much can regulate their food intake unlike humans
However remember in the wild, fish receive regular exercise by foraging for food, while in our tanks the food is basically handed to them on a plate. If there isn't enough swimming room for the fish to burn off this food then yes they could become obese and *maybe* it could lead to an early demise ( however this would be the fault of the keeper not the fish ).

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[danmhippo]

It never happened to me in the case of marine fish (I do try to maintain a nutrient deficient system, which does not meant starving fish). However, I do have incidence in the FW fish. I used have an arrowana that took too many feeders and the last feeder happened to be a larger size that got stuck halfway in the throat. Poor fish probably having difficulties re-girgitating it out. When I did find this out next morning, he is already lifeless on the bottom of the tank.

Yes, it is possible for fish to die from eating too much. Yet, how likely in SW fish?? I do not know.

 

[jdeets]

Here is a quote from Fenner's website about growth rates in marine fish, which is somewhat related to your inquiry:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

2) Life Span: There is evidence that getting too big, too fast to some degree shortens fish (and other organisms') life spans. Slow and not-so-steady growth wins the race, if nothing else than by outliving the competition.

This quote can be found on Fenner's website here.

I think the bottom line is that if they are fed so that they grow really fast, the end result could be a shortened life span.

[ July 25, 2001: Message edited by: jdeets ]

 

[drwwalker]

that makes good sense thanks I just wanted to make sure they are feed well since theyre not in the wild and cant find food on thier own I will cut down on the amount I feed to them. My tang eats all the time and my clowns they eat and go back to thier "coral" no swimming tang is fine he swims alot clowns are lazy

[ July 25, 2001: Message edited by: drwwalker ]