What are you feeding your fish?

[civics14]

It's strange to me when I hear people say they feed their fish a pinch of food a day or every few days, then say they suffer from high nitrates & phosphates. I always think those poor fish because in the wild, they are always grazing on something.

So, I just want to see what people are feeding their fish, how many times a day, the number of fish you have, and what are you seeing as far as nutrients?

I run an Eheim autofeeder with a mix of pellets that feeds 4x day: NLS Marine, NLS Thera+A, NLS probiotix, NLS AlgaeMax, Hikari Seaweed Extreme, Hikari Herbivore, Ocean Nutrition Formula 2, & TDO-EP1. Also, I feed 4-6 cubes of frozen Hikari Mega Marine Angel, Mysis, Mega Marine Algae, Squid, & Cyclopod+.

This is a 180G'ish that is way overstocked with 17 fish. My nutrients stay <2ppm Nitrates & <10ppb Phosphates.

 

[york1]

I just let them fend for themselves

 

[civics14]

I just let them fend for themselves

 

[Jikkermanccini]

I feed my fish whenever I happen to pass by the tank, which may be 10 times a day or once. I almost exclusively feed nutritional yeast with booming results and great color, been doing that for three years now. A few evenings a week I feed a chunk of a hearty homemade frozen food which includes scallop, whole shrimp, whitefish, and salmon. This schedule has allowed me to keep several filter feeding animals alive for years at a time as the nutritional yeast & frozen food are highly particulate.

 

[civics14]

What is "nutritional yeast"?

 

[chaples55]

I try to practice "heavy in, heavy out".

On my 65g system I feed NLS Thera+A and hikari seaweed extreme 1-2 times a day. Also equivalent of ~3 cubes frozen (solid sheet form mysis or spirulina brine) 1-2 times a day. That's more than the fish can eat so a lot gets eaten by corals, especially the duncans, bubble, and elegance. Makes the whole tank cloudy for a bit. I also started dosing red sea reef energy ab+ 1-2 times daily recently at the higher rate recommended for ULNS. So that's 2-4 fish feedings plus 1-2 coral feedings every day.

Despite all that, my nitrates are always 0 unless I dose KNO3. Still trying to find the right dose to stay balanced with PO4. PO4 creeps up over time if I don't dose. If I dose too much it'll strip the phosphates to undetectable levels.

I have a big and very powerfully lit refugium. You may have seen I have a seemingly endless supply of red macroalgae to give away lol

 

[Aspiring Lobophyllia]

I have a puffer so its a little non-standard:
-I clip something meaty to my glass 3-4x a week (krill, grocery store shrimp), on special occasions I give a half clam, usually remove it after 2 hours
-I usually feed some frozen cubes rotating through PE mysis, a variety pack, and brine
-I give them a snack of pellets as a snack in the evenings

My sump's caulerpa and skimmer really puts in a lot of work

 

[civics14]

I try to practice "heavy in, heavy out".

On my 65g system I feed NLS Thera+A and hikari seaweed extreme 1-2 times a day. Also equivalent of ~3 cubes frozen (solid sheet form mysis or spirulina brine) 1-2 times a day. That's more than the fish can eat so a lot gets eaten by corals, especially the duncans, bubble, and elegance. Makes the whole tank cloudy for a bit. I also started dosing red sea reef energy ab+ 1-2 times daily recently at the higher rate recommended for ULNS. So that's 2-4 fish feedings plus 1-2 coral feedings every day.

Despite all that, my nitrates are always 0 unless I dose KNO3. Still trying to find the right dose to stay balanced with PO4. PO4 creeps up over time if I don't dose. If I dose too much it'll strip the phosphates to undetectable levels.

I have a big and very powerfully lit refugium. You may have seen I have a seemingly endless supply of red macroalgae to give away lol

I struggle with the same. Most of the times my reading on nitrates is 0 as well.

I had got away from a refugium years ago because of having to deal with the endless supply of macroalgae. I sure do miss the pods it produced tho.

 

[Jikkermanccini]

What is "nutritional yeast"?

Same thing as brewer's yeast, dead yeast extracted after the beer brewing process. It's bright yellow and fluoresces green under UV.

 

[civics14]

Same thing as brewer's yeast, dead yeast extracted after the beer brewing process. It's bright yellow and fluoresces green under UV.

This is interesting!! Never heard of this, I will have to do some digging. Thanks for the info.

 

[ecoreefguy]

Auto feeder drops dry pellets 2 times a day, doser drops frozen 2 times a day. When I get the big one set up I’m probably going up it to 3 + 3. Planning on keeping anthias sooo yeaaaa.

 

[chaples55]

doser drops frozen

How do you do that?

 

[ecoreefguy]

How do you do that?

buy a cheap tabletop ice maker. And put a bottle of thawed food. Usually only thaw 5 cubes of each at a time. Last the week

 

[chibils]

Nutritional yeast is similar, but not the same as brewer’s yeast. Brewer’s yeast is a byproduct of making beer, and is fed on grains. Nutritional yeast is fed on molasses, and is a flavor additive and health supplement (very high in B vitamins). Nutritional yeast is very popular with the vegan community for its kind-of cheesy flavor. It’s very tangy and complex. It’s kind of an acquired taste, but it’s delicious. Goes great on popcorn. You can get it at any supermarket. I’ve gotten it from Kroger, Publix, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, etc. I’ve never heard of feeding it to a reef tank, but maybe I’ll try it out when I have more corals to mess around with.

This is interesting!! Never heard of this, I will have to do some digging. Thanks for the info.

 

[Jikkermanccini]

Nutritional yeast is similar, but not the same as brewer’s yeast. Brewer’s yeast is a byproduct of making beer, and is fed on grains. Nutritional yeast is fed on molasses, and is a flavor additive and health supplement (very high in B vitamins). Nutritional yeast is very popular with the vegan community for its kind-of cheesy flavor. It’s very tangy and complex. It’s kind of an acquired taste, but it’s delicious. Goes great on popcorn. You can get it at any supermarket. I’ve gotten it from Kroger, Publix, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, etc. I’ve never heard of feeding it to a reef tank, but maybe I’ll try it out when I have more corals to mess around with.

Good to know! I thought they were the same. I've experimented with in in food before, never a lot though. I'll have to try it with popcorn!

 

[lmm1967]

nutritional yeast is a great cheese substitute on many things BTW.

 

[chibils]

Good to know! I thought they were the same. I've experimented with in in food before, never a lot though. I'll have to try it with popcorn!

Let me know what you think! I used to dislike nooch but I’m definitely an addict now.
How do you use it in your tank? Grind it into dust with your fingers and broadcast it with a powerhead?

 

[Jikkermanccini]

Let me know what you think! I used to dislike nooch but I’m definitely an addict now.
How do you use it in your tank? Grind it into dust with your fingers and broadcast it with a powerhead?

I shake the flakes in straight from the bottle, so a little bit of powder gets in as well. Towards the end of a bottle I get more dust though. I want to experiment making bigger flakes by rehydrating the yeast into a slushie and dehydrating or freeze drying it.