Fish feeding policy

[reefbud]

I heard alot that a good policy for determing how much food to feed fish is however much they can eat in 2-3 minutes. My question is, does this mean 2-3 minutes per day? I feed twice a day...does that mean 1/2 the time each instance like 1-1.5 minutes for each of the 2 feedings ?

I have FOWLR now but want to work toward having corals later...so I want to use best practices for reefing where practical.

[snupa]

feed once a day and don't over think it. many aquarists make the mistake of looking at their fish feed and say 'geez that guy didn't get any!!' and throw in more food. As tempting as that might be, don't overfeed.
As for the time, 1-1.5 PER feeding is enough. But I think any standards or guides such as these are irrelevant in this hobby. You can't follow a rule of thumb if you ant to have the best practices. You must learn and figure out your self how much to feed them based on your experience.

So my advice is this:
Feed your fish 1 time per day if you want you can keep the 1-2 minute rule in the beginning until you learn how to feed your fish properly. Keep in mind that you will always overfeed your fish at the start. How do you know you over fed them you say?
Well, algae will probably start to form in your tank and once of the major causes for algae is excess nutrients > one source of these nutrients is food we dump in. Anyways because a whole 10 pages can be written on nutrients lets get back to the schedule:

-Feed your fish 1 time a day
-Always keep in mind to feed less, they won't die trust me
-If you miss a day for whatever reason, assuming this is a rare event, don't make up for the missed food the next day. Your fish will be fine.
-If algae forms and you're using RO/DI water, cut a little back on the amount you give them.

[igot2gats]

Yeah, once per day is good, like stated above.

Also, try not to put all the food in at once. This will allow some food getting to the bottom. The goal is for everyone to get some food with very minimal touching the bottom, if any.

[mthomp]

I am currently working on a automated fish feeder for frozen food. Basically this will be a 1 gallon jug in a dorm fridge with a luft pump on a timer. I feel that by doing this I can add food to my tank more naturally by giving less food more frequently.

[reefbud]

Sounds like an interesting project mthomp!

Ok, I will try cutting back to once a day. I did have an algae outbreak. Thanks for the advice.

[rovster]

Excellent advice from snupa. I think in general we tend to overthink things in the beginning. I don't time myself when I feed, over time you will be able to guage what is enough. I just keep adding for a while, and when they slow down, I stop. I feed a few times a day, just depends on my schedule, but at least once. If you start getting algae or see any negative consequences, dial it back. Take a step back and look at your tank. Appreciate it. If everything looks good, keep doing what you're doing and enjoy!

[worm5406]

Originally Posted by igot2gats

Yeah, once per day is good, like stated above.

Also, try not to put all the food in at once. This will allow some food getting to the bottom. The goal is for everyone to get some food with very minimal touching the bottom, if any.

But my peppermint shrimp really love the food I give them... hahahaha

Also keep in mind if you put in the frozen cubes (still frozen) and let it thaw... It might really be too much!! (oops I did this) I had food everywhere... I think they all got stomach aches from eating too much. The shrimp opened a food market from all the left overs. I now cut/break the cubes in half and let it float. They seem to like it better when a bit at a time drops down, plus it gives me a chance to watch them eat and see from the front. BUT I have 16 fish in the tank, plus some snails, hermits, and peppermint shrimp.

In a 120g wide tank and two 1400 heads... it really flows everywhere.

[reefbud]

I like to put the tank in feed mode so the pumps are off, in an attempt to avoid food getting trapped in rocks. I use flake food because it seems simpler. I suppose later I'll try other food types like the frozen and pellets.

[reefbud]

A worker at the LFS (pretty reputable place - Dallas North Aquarium) indicated they feed once every other day and only put enough food that can be consumed in 30s. Amazing to me...but if food is the enemy to aquarium parameters then I'll consider it!

[andrewarrington]

I feed every other day alternating between flake/pellets and frozen. I feed for about 1 min.

[Reefmedic79]

I always fed every other day or so never had any issues.

[reefbud]

Thanks for all the advice...I plan to target feedings every 2 days (1 minute duration) plus some really minor random snacks just to keep things interesting. Moving to 2-day feeding will help my Skimmer since turning off the pumps requires re-tuning my Skimmer each time...now I will only have to do that every 48 hours whereas currently I was doing it twice per day

[Ls2Goat]

I rotate between dry and frozen every other day. I try to feed around the same time and do it over 2-3 minutes spreading it through out the tank.

[VectorAKA]

Since I got my 2 Yellow Head jawfish I have been feeding them one cube in "their" morning and one at night....my nassarius snails eat all leftovers with my peppermint shrimp and hermit crabs and my one Aiptasia I allow to live catches the leftovers floating.

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by mthomp

I am currently working on a automated fish feeder for frozen food. Basically this will be a 1 gallon jug in a dorm fridge with a luft pump on a timer. I feel that by doing this I can add food to my tank more naturally by giving less food more frequently.

how will you flush the line so nothing rotts ?

[Allmost]

ppl who feed once every 2 days .... I feel bad for ure fish ! feed the poor things and do more water changes !

the 2-3-1 min thing, means feed as much as ure fish will eat. overfeeding means putting so much food in, that the fish are not interested in it anymore,so it would fall on the sand and rott away ...

[thegrun]

I will take a different position. Two or more light feelings per day is better for the fish as it better mirrors how fish eat in the wild. Sure you can feed fish once a day or every other day but this is not the ideal regiment. Some fish like many of the anthias require more than one feeding per day.

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by thegrun

I will take a different position. Two or more light feelings per day is better for the fish as it better mirrors how fish eat in the wild. Sure you can feed fish once a day or every other day but this is not the ideal regiment. Some fish like many of the anthias require more than one feeding per day.

+1

also look at it from the biological filteration perspective ... deal with constant inflow of nutritions [food] VS dealing with a huge input of nutritions after a coupple of dry days .... your biological filter would be hit harder if you feed once in a while.

[Atmflreef]

I feed my fish tank 2 times aday@8am and 8PM . A frozen mix of brime shrimp and bloodworms that I let sit in a small cup of tankwater under a MH for a FEW min .I then turn all pump off and poor the cup.when 30sec later u couldn't tell they ur fead or ur give to much food.that's my 2cents.

[sawcreatives]

I've been told that fishes stomaches are roughly the size of their eyes, meaning.... it doesn't take a lot to fill them up.

[chrisfont23]

I feed every other day, heavily. Seems to work for everyone in the house and tanks, including me . FWIW I have 4 tanks and 2 koi ponds outdoors, so I need a schedule.