2 clowns, how often would you feed? how about your other fishes?

[geaux xman]

2 clowns(1-1.5") in a 17g, no skimmer, just WC ~10% weekly.

i've only been feeding it 1mm Spectrum pellets about 3 times a day. Usually, each will eat about 4-5 of them in one sitting. I quit feeding when they stop going after the pellets. i have 2 different types of oceanic nutrition flakes which it doesnt touch. i have some, but havent fed mysis shrimp and marine cuisine in a while.

i see some people only feeding their fish once a day, but i guess it varies with what type of fish they have.

[twiggyb]

IMO, you should feed your fish everyday, unless it's like a frogfish or scorpionfish. I feed my fish twice a day. I used to use flakes a lot, but when I got my emperor angel it didn't touch them so I had to start feeding frozen. Just watch the params (nitrates, phosphates) if you don't have a good skimmer. I think your regimen seems fine for two clowns. If you're watching them eat every time and stopping when they're done that's good, just don't leave any extra food in the tank, unless you have some hermits who'll clean up afterwards.

[theatrus]

I feed once a day (or less at times). However, some fish are natural grazers and would prefer to have more frequent food sources. They are generally herbivorous and do best with algae/seaweed inside the aquarium to munch on. Clownfish don't fall in that category :)

Just watch water parameters. You're already doing the right thing by feeding only what they eat.

[Patrick Cox]

I have a similar question. I have two clowns and a cardinal and I have been feeding them frozen mysis every other day. But I am not sure what to do when I go out of town. On my fresh water tank I have a feeder that will drop some food in every day but I can't do that with frozen food. Is there a decent dry food product that I could put in a feeder? I could have someone drop by maybe once or even twice during a week but not every day.

Thanks!
Pat

[Dave71]

I only feed once a day for all of my fish.

Any dry marine food should be sufficient to get you through a vacation. This assumes your fish will eat it.

So I would definitely test ahead of time.

[Rockhead21564]

Well I think some, if not most, overfeed. I feed once everyother day with frozen or pellets. Then three times aweek I drop in some seaweed. Oh, clownfish DO eat seaweed. I've seen it many times. Your fish will ALWAYS "look" hungry, so don't feed based off of that.

[mfforeman]

My only fish at the moment are two clowns. I feed once a day and rotate between Blue Zoo Mix, Instant Ocean Omnivore Gel, and Mysis Shrimp. Every few days I tear up a small piece of Nori into tiny bits and throw that in too.

[bnumair]

i have about 10 different types of fish and several shrimps and cleanup crew, i feed mysis shrimp 4 cubed every 3rd day. but i also put plaktons and zoplanks and reef snow/coral food every other day too along with sea weed.

[RocketSurgeon]

My clown eats the small sinking pellets. You could easily put this in a feeder. I would definitely get them used to eating whatever food you plan to put in an auto feeder.

[Mavrk]

Clowns are little pigs. I think that most people underfeed clowns. They should have a nice round look to them. If you can see the ribs of any of your fish, you are not feeding enough. It is better to feed smaller amounts throughout the day than doing one larger feeding. If you want your clowns to start breeding, then the female needs to be well fed. I am surprised they don't eat the flake though.

Now if you are going on vacation for a week and can only have someone come a few times, then that is enough. If you have an automatic feeder that your trust, then you can use that.

[rcoughtrey]

My saying is a Hungry fish is a health fish.

I use frozen cubes once a day for 2 clowns and 4 blue chromis

[Palting]

I feed the fish in my sig once a day. Several hours after that, I hang folded tubes of dried nori on 2 separate clips and the tangs nibble on this the rest of the time

[davocean]

Before my add of anthias only once a day, and in fact once in a while I would even skip a day if I was gone overnight, and the tank actually looked more clear/clean when doing that, especially if I combined turning the light off on those days which I often did.
Eheim makes a good autofeeder, though on long trips I just place daily feedings in shot glasses in fridge and have my neighbor feed.

[davocean]

I feed the fish in my sig once a day. Several hours after that, I hang folded tubes of dried nori on 2 separate clips and the tangs nibble on this the rest of the time

Wow, just noticed sig, that's alot of tang!
I have a tenennti too, don't see them too often, have pics?

[lordofthereef]

Well I think some, if not most, overfeed.

I think you are 100% correct in this statement, The key, IMO, is feeding small amounts multiple times a day. Feeding a frozen cube are two all at once versus splitting it up over 204 feedings throughout the day makes a big difference.