How Much food is enough?

rcbc3384 · 09/15/2006, 02:34 PM

Hello
I have a 55 gal w/60lbs of LR. It's not a coral tank yet. I've populated my tank with:
1 yellow Tang,
1 Hippo Tang (Yes I know that they will evetually out grow the tank)
2 Pecula Clowns,
2 Cardnals,
a Shrimp Goby and a Hawk fish.
I also have a good collection of inverts ranging from a blood shrimp and emerald crabs to a serpant star. All are kind of small. I feed them the following daily:

1 - 1" x 4" piece of Algae in the morning. At night i feed them a variety of frozen foods: Formula One and Two, Prime Reef and Mysis shrimp. The quantity is usually a half cube of 2 above items and a piece of food for my Feather dusters. Is that too much daily? Once I put the food in for the main feeding it takes about 10 minutes for the tank to clear. I just bought a Remora Aqua C Protein Skimmer but i'm still in the break-in period and high Nitrates are still a constant problem. Any thoughts?

MCary · 09/15/2006, 02:43 PM

You shouldn't feed fish any more than they can consume in 10 minutes. If you find uneaten food you should change or cut back. Monitor phosphates. If phosphates rise you may have too much fish waste and may wish to cut back.

Mike

fsn77 · 09/15/2006, 02:49 PM

I only feed our reef tank every 2 - 3 days and rotate foods each feeding (one time Selcon-soaked mysis, one time pellets and a small piece of nori, one time live brine shrimp enriched with Selcon; extra piece of nori in between when needed). IMO, all that you're feeding each and every day is a bit much. But, opinions vary. How high is your "high" nitrate level?

rcbc3384 · 09/15/2006, 03:04 PM

sometimes as high as 40! i dont have a reef tank; only LR and LS. I'm hoping the protein skimmer will kick in soon.

MJAnderson · 09/15/2006, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MCary
You shouldn't feed fish any more than they can consume in 10 minutes. If you find uneaten food you should change or cut back. Monitor phosphates. If phosphates rise you may have too much fish waste and may wish to cut back.

Mike

I've always been confused a bit by how long it takes the fish to eat. When I feed anything, they chase it around but some immediately drops to the bottom/rocks/etc and my fish don't pick it off the ground, but my crabs do. Should everything be eaten in 10minutes? If I drop in 20 pellets, 10 sink before the fish can get to them.

Shiandy · 09/15/2006, 03:31 PM

I have 2 Common Clowns, 5 Firefins, 1 Flame Angel in my 70g Reef tank. I feed it twice per day, only a very small amount varying the diet every day(Half a mini cube) each feed.
I feed with a turkey baster and they all gather around it and eat all the food before it has time to hit the bottom.

I always feed very sparingly, but feed often.

MCary · 09/15/2006, 03:38 PM

The 10 minute thing is just a rule of thumb. Common sense always trumps. The main thing is not to overfeed your fish. You want them healthy but not producing too much waste and you don't want food rotting in the bottom.

SeanySean · 09/15/2006, 04:57 PM

wow, ten minutes... I put enough in there for a minute most

Fishie Nut · 09/16/2006, 12:50 AM

I have a heavily stocked tank. I usually feed one cube +/- and some vitamins or artic pods. It's usually gone in a minute. I have a five minute feed cycle and there's nothing left, really, after at most two minutes. I feed twice a day. >5 N03

killingseed · 09/16/2006, 02:27 AM

you only want to feed 1 time per day and what they can cunsume in no more then 6 min.you can suppliment some pellets for bottom feeders and fish diet every 2 nd or 3 rd day. i feed 1 time daily at night and some pellits about every 3 days in the morning.1 purple tang 1 coral beuty 2 tomato clowns 1 daimon goby 1 bi color blenny and 2 damselfish. i also hand feed some coral.

bertoni · 09/16/2006, 02:15 PM

You can add as much food as the live rock can process. I feed every day, to limit the nutrient spikes. As long as the tank water is okay and there's no algae problems, I wouldn't worry too much. For that size tank, I'd guess maybe 1/2 cube of frozen Formula 1 per day would be a reasonable starting point, but every tank is different.

09/15/2006, 02:34 PM	#1
rcbc3384 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Long Island Posts: 29	How Much food is enough? Hello I have a 55 gal w/60lbs of LR. It's not a coral tank yet. I've populated my tank with: 1 yellow Tang, 1 Hippo Tang (Yes I know that they will evetually out grow the tank) 2 Pecula Clowns, 2 Cardnals, a Shrimp Goby and a Hawk fish. I also have a good collection of inverts ranging from a blood shrimp and emerald crabs to a serpant star. All are kind of small. I feed them the following daily: 1 - 1" x 4" piece of Algae in the morning. At night i feed them a variety of frozen foods: Formula One and Two, Prime Reef and Mysis shrimp. The quantity is usually a half cube of 2 above items and a piece of food for my Feather dusters. Is that too much daily? Once I put the food in for the main feeding it takes about 10 minutes for the tank to clear. I just bought a Remora Aqua C Protein Skimmer but i'm still in the break-in period and high Nitrates are still a constant problem. Any thoughts?

09/15/2006, 04:57 PM	#8
SeanySean Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Manchester (UK) Posts: 885	wow, ten minutes... I put enough in there for a minute most __________________ _______________ You paid how much for moldy rock!!!! Current Tank Info: 130G http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1042110

09/16/2006, 12:50 AM	#9
Fishie Nut Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 966	I have a heavily stocked tank. I usually feed one cube +/- and some vitamins or artic pods. It's usually gone in a minute. I have a five minute feed cycle and there's nothing left, really, after at most two minutes. I feed twice a day. >5 N03 __________________ Fishie (MASLAC member) "It's alaways a sometin'" -- Roseanna Roseannadana Current Tank Info: 225 gal LeeMar Reef; Deltec AP 702, ProFiLux, 90 gal sump/fuge, 3x250 HQI Lumenarcs. 4x96W PC actinics; 375 lbs LR; 3" LS; Hammerhead CL, Korallin c3002, KM500, Auto Water Change/Top Off; Aquatinics 1/3 HP drop in

09/16/2006, 02:15 PM	#11
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	You can add as much food as the live rock can process. I feed every day, to limit the nutrient spikes. As long as the tank water is okay and there's no algae problems, I wouldn't worry too much. For that size tank, I'd guess maybe 1/2 cube of frozen Formula 1 per day would be a reasonable starting point, but every tank is different. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

09/15/2006, 02:43 PM	#2
MCary Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Hardin, Montana Posts: 3,142	You shouldn't feed fish any more than they can consume in 10 minutes. If you find uneaten food you should change or cut back. Monitor phosphates. If phosphates rise you may have too much fish waste and may wish to cut back. Mike

09/15/2006, 02:49 PM	#3
fsn77 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: SC Posts: 777	I only feed our reef tank every 2 - 3 days and rotate foods each feeding (one time Selcon-soaked mysis, one time pellets and a small piece of nori, one time live brine shrimp enriched with Selcon; extra piece of nori in between when needed). IMO, all that you're feeding each and every day is a bit much. But, opinions vary. How high is your "high" nitrate level?

09/15/2006, 03:04 PM	#4
rcbc3384 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Long Island Posts: 29	sometimes as high as 40! i dont have a reef tank; only LR and LS. I'm hoping the protein skimmer will kick in soon.

09/15/2006, 03:31 PM	#6
Shiandy Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: UK Posts: 367	I have 2 Common Clowns, 5 Firefins, 1 Flame Angel in my 70g Reef tank. I feed it twice per day, only a very small amount varying the diet every day(Half a mini cube) each feed. I feed with a turkey baster and they all gather around it and eat all the food before it has time to hit the bottom. I always feed very sparingly, but feed often.

09/15/2006, 03:38 PM	#7
MCary Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Hardin, Montana Posts: 3,142	The 10 minute thing is just a rule of thumb. Common sense always trumps. The main thing is not to overfeed your fish. You want them healthy but not producing too much waste and you don't want food rotting in the bottom.

09/16/2006, 02:27 AM	#10
killingseed Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: El Paso , TX Posts: 2,714	you only want to feed 1 time per day and what they can cunsume in no more then 6 min.you can suppliment some pellets for bottom feeders and fish diet every 2 nd or 3 rd day. i feed 1 time daily at night and some pellits about every 3 days in the morning.1 purple tang 1 coral beuty 2 tomato clowns 1 daimon goby 1 bi color blenny and 2 damselfish. i also hand feed some coral.