How often should I feed my fish?

[jetchris]

I have been feeding once per day. I usually start off with 8 pinches of pellets "spectra", then 2 big pinches of "ocean nutrition formula flake food - prime reef and formula two" and then 2 cubes of thawed out brine shrimp. is this to much ?? I have 8 fish and the average CUC for a 90g. If you reccommend lowering how much and how often? Also what do you reccommend for fish food.

Thanks,
CHris

 

[cameron]

Sounds like too much. What are the fish? I have a larger tank, more fish and I put about 3 pinches (not very big at that) or Prime Reef in my tank most days.

 

[jetchris]

powder brown tang, niger trigger, red hawkfish, 2 clowns, royal gramma, 2 blennies, purple chromis, coral beauty angel. Ok so 10 fish total. Also a huge brittle star.

 

[ouling]

don't spoil them, Oliver Twist turned out fine on one bowl a day. Feed all the can eat in 30 seconds per day is plenty, maybe a bit more on sunday to supplement. Usually home made seafood is the best way to go because they break down slower in your tank than store brand food, give the fish and crabs a time to get to them before it turns into nitrate.

 

[jetchris]

hmm, 30 seconds - that sounds like a good rule of thumb, that might contribute also to lower nitrates. Preparing homeade seafood sounds like it takes to much time. What do you cook for your fish? Like boiled shrimp?

 

[saltwater junky]

U Can Feed3 To 4 Times A Day Just In Small Amounts,thats What I Do So I Dont Get Alot Of Wasted Food.

 

[cameron]

Do you use seaweed in you tank? I find that a lot of my fish (and in your case a couple of them) graze on seaweed and it doesn't break down as fast as most other meat based foods.

 

[jessezm]

saltwater junky;49879 wrote: U Can Feed3 To 4 Times A Day Just In Small Amounts,thats What I Do So I Dont Get Alot Of Wasted Food.

I do that too, since I'm here all day 5 out of 7 days. Also, it depends on the fish. I have two tangs--a dussumeiri and a small hippo, and they really like to graze on the algae clip all day, so I do that in the morning along with vitamin/garlic soaked frozen food. Then throughout the day I offer a few small pinches of formula 1 and 2 flake. My flasher and fairy wrasses really appreciate that, and I may have Anthias in the future so I'm sure they will too. Unfortunately, my Dussumeiri is big and poops like knowbody's business (but the hippo usually eats it thinking it's algae...)

 

[cameron]

Oh... I forgot I run an auto feeder as well which puts a small amount of food in the tank during the mid-day. I try not to get too far ahead maybe a couple-three days as I don't want the food exposed to air all that long.

 

[stanfill reef]

We feed two cubes of frozen food (mysis, brine, emerald entree, marine cuisine, or blood worms) once a day at night. This is split between three tanks:

Reef tank = 6 fish / 72-gal
Butterfly tank = 2 fish / 30-gal
Nano = 1 fish / 20-gal

The butterfly tank also gets flake at lunch from an auto feeder.

 

[kappaknight]

I split between 1 cube of somthing a day to a few flakes and pellets a day... If you feed shrimp, you should be able to feed them raw shrimp instead of cooked ones.

 

[jetchris]

i do use a piece of nori every other day.

 

[washowi]

I feed every tank at least 3 times a day. Those once a dayers and once a week fish feeders have skinny fish. MIne are fat happy and are trained like dogs!

Feed your fish!

 

[lorenk]

I feed about a 1/4 cube of frozen food in the morning and a 1/4 at night. I throw in some nori a few times a week, for the fire shrimp but he'll have nothing to do with it. But then I think he doesn't get enough food so I try again.

I put a cap of live phytoplanktin mix every few days. Not sure if my zoas and palys do anything with it though.



24g AP
2 clowns
1 clown goby
1 fire shrimp
10 hermits
3 turbos

 

[showtime305]

washowi;50023 wrote: I feed every tank at least 3 times a day. Those once a dayers and once a week fish feeders have skinny fish. MIne are fat happy and are trained like dogs!

Feed your fish!

You have a point. I've seen a few tanks that fish are fed a few times per day and the fish are healthy(plump) and colorful. They look so much better than the fish I see in most tank including mine. I've always been afraid of a nitrate issues, but I'll have to get over that.