feeding fish during lights out period????

rperez915 · 08/03/2011, 07:47 PM

My tank has been up for about 11 months now and is doing great, everything is healthy and thriving. I've been really busy with work lately and have not done a water change(2 weeks) or changed out my Gfo(30 days) recently . when i got home today i found some diatoms on my sand and glass. I am planning to do a 10% change, change the GFO and start a 3 day lights out period on Friday to get the nutrients under control and halt the growth of the algae. Do i need to feed my fish or corals during this this time period, or are they ok to go three days without food? Thanks in advance!

sunilp · 08/03/2011, 07:52 PM

I am sure 3 days is not going to do anything.

Virtuoso · 08/03/2011, 07:53 PM

I would still feed the fish. I think it's okay to skip a day or so, but 3 days may be a bit much. If the lights are out the online nutrients your corals will get would be from food, if you have any that feed. Corals will be fine either way.

But I am still new and would wait for someone more experienced to chime in.

rperez915 · 08/04/2011, 06:16 PM

ayone else want to chime in?

thegrun · 08/04/2011, 06:19 PM

Most fish will not eat during the lights out period, even if there is food in the tank. 3 days without food will not be an issue provided they are well fed before the lights out period.

hollister · 08/04/2011, 06:20 PM

I would still feed but less. Its better to feed 2 or 3 times a day smaller amounts.
DO you have good water flow and do you have a lid on the tank ?

tozzi · 08/04/2011, 06:22 PM

3 days is a long time for fish that graze and pick at stuff for 15 hrs a day. I would turn 1 light on in the middle of the lights out period for 10 mins and feed. Really dont think 10 mins will have too much of a neg impact

b0bab0ey · 08/04/2011, 06:25 PM

Throw a little flake in once a day. Whatever your fish don't eat, your CUC will, being they're mostly nocturnal anyway.

thebkramer · 08/04/2011, 06:34 PM

I just did a 4 day lights out for cyano.. I did not feed my fish

I fed them 4x the day before lights out.. then fed on 4th day (actinics only) and then went back to normal feeding

thebkramer · 08/04/2011, 06:35 PM

What lights are you running??? if you are running Halides.. def do 4th day of actinics ONLY then 5th day back to normal so you don't shock your corals

IslandCrow · 08/04/2011, 09:16 PM

I used to travel quite a bit, and it was not uncommond for my fish to go 4-5 days without me feeding. My six-line and blenny were no doubt picking pods off the rock, but my clownfish was such a prima donna, I pretty sure she never ate anything that had been "on the ground". If you want to feed, though, most fish are still going to be pretty active as long as there's enough ambient light in the room and should be able to see the food perfectly well enough to eat.

08/03/2011, 07:47 PM	#1
rperez915 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Kiss, FL Posts: 52	feeding fish during lights out period???? My tank has been up for about 11 months now and is doing great, everything is healthy and thriving. I've been really busy with work lately and have not done a water change(2 weeks) or changed out my Gfo(30 days) recently . when i got home today i found some diatoms on my sand and glass. I am planning to do a 10% change, change the GFO and start a 3 day lights out period on Friday to get the nutrients under control and halt the growth of the algae. Do i need to feed my fish or corals during this this time period, or are they ok to go three days without food? Thanks in advance!

08/04/2011, 06:22 PM	#7
tozzi Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: JERSEY Posts: 825	3 days is a long time for fish that graze and pick at stuff for 15 hrs a day. I would turn 1 light on in the middle of the lights out period for 10 mins and feed. Really dont think 10 mins will have too much of a neg impact __________________ Your dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare a man whos the best with guns knives his bare hands A man whos been trained to ignore pain ignore weather eat things that would make a billy goat puke Current Tank Info: 215 sps

08/04/2011, 06:34 PM	#9
thebkramer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Clifton Park, NY Posts: 3,198	I just did a 4 day lights out for cyano.. I did not feed my fish I fed them 4x the day before lights out.. then fed on 4th day (actinics only) and then went back to normal feeding __________________ Rhonda There is NO such things as Dumb Questions!! There are However.. Dumb Answers!!! ;) ____________ Current Tank Info: 55g reef....Current Orbit SunPaq Lights, HOB Eshopps, HOB AquaClear 110, 2-1400 Koralia Powerheads & 1 Nano Koralia, 40+ lbs LR, 2" LS

08/04/2011, 06:35 PM	#10
thebkramer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Clifton Park, NY Posts: 3,198	What lights are you running??? if you are running Halides.. def do 4th day of actinics ONLY then 5th day back to normal so you don't shock your corals __________________ Rhonda There is NO such things as Dumb Questions!! There are However.. Dumb Answers!!! ;) ____________ Current Tank Info: 55g reef....Current Orbit SunPaq Lights, HOB Eshopps, HOB AquaClear 110, 2-1400 Koralia Powerheads & 1 Nano Koralia, 40+ lbs LR, 2" LS

08/04/2011, 09:16 PM	#11
IslandCrow Reef Monkey Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Rockledge, Fl Posts: 5,759	I used to travel quite a bit, and it was not uncommond for my fish to go 4-5 days without me feeding. My six-line and blenny were no doubt picking pods off the rock, but my clownfish was such a prima donna, I pretty sure she never ate anything that had been "on the ground". If you want to feed, though, most fish are still going to be pretty active as long as there's enough ambient light in the room and should be able to see the food perfectly well enough to eat. __________________ All opinions in the above message should be taken with 35 ppt salt. -Mike C. Current Tank Info: I have a reef screen saver on my phone, does that count?

08/03/2011, 07:52 PM	#2
sunilp Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 231	I am sure 3 days is not going to do anything.

08/03/2011, 07:53 PM	#3
Virtuoso Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 727	I would still feed the fish. I think it's okay to skip a day or so, but 3 days may be a bit much. If the lights are out the online nutrients your corals will get would be from food, if you have any that feed. Corals will be fine either way. But I am still new and would wait for someone more experienced to chime in.

08/04/2011, 06:16 PM	#4
rperez915 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Kiss, FL Posts: 52	ayone else want to chime in?

08/04/2011, 06:19 PM	#5
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	Most fish will not eat during the lights out period, even if there is food in the tank. 3 days without food will not be an issue provided they are well fed before the lights out period.

08/04/2011, 06:20 PM	#6
hollister Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 2,037	I would still feed but less. Its better to feed 2 or 3 times a day smaller amounts. DO you have good water flow and do you have a lid on the tank ?

08/04/2011, 06:25 PM	#8
b0bab0ey Moved On Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 2,564	Throw a little flake in once a day. Whatever your fish don't eat, your CUC will, being they're mostly nocturnal anyway.

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