Can overfeeding cause death? Or what's my problem?

[electricblue]

Ok so i have a tank that's pretty stable, no deaths until recently i think 2 fish in 1 week. I tend to overfeed my fish a little just to make sure they're healthy and do weekly water changes of around 35%, with the exception of my last two which were of every 2 weeks and i believe they were around 50%.

For the las 2 or 3 days i had seen one of my demasonis just chilling at a top corner of the tank and when i was about to do my water change this morning he died. My other one that died on sunday, as well as another one that died weeks ago, appeared to be a bit more active n showed more of a death due to aggression.

The funny thing is that i always see only my demasonis dying and it's just an isolated death, so kind of hard to blame it on disease. Their colony is always usually around 13to17 to avoid aggression but funny enough my textillis colony which only consist of 6 along with 4 other distinct fish doesn't appear to have the same problem.

Any toughts, there is no signs of bloat or anything, but i began treating the tank just to be safe and almost doubled my media to improve filtration.

[king]

I am new to the hobby so I ask a lot of questions and everyone has warned me against over feeding...I've been told it is better to under feed by a little than to over feed...I had a similar problem in December of last year, all my fish died one by one and after talking to several people I concluded it was the water temp, so I would check that...hope this helps...

[cichlid1409]

typically fish hanging in the corners is either aggression or bloat. 35% WC is not enough IMO either especially if your feeding alot.

[fshfrk]

If your water parimeters are good. With demasoni I would say aggression. Over feeding our fish is human nature. You know more is better. Your fish will be healthier if you feed them less. You and I both have this problem.

[Ca Nguyen]

definitely underfeed. keep water clean, fish competing for food, a combination of over feeding and cold water will crash your tank. plus you really should be doing smaller weekly water change to avoid system shock.

when i go on week long vacation, i gradually turn the temperature down to 72 and feed them a good meal, that last them about a week.

[cichlid1409]

large water changes will not shock your system. I did ~80% weekly for years never crashed nothing, fish love it.

[fshfrk]

He needs to be doing larger water changes not smaller.

[jhenry]

Exactly I do 90% water changes every two days with no system shock. You can feed as much as you want as long as they eat it and the you keep clean water. Also you'll need to clean you filters out more periaoticaly

[supadave]

large water changes will not shock your system. I did ~80% weekly for years never crashed nothing, fish love it.

He needs to be doing larger water changes not smaller.

Exactly I do 90% water changes every two days with no system shock. You can feed as much as you want as long as they eat it and the you keep clean water. Also you'll need to clean you filters out more periaoticaly

+1

We have a member here named EK who would drain the water out until the dorsal fins were exposed....then refill the tank......then drain again ....the refill again . All this was done for one water change on his tank . So basically , each time he did a water change....he was basically changing damn near 100% of the water . As for the Demasoni , I bred Demasoni for a few years and the only time that I saw them act as you've described was due to aggression . Demasoni are the smallest Mbuna and also the most savage of Mbuna . I don't know what your tank setup looks like ..but I would suggest adding more rocks and hiding places .

[armthehomeless]

Sounds like aggression. Demasoni are vegetarians, and need a higher vegetable content in their diet than others. What are you feeding them?

[electricblue]

Sounds like aggression. Demasoni are vegetarians, and need a higher vegetable content in their diet than others. What are you feeding them?

They're on NLS and nothing else.

[electricblue]

+1

We have a member here named EK who would drain the water out until the dorsal fins were exposed....then refill the tank......then drain again ....the refill again . All this was done for one water change on his tank . So basically , each time he did a water change....he was basically changing damn near 100% of the water . As for the Demasoni , I bred Demasoni for a few years and the only time that I saw them act as you've described was due to aggression . Demasoni are the smallest Mbuna and also the most savage of Mbuna . I don't know what your tank setup looks like ..but I would suggest adding more rocks and hiding places .

I'd say they're like u described, just to savage. There are 2 big pieces of holey rock one on each end, and two small ones in the middle, so I'm guessing that's enough hiding space. I'm new to this hobby and not a pro but i do try to retain every bit i learn and put it together.

[electricblue]

If your water parimeters are good. With demasoni I would say aggression. Over feeding our fish is human nature. You know more is better. Your fish will be healthier if you feed them less. You and I both have this problem.

Yup i heard fish can get by skipping a meal but then i decide to feed em cause it reminds me of when i'm at work hungry lol

[jhenry]

Well fish can go for a very long time without eating. When I treat fish I don't feed them for at least a week. And I've seen fish go for more than two months without food.