How much do you feed your fish?
- Thread starter darren24
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I feed my fish every two days. I feed Omega one algae flakes one time then frozen mysis the other time. I alternate between them. I also have kinda light fish load too. a small yellow tang, purple firefish and a mated pair of small false percs. I have thought about switching in algae enhanced Brian shrimp every now and again.
My tank is a 75gallon with a 30 gallon sump.
My tank is a 75gallon with a 30 gallon sump.
i had only fed my fish once a day for many years...but the hospital i work at has a 200+ gallon fowlr tank. They have a naso, sailfin, puffer, yellow tangs and an assortment of other fish...These fish are huge, and their bellys are always full and round. I started working there a year ago, and they have grown tremendously....one day i caught one of the guys from wet pets and asked him how they got so big , and he told me he had them fed 3-4 times daily with a heavy load of flakes, mysis, romaine and spirulina..
i was on vacation a couple of months ago and i left feeding to one of my nieghbors...when i got back (maybe it was just me)..but the fish looked bigger..their bodys were rounder and especially on the tangs i couldnt see their ribs any more...when i asked my neighbor how much he fed them...well lets just say it was about 5-6 times what i did in one feeding,.,
since then i overfeed my fish 3-4 times daily, with various food....they have definatly increased in size,,,thats why i have to find a home for my 31/2-4 inch velvet damsel...(1/2 inch when i brought him).... the increased food load has had no affect on my tank.....
i think my fish are healthier too,,,no ick since either,,,maybe coincidence??
i was on vacation a couple of months ago and i left feeding to one of my nieghbors...when i got back (maybe it was just me)..but the fish looked bigger..their bodys were rounder and especially on the tangs i couldnt see their ribs any more...when i asked my neighbor how much he fed them...well lets just say it was about 5-6 times what i did in one feeding,.,
since then i overfeed my fish 3-4 times daily, with various food....they have definatly increased in size,,,thats why i have to find a home for my 31/2-4 inch velvet damsel...(1/2 inch when i brought him).... the increased food load has had no affect on my tank.....
i think my fish are healthier too,,,no ick since either,,,maybe coincidence??
Thanks for the replies folks. But when you say every day or every other day you feed can you estimate about how much food per fish? Like my clowns will eat 10 + medium frozen mysis per fish and still look hungry. What I am trying to avoid is not only over feeding the fish but polluting the tank. So if you can guess about how much and the type of fish that would help me out. Thanks.
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One of each: Yellow Tang, Coral Beauty, Cinn Clown, Strip Damsel, Goby, Scooter, Lawnmower
55 Gallon
Turn off the pumps and feed cyclops-eze and 2 brine shrimp dots every 2 days
55 Gallon
Turn off the pumps and feed cyclops-eze and 2 brine shrimp dots every 2 days
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I feed Frozen Mysis, Frozen Brine, Frozen Formula One every other day. I also give them Flakes of Formula One.
I feed my tanks 3 times or more per day!.... Nothing like fat and happy fish and corals.
I feed a big chunk of mysis, cylco-peeze, flake, granules, nori on clips...there is always something for them to look for.
Bio-load, what bio-load? That's why you have set up a proper and efficent reef system..to handle it's loads...
FEED YOUR FISH!!!!
I feed a big chunk of mysis, cylco-peeze, flake, granules, nori on clips...there is always something for them to look for.
Bio-load, what bio-load? That's why you have set up a proper and efficent reef system..to handle it's loads...
FEED YOUR FISH!!!!
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More food = more skimmate? My algae problems have def. gone away now that I feed once every other day or less. I don't really have a set schedule though.
I feed once a day most days, but I do a pretty good feed. I have a big Metallic Foxface, good sized clown (not quite sure which kind... got it with a tank), a Lawnmower, 6 line Wrasse, and a fairly new, small Copper-banded in my 120. In my 58, I have a BIG Maroon clown with its anemone, a small (but growing) Foxface, and a small (but growing) Yellow Tang. I may have to move the last two out soon, as I am getting uneasy about them in such a small tank. I have cleanup crews: crabs, shrimp, etc. in both tanks.
I also have quite a few corals (though I am recovering from a crash about 8 moths ago now... baking soda OD... took a while to fix and lost some corals) that are doing fine now, but are not too large.
I mix it up a bit, and things change when I am away and others are feeding the tank, but my general sequence is giving flake only on alternate days, a pinch each in the small tank, a larger pinch of Formula one in the large tank, and two good pinches of formula 2 in the large tank. I have done things this for about 2 years, and my fish have generally grown quite well. When I am in the mood, I'll put in a clip of algae as well.
On the "other" or alternate days, I'll give them Mysis and/or some other of the frozen foods. I usually give some Formula two as well for the vegetarians, as they don't get a lot out of the Mysis as I understand it (though they eat them). I use one good sized cube in the large tank, and a smaller cube in the small tank and give some (if it is fine enough) to the Anemone.
Overfeeding did lead to algae blooms, I found. I tried feeding on alternate days, but my corals and other things began to disappear, and the fish just did not seem as comfortable. I don't feel they (mine) need more than one feed a day... they all browse my reef anyway, so they snack a bit on whatever the rocks provide. To gauge how much to give them, I just watched them eat with the pumps off. I found that after a certain point, the food was just not being eaten... they were full, so I cut back a bit. I also try to adjust the order I put food in according to which fish will get to it first. I like to make sure my big FoxFace eats his veggies before gorging on Mysis. I do allow a little extra for the cleanup crews at times.
For the corals, I put in some Phyto, Oyster Eggs (they love those) and a few other things, again depending on my mood. I do that with the frozen food, as a rule, on the alternate days.
For a treat, I buy live brine shrimp at one of the shops and give those for a few days.
I have pretty major filtration going... large, oversized skimmer, Macro in a fuge, and a 100G stock-tank sump, and a Sulfur reactor (jury is still out on that one). Also lots of live rock in each tank and the sump. The basement sump is shared between the two tanks. I wanted to be able to feed them enough, and make the odd mistake, with a minimum of impact.
I feed my fish sitters Wine, but that is another story.
My two cents...
-Mike
I also have quite a few corals (though I am recovering from a crash about 8 moths ago now... baking soda OD... took a while to fix and lost some corals) that are doing fine now, but are not too large.
I mix it up a bit, and things change when I am away and others are feeding the tank, but my general sequence is giving flake only on alternate days, a pinch each in the small tank, a larger pinch of Formula one in the large tank, and two good pinches of formula 2 in the large tank. I have done things this for about 2 years, and my fish have generally grown quite well. When I am in the mood, I'll put in a clip of algae as well.
On the "other" or alternate days, I'll give them Mysis and/or some other of the frozen foods. I usually give some Formula two as well for the vegetarians, as they don't get a lot out of the Mysis as I understand it (though they eat them). I use one good sized cube in the large tank, and a smaller cube in the small tank and give some (if it is fine enough) to the Anemone.
Overfeeding did lead to algae blooms, I found. I tried feeding on alternate days, but my corals and other things began to disappear, and the fish just did not seem as comfortable. I don't feel they (mine) need more than one feed a day... they all browse my reef anyway, so they snack a bit on whatever the rocks provide. To gauge how much to give them, I just watched them eat with the pumps off. I found that after a certain point, the food was just not being eaten... they were full, so I cut back a bit. I also try to adjust the order I put food in according to which fish will get to it first. I like to make sure my big FoxFace eats his veggies before gorging on Mysis. I do allow a little extra for the cleanup crews at times.
For the corals, I put in some Phyto, Oyster Eggs (they love those) and a few other things, again depending on my mood. I do that with the frozen food, as a rule, on the alternate days.
For a treat, I buy live brine shrimp at one of the shops and give those for a few days.
I have pretty major filtration going... large, oversized skimmer, Macro in a fuge, and a 100G stock-tank sump, and a Sulfur reactor (jury is still out on that one). Also lots of live rock in each tank and the sump. The basement sump is shared between the two tanks. I wanted to be able to feed them enough, and make the odd mistake, with a minimum of impact.
I feed my fish sitters Wine, but that is another story.
My two cents...
-Mike
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I couldn't agree more. Anyone thats been diving has seen how fat fish look in the wild. I feed cyclopeeze and spirulina flake mix 4 times a day through an auto feeder, and then feed pellets when I get home from work, and frozen (mysis, formulas, prawn, krill, silversides), once more PM. Fat fish are almost always healthy fish. I tend to disgaree with people that say "there is enough food in my reef to feed the fish". Just my opinion.
