How often do YOU feed your tank?

[Sethjamto]

Another thread of mine brings up this discussion.

My LFS said to feed ever other day. I feed frozen mysis cubes to 2 Ocellaris Clowns and one Bangaii. I normally feed about a quarter of a cube every other day.

The more I read on here, I feel like I'm not feeding enough. Should I do it daily? Is a quarter (ish) of a cube enough?

What do ya'll recommend for my setup?

[bnumair]

i personally dont believe in everyother day feeding, to me its cruel. (just my opinion as i eat daily so does my fish).
feeding is totally dependent on the fish u keep and how many u keep.
generally 2 times a day enough that all fish eat in 3 minutes is a general starting point.
i have a school of 14 ignitus anthias and they require alot of feeding. so i have to feed them 4-5 times a day.

note: with ur setup and only 3 fish i would feed 1/4 cube one in morning and one at night time.

[Joshporksandwic]

I feed every day. Just keep an eye on your phosphates. And make sure your skimmer is doing its job.

[Sethjamto]

No skimmer. Its a 29 Biocube in stock setup.

I'll try to go to daily and see how that does.

[pdmckinn78]

I feed twice a day. One maroon clown, coral beauty, flame angel, hawkfish (falco), royal gramma, and 1 ten-year old misc. damsel. Between them, they just barely eat one cube of frozen mysis. I over feed just a little each time to keep my clean up crew fat and happy.

Years ago I tried the every other day routine. The fish did okay, but I couldn't keep my hermits and other detritus eaters alive. Eventually figured out I was starving them.

[albano]

Originally Posted by bnumair

i personally dont believe in every other day feeding, to me its cruel. (just my opinion as i eat daily so does my fish).
feeding is totally dependent on the fish u keep and how many u keep.
generally 2 times a day enough that all fish eat in 3 minutes is a general starting point.

+1... I usually feed my fish 3X a day

[Sethjamto]

Somdoes a quarter of a cube a day sound good then? I don't want to go with more than once a day, so will feed in the evenings only.

[hanas]

2x a day in a heavily stocked SPS tank. As previously mentioned, just watch your phosphate levels and pre-rinse all frozen foods.

[Maquatics639]

I feed my fish frozen mysis every two days along with a few pellet snacks from my auto feeder in between. Fish can find various things to pick on such as pods which are like popcorn and algae to some degree. Honestly, it's best not to feed them two to three times a day as some food gets away, and my fish are more than happy the way I'm feeding them. I have the 28 gall nano cube with three clowns and a signal goby so I have a similar situation with you. It's definenlty not torture and it keeps those nitrates and phosphates down for sure.

[albano]

Originally Posted by Maquatics639

Honestly, it's best not to feed them two to three times a day as some food gets away, and my fish are more than happy the way I'm feeding them.

Says who? and how do you know if fish are "more than happy"?
Do they REFUSE any additional food?

[Palting]

Originally Posted by pdmckinn78

I feed twice a day. One maroon clown, coral beauty, flame angel, hawkfish (falco), royal gramma, and 1 ten-year old misc. damsel. Between them, they just barely eat one cube of frozen mysis. I over feed just a little each time to keep my clean up crew fat and happy.

Years ago I tried the every other day routine. The fish did okay, but I couldn't keep my hermits and other detritus eaters alive. Eventually figured out I was starving them.

Interesting point about the CUC. I only feed once a day, and I did notice my CUC population has dwindled from the original numbers. Their numbers have been stable for the last year or 2, but at significanlty less numbers than what I started out with and less than what I've read other people have.

My question, though, is why overfeed to keep the CUC numbers up? Wouldn't it be better to feed less, have less number of CUC, and have a lower nutrient level and therefore less problems wth algae, cyano, and detritus?

BTW, my fish are "more than happy" with the once a day feeding . They are fat, and growing, that's how I know, LOL . I suppose I could feef them 10X a day, and they will probably keep eating, but then they will likely have hypertension, coranary artery disease, morbid obesity, diabetes, and who would want that? LOL!!!

I think I had too mcuh wine with dinner :burp:

[rovster]

I feed twice a day in a 14 gal biocube. Frozen, pellets, messy as he'll, and my tank loves it. Other than your typical film algae that forms on the glass, no nuissance algae. In clean the glass maybe one a week. I used to do it every other day, and funny thing is tank looked worse then, LOL!

[J2T]

I typically feed 2x a day unless I am home at the time I will do a small feeding of pellets in the middle of the day. I consider my hermits, peppermints and crabs part of my livestock so I feed enough that they get some too. Everything is doing good in my tank and no nuisance algae. I generally do formula 2 pellets in the morning along with a small sheet of nori/algae sheets and then rotate what I feed in the evening between different frozen foods.

[aandfsoccr04]

I feed once a day.

[TRENT_G]

I guess I'm one of the mean people. I feed every other day. I do feed heavily. But I feel they fish/Inverts) can work on keeping the tank clean on the off days. Been working for me for almost two years.

[Alex T.]

When I fed once per day I noticed that not only did my fish look thinner, but that my SPS were lighter in color. Feeding 2 times per day, I'm able to offer a more balanced and varied diet. I have Anthias as well, and do feel that their colors are more vibrant and that their bellies are more full from the second feeding since fish waste most of what they eat.

There are WAY too many variables that affect fish health though. I feel that those who have an established refugium full of pod life can probably feed a little less, or if they have a manageable amount of algae on their rocks for the herbivorous fish like tangs. I believe flow also plays a significant role. I have 4 MP'40's and an Iwaki 30 return pump in a 72x26x24 inch sps dominant tank. That borders on the heavy side of the flow scale, so I'm just guessing that it takes a lot more energy output to keep the fish from bouncing into the walls of the tank. To me that means more food to keep their energy up in a high flow, no where to run environment.

If you've ever seen tangs hovering over the reefscape on a dive or snorkeling trip, you'll see they are much fatter than in most tanks, and they literally will eat all day long. While it's bad for your water quality to overfeed, I really don't know if it's possible to overfeed tangs, angelfish or butterflies. If you're going to buy them and keep them, you may as well feed them right. I've read threads and advice from people a heck of a lot more experienced with reef fish than myself, and one thing they all have in common is a heavier feeding hand than the average hobbyist. With that said, they're willing to stay on top of, and ramp up their maintenance and water change percentages to make sure their water quality doesn't suffer. I think "Copps" hits the nail on the head with some of his advice on feeding, and he keeps some delicate, large and plentiful big boys in his tanks:

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index....k-of-the-month

[SushiGirl]

Originally Posted by Palting

My question, though, is why overfeed to keep the CUC numbers up? Wouldn't it be better to feed less, have less number of CUC, and have a lower nutrient level and therefore less problems wth algae, cyano, and detritus?

Sure! Unless you're like us & someone hands you a bag with a bunch of hermits in it because they don't want them LOL. Then ya gotta feed what you have.

I feed 2 fish a little flake in the morning and 2 fish (along with 2 shrimp, a few crabs, and several corals) a cube of mysis in the evening. I only have 3 fish, one is a pig LOL. One of my fish (orbic cardinal) refuses the mysis & only eats the flake in the morning.

[Sethjamto]

Okay.....thanks guys!!!

Another question: should I do the frozen cubes all the time, or mix it up with something else? What else would be a good food to use every now and then, or for a quick snack in the mornings followed by mysis cubes in the afternoon? I have 2 O. Clowns and one Bangaii Cardinal.

[bluewater921]

i feed nori sheets 2 times a day .. every other day they get my home made blend , shrimp , oysters ,myisis fresh veggies & garlic run through the blender then once a week strawberries as a treat .. my tangs love them ..

[Alex T.]

I personally feel that New Life Spectrum Pellet is probably the best all around food for the fish we keep. There are many hobbyists I know personally that have kept Moorish Idols and Regal Angels alive, fat and thriving for years on this food alone. I started using it about 2 years ago and most fish love it. I've never lost a fish to disease or parasites once they take to this food. Being that I keep Dispar and Lyretail Anthias, I was reluctant to continue feeding it because many Anthias species simply won't eat pellet. Once it was mixed in with Mysis and Reef Plankton cubes, they started eating the pellet, and now my entire 2nd feeding in the evening is solely NLS pellets.

I also noticed that my fishes' colors were much more vibrant after a month or two of eating this food. I'll keep it as part of my feeding regimen as long as they continue to make it.

[igot2gats]

Originally Posted by Sethjamto

Okay.....thanks guys!!!

Another question: should I do the frozen cubes all the time, or mix it up with something else? What else would be a good food to use every now and then, or for a quick snack in the mornings followed by mysis cubes in the afternoon? I have 2 O. Clowns and one Bangaii Cardinal.

Any kind of flake food that is for made for saltwater animals. Some flake food are more enriched in garlic than others are suggested to be better, but it's all personal preference.

[sbazain]

I feed twice a day all the fish and the cuc are happy and growing no algae problems just make sure they eat all of it and then you'll get the idea of the amount to feed, see if you can get a HOTB skimmer or the oceanic skimmer for the bio cube

[Bolivian Ram]

Mornings I feed flakes. Evenings I feed pellets or mysis/krill. Sometimes I do a third feeding if I have the time.

As I'm primarily keeping fish which live in or near reefs and are natural grazers this seems appropriate to me.

[Krazy]

Originally Posted by TRENT_G

I guess I'm one of the mean people. I feed every other day. I do feed heavily. But I feel they fish/Inverts) can work on keeping the tank clean on the off days. Been working for me for almost two years.

Same here....

I feed every other day, I use phyto feast or DT's, oyster feast, and roti feast along with reef flakes... So its a heavy feed, my tanks doing awesome and I think the clean up crew takes care of the excess stuff...

[SushiGirl]

My orbic cardinal & orange-spot goby love the Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef Flakes. They both even eat the Hikari Crab Cuisine pellets I drop in for the crabs & pistol shrimp LOL.