Feeding Tips

Should I Feed Fish After Water Change? Feeding Behaviors

Most people ask, should I feed fish after water change? So it is not good to immediately provide them with the eating stuff. You have to wait for at least 1 hour.

If you own the fish at your comfort place, it is your prime duty to take care of all the feeding and cleaning activities. You must be concisely clear about when and how often to feed them. Especially before and after the cleaning, you should be clear about the gap or timing of providing food to fish.

In terms of this gap, while cleaning the fish tank, most people are curious about should I feed fish after water change. You are bound to take extra care of the fish before and after the cleaning. In terms of food, you are not allowed to feed them after for at least an hour once you are done with changing the tank water.

Fish feeding

This gap of an hour is essential because it might be risky for the fish to digest the food appropriately while water changing activity. During this gap, things settle down, and fish get familiar with the temperature and other factors.

Fishes are already under stress while cleaning actions and need more energy to deal with this stressful situation. Thus you might be clear about the proper timing of feeding them so that they remain active and responsive towards you and the tank’s environment.

Let’s find out the details about this in the section below

Fish Feeding after Water Change

There is a big no to the feeding activity for fish after the water change. Because it might be a risky factor for the health of the fish. When you are performing the water change with the fish in the tank, the fish’s metabolism fluctuates to a great extent.

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There might be a slight rise and fall in the temperature and pH. The fishes need to get a concise time to return to the normal range so that they would behave the way they were before.

Thus, if you want to change the water, ensure you feed them a minimum of 2 hours before. Afterward, when you are done changing the water, try not to present anything to them for a minimum of 1-hour.

So that things get back to normal and fishes get familiar with the inside atmosphere of the tank or aquarium. When things get stable, there would be precise smoothness in every happening of the tank. The fish will eat smoothly, and you can avoid tackling unrealistic events.

Why Not Feed?

According to experts and professionals, there can be various possible reasons that you should not feed them immediately after changing the water. Different fishes show different responding behaviors to this action. If you do so;

  • The fish may not eat anything when you present them with the food. This is because they are already stressed out due to changing internal conditions. Thus all the food you give to them gets wasted.
  • On the other hand, some dishes are so responsive in this stressed condition that they would eat anything floating around them in the confusion of food. Thus they do not need feeding. So you must avoid the situation for not promoting the over the eating situation

When to Feed?

As it has been stated above, it is not better to present the fish with food immediately after a water change. You have to wait for the appropriate time. In terms of time, wait for the proper gap, after which you can feed your fish with food.

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You have to wait for hours. However, the minimum hour gap should be one. After that, you can present something to them to meet their craving needs.

However, if you haven’t changed the water and fed your fish, you must wait for around 2 hours.

After these two hours, you can go for the water change activity. It would be better for the health, metabolism, and, most importantly, the fish’s digestive system.

On the other hand, after seeking all this feeding and water changing information, people need clarification about whether it would be good to feed the fish before or after the water change.

So for a precise understanding, most experts go with the before option. Feed your fish about 2 hours before the water changes. Because, in this case, the fish poop before the water changes, and all the ammonia and excessive waste get added to the water.

Thus the popping waste material will not degrade the tank’s environment after the water change.

Precautions to Follow

While changing the tank water and feeding the fish, you have to care for various related factors. These factors are essential for maintaining the natural atmosphere in the tank. These are;

  • While changing the water, you can not remove all the water at the same time. This will risk the fish’s life in the tank, as they are not finding any water content to survive.
  • Try to check out the water condition before adding it to the tank because if any of the water factors fluctuate, this might severely impact the fish’s health. This fluctuating condition might affect the feeding demands and behaviors of the fish.
  • Along with all the temperatures and optimal conditions, you have to look for the pH level of the water also. Try to adjust and manage it as per the fish requirements in the aquarium or tank.
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The Final Statement

If you are a fish lover, you must maintain all the related factors to keep your fish healthy and interactive. For this, you have to be sure about all the feeding behaviors of the fish and cleaning aspects of the fishing tank.

So that there would be no issue related to it in your personal responding activities. We have tried to cover most of the facts regarding feeding time after changing the water in the section provided above.

Hope you have found it worthy in your dealings with the fish tank or aquarium!

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