Do fish get bored of food

Dave1993 · Feb 25, 2022

So i feed mysis/brine in the morning / angel formula with sponge in afternoon / vegi feast at night/ nori all day my tang stopped eating all this but has started eating pellets and still eats nori
i never use to feed pellets cause none of my fish bothered but thought i would try and started eating them so do fish get bored of food has anyone else had this happen?

LAA · Feb 25, 2022

Fish normally don’t get “bored” of food. They may not want to eat it at the time tho. Switching up foods now and then is great for the fish but normally they will eat what you provide as long as it’s suitable to their diet.

Nick Steele · Feb 25, 2022

I don’t think they get bored but more so develop a favorite food. If you keep your schedule the same they will learn and will only eat at certain times.

At work we have a strict feeding schedule and the fish definitely chose a favorite. Some pairs will literally head bob at the surface to get the food other times they casually eat.

Dave1993 · Feb 25, 2022

Well my tang has stopped eating the brine/mysis never touched the other 2 i fed but has started eating pellets its wierd

LAA · Feb 25, 2022

Dave1993 said:
Well my tang has stopped eating the brine/mysis never touched the other 2 i fed but has started eating pellets its wierd

Tangs are mostly herbivores so that would make sense. Is there more plant in the pellets

Dave1993 · Feb 25, 2022

JumboShrimp · Feb 25, 2022

I feed my tank a very wide variety of food— but the selections enter the tank randomly throughout the day— so that “I” don’t get bored!

Ahahahahaha!

LAA · Feb 25, 2022

JumboShrimp said:
I feed my tank a very wide variety of food— but the selections enter the tank randomly throughout the day— so that “I” don’t get bored!

Ahahahahaha!

That’s smart. Probably keeps fish wondering what’s next on the menu

Nemo&Friends · Mar 10, 2022

Same with me, time and type vary with my mood. I doubt that in nature they always eat at the same time. They probably eat whatever they find that suits their diet.

HudsonReefer2.0 · Mar 10, 2022

I mix up nyos algae and gogi pellets w tdo chroma boost and pe mysis and ocean nutrition marine flakes. They Alwyas think it’s lunch when I approach the tank and fight for position. Lol

i cant think · Mar 11, 2022

Fish don’t get bored of it IME, you have to remember in the wild they’ll take any piece of food they can to survive. Yes a varied diet is best but it’s not needed. If a fish isn’t eating a certain food, that’s not boredom and most likely a disease or hunger strike.

The wild is a eat or die situation, fish will eat whatever piece of food they can find, wether that’s phytoplankton, small inverts (Copepods, Amphipods ect), algae, ect. They will take it, sometimes you will find some fish that are strictly herbivorous or strictly carnivorous but if you looked closely at their behaviour you may find some that take algae if they’ve ran out of one food.

Captivity is the opposite, it’s a get fed till you die situation. But fish aren’t picky, the times they often go off of food is during hunger strikes or parasites/disease can sometimes occur to a fish not eating. Or you could have an extremely picky fish that doesn’t adapt well to captivity and won’t eat a captive diet such as Acanthurus achilles, Acanthurus trigostegus, Zanclus cornulatus, Chelmon rostratus, Pygoplites diacanthus, Halichoeres iridis, Anampses spp, Macropharyngodon spp, ect.

TheDragonsReef · Mar 11, 2022

My moray definitely gets bored if i constantly feed him the same stuff lol when i offer him a variety to choose from he may not eat a certain piece of food one day and a different the next feeding. And if i constantly feed him silver sides, one day he'll just stop eating until i give him something else lol

i cant think · Mar 11, 2022

TheDragonsReef said:
My moray definitely gets bored if i constantly feed him the same stuff lol when i offer him a variety to choose from he may not eat a certain piece of food one day and a different the next feeding. And if i constantly feed him silver sides, one day he'll just stop eating until i give him something else lol

Wonder if that’s more of a preference than so much as to it being because of boredom.

TheDragonsReef · Mar 11, 2022

i cant think said:
Wonder if that’s more of a preference than so much as to it being because of boredom.

I wouldnt really say bored either but that's how the original post worded it. More of just not wanting the same thing every time. He'll eat anything when he's hungry enough though lol

Nemo&Friends · Mar 11, 2022

Pregnant women are known to have cravings for some food. I think it is because they are lacking a certain ingredient and that food would provide it. Fish may be the same. If they are always eating the same stuff, they are lacking something and need to change. I would think that is more likely than boring.
Feeding time is not only a physical necessity, but also a welcome activity, which give them something to do instead of swimming around and around in their little box. So I doubt they get bored at eating, they may need something else.

Nick Steele · Mar 11, 2022

i cant think said:
Fish don’t get bored of it IME, you have to remember in the wild they’ll take any piece of food they can to survive. Yes a varied diet is best but it’s not needed. If a fish isn’t eating a certain food, that’s not boredom and most likely a disease or hunger strike.

The wild is a eat or die situation, fish will eat whatever piece of food they can find, wether that’s phytoplankton, small inverts (Copepods, Amphipods ect), algae, ect. They will take it, sometimes you will find some fish that are strictly herbivorous or strictly carnivorous but if you looked closely at their behaviour you may find some that take algae if they’ve ran out of one food.

Captivity is the opposite, it’s a get fed till you die situation. But fish aren’t picky, the times they often go off of food is during hunger strikes or parasites/disease can sometimes occur to a fish not eating. Or you could have an extremely picky fish that doesn’t adapt well to captivity and won’t eat a captive diet such as Acanthurus achilles, Acanthurus trigostegus, Zanclus cornulatus, Chelmon rostratus, Pygoplites diacanthus, Halichoeres iridis, Anampses spp, Macropharyngodon spp, ect.

I don’t agree here. Specifically with if a carnivore runs out of food it will pick at algae. You’ll never see a lionfish or angler going after algae they would slowly wither away and starve.

Also along with the varied diet yeah not required but it will greatly improve their life. I would even bet that if you set up two tanks (plumber together so same parameters) and placed the same fish in each that are the same age the one with the varied diet would life longer and healthier.

i cant think · Mar 11, 2022

Nick Steele said:
I don’t agree here. Specifically with if a carnivore runs out of food it will pick at algae. You’ll never see a lionfish or angler going after algae they would slowly wither away and starve.

Also along with the varied diet yeah not required but it will greatly improve their life. I would even bet that if you set up two tanks (plumber together so same parameters) and placed the same fish in each that are the same age the one with the varied diet would life longer and healthier.

I never specifically said a Lionfish. However a wrasse for example, mine destroy nori. They’re said to be strictly carnivorous, my foxface is said to be strictly herbivorous yet he loves mysis/brine. My tilefish used to love nori too and agin they’re supposed to be strictly carnivorous.

Nick Steele · Mar 11, 2022

Yeah but it’s probably a learned thing. From watching your other fish eat it. To say a carnivore will become a omnivore if and when all meaty food was unavailable is very unrealistic. Many animals would starve in that situation.