Help with feeding?

IveGotSunshine · 12/09/2018, 12:54 PM

Hi all,
Its silly but I have feeding questions. I have a 220g reef with about 20 coral species and 30 fish/inverts. (parrot fish, emp angel, yellow tang, chromis, royal gramma, hippo tang, firefish, anthias, cardinals, blenny,urchins, nems, crabs, snails, shrimp, clowns, mandarin, wrasse etc.) How often/what would you feed if that was your tank?

I usually feed fish 1-3x a day depending on my day and corals 1x a week- but I have a huge gha issue going on right now bc I feel like Im overfeeding.
My fish get pellets 1st then usually nori and frozen later. (I have an anthias that I am trying to bring back from starvation but he still isnt filled out, which is why i try to feed small amounts more often.) with the pellet feed, almost none make it to the bottom of the tank and those are found in seconds. the nori is on a clip until its decimated, but the frozen does drift around in the water column, and the reef roids I dose the whole tank with that and phyto 1x a week.
I run a fuge and a carbon/gfo reactor and all my levels are as close to 0 as is measureable. (nitrate, phos, amon, etc.)

How do you know if you are feeding enough and when is it too much since the fish always act hungry and 1 cant seem to fill out?!!!
Thank you!

mcgyvr · 12/09/2018, 01:06 PM

IMO every other day is fine for feeding fish...enough that they eat it all in 5 minutes..no more..
And with that you shouldnt need to feed the corals at all. .
Corals get most of what they need from the light and fish waste and left over food bits,etc...
If you are having a nutrient issue stopping coral feeding is first on the list of changes that should be made..

hkgar · 12/09/2018, 02:48 PM

I feed my tank 4x/day. 3x auto feeder drops about 1 gram. At 6pm I feed 9 grams of homemade frozen food. At four I feed 1 or 2 (depending on leaf size) leves Romain lettuce along with 1/2 sheet of Nori.

Everything gets eaten, my corals grow like crazy (use 3.4 dKH/day). Lots of effort to remove nitrates: ATS, vodka/vinegar 30/70 mixture 57 ml/day. Also periodically need to run GFO.

Feeding produces Nitrate and Phosphate and they need to be kept at reasonable levels so some type of export is needed. Often with light loads water changes are sufficient.

scooter31707 · 12/10/2018, 10:41 AM

I feed 3x a day..the first two feedings are flakes and/or NLS pellets. The last feeding is frozen food. All three feedings, I usually feed what they can eat within 30-45 seconds.

Uncle99 · 12/10/2018, 12:23 PM

Min 2x for the Anthais, 3 better, fish has a fast metabolism

IveGotSunshine · 12/10/2018, 01:09 PM

Okay, I will stop the coral feedings then and minimize a little on the other feedings. That anthias was a rescue from someone's tank, if I cant fill him out soon Ill try to rehome him.

12/09/2018, 12:54 PM	#1
IveGotSunshine Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Maryland Posts: 15	Help with feeding? Hi all, Its silly but I have feeding questions. I have a 220g reef with about 20 coral species and 30 fish/inverts. (parrot fish, emp angel, yellow tang, chromis, royal gramma, hippo tang, firefish, anthias, cardinals, blenny,urchins, nems, crabs, snails, shrimp, clowns, mandarin, wrasse etc.) How often/what would you feed if that was your tank? I usually feed fish 1-3x a day depending on my day and corals 1x a week- but I have a huge gha issue going on right now bc I feel like Im overfeeding. My fish get pellets 1st then usually nori and frozen later. (I have an anthias that I am trying to bring back from starvation but he still isnt filled out, which is why i try to feed small amounts more often.) with the pellet feed, almost none make it to the bottom of the tank and those are found in seconds. the nori is on a clip until its decimated, but the frozen does drift around in the water column, and the reef roids I dose the whole tank with that and phyto 1x a week. I run a fuge and a carbon/gfo reactor and all my levels are as close to 0 as is measureable. (nitrate, phos, amon, etc.) How do you know if you are feeding enough and when is it too much since the fish always act hungry and 1 cant seem to fill out?!!! Thank you!

12/09/2018, 01:06 PM	#2
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	IMO every other day is fine for feeding fish...enough that they eat it all in 5 minutes..no more.. And with that you shouldnt need to feed the corals at all. . Corals get most of what they need from the light and fish waste and left over food bits,etc... If you are having a nutrient issue stopping coral feeding is first on the list of changes that should be made.. __________________ Who me?

12/09/2018, 02:48 PM	#3
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	I feed my tank 4x/day. 3x auto feeder drops about 1 gram. At 6pm I feed 9 grams of homemade frozen food. At four I feed 1 or 2 (depending on leaf size) leves Romain lettuce along with 1/2 sheet of Nori. Everything gets eaten, my corals grow like crazy (use 3.4 dKH/day). Lots of effort to remove nitrates: ATS, vodka/vinegar 30/70 mixture 57 ml/day. Also periodically need to run GFO. Feeding produces Nitrate and Phosphate and they need to be kept at reasonable levels so some type of export is needed. Often with light loads water changes are sufficient. __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

12/10/2018, 10:41 AM	#4
scooter31707 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Virginia Posts: 4,971	I feed 3x a day..the first two feedings are flakes and/or NLS pellets. The last feeding is frozen food. All three feedings, I usually feed what they can eat within 30-45 seconds.

12/10/2018, 12:23 PM	#5
Uncle99 Crab Free Zone Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,906	Min 2x for the Anthais, 3 better, fish has a fast metabolism

12/10/2018, 01:09 PM	#6
IveGotSunshine Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Maryland Posts: 15	Okay, I will stop the coral feedings then and minimize a little on the other feedings. That anthias was a rescue from someone's tank, if I cant fill him out soon Ill try to rehome him.