feeding too much?

[aquaferg]

I have a 55g with 55lbs of LR a Penguin 350, 1 Koralia 3 and a Koralia 4, Maxi-Jet 1200. No sump or anything. I feed my fish a frozen mix that the guy at the LFS makes (kinda messy) and flake and frozen mysis (all alternating). I feed them something different about twice a day and pretty much no more than they can eat but some times I do over do it a tad. My problem is I always have tiny pieces of crap floating around in the water column. Always. It makes my water look cloudy sometimes. Whats the deal should I do them like my FW tank and feed them every other day?

 

[nordy]

It sounds to me like you are feeding too much. When my 55 gal was a fish tank (now reef), I fed them once a day and I had a puffer (talk about a messy fish!) and a yellow tang (yeah, I now know my bad), some damsels, and clowns. They did fine on once a day feedings. Feeding them too often can be the same as too much and since you don't have a sump it could really be an issue. It is fun to watch them become active during feedings, but overfeeding can be bad. I feed my reef fish a very little bit of flake every day and a mix of frozen and DT's a couple of times a week. I have 3 crabs and about 10 hermits and some snails as well.
Does that Penguin have a biowheel on it? I think you should have some type of biological filtration and not just LR. What about ammonia/nitrate levels? Those readings will tell the tale about whether you are in fact overfeeding. Also, what do you have for a clean up crew?
I always have a high capacity canister filter on my tanks to help keep the water clear, even though I do have a sump and lots of LR to do the cycle thing.

 

[aquaferg]

I started out with about 6 hermits and have about 3 left. and two Turbos. Yea it has the bio-wheels on it. I was thinking about a canister but I just dont want to spend the $$.

 

[nordy]

I think you definatly could use some more cleaners in your tank. An inexpensive and powerful canister filter is the magnum 250-about $60.
On the feeding, you might try every other day for awhile and see how the fish do.

 

[niskyvaulter]

i personally would recomend a protein skimmer. it would really help to get rid of extra food. IMO, a protin skimmer is a necesary part of filtration

 

[notsonoob]

Second that.
You can get a hang on the tank protein skimmer.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by aquaferg
http:///forum/post/2596866
I have a 55g with 55lbs of LR a Penguin 350, 1 Koralia 3 and a Koralia 4, Maxi-Jet 1200. No sump or anything. I feed my fish a frozen mix that the guy at the LFS makes (kinda messy) and flake and frozen mysis (all alternating). I feed them something different about twice a day and pretty much no more than they can eat but some times I do over do it a tad. My problem is I always have tiny pieces of crap floating around in the water column. Always. It makes my water look cloudy sometimes. Whats the deal should I do them like my FW tank and feed them every other day?
What fish do you have? You are feeding too much if the tank is getting cloudy. Different fish have different requirements. IMO, you are feeding too much if you always see stuff floating around. Some fish need to eat everyday. That doesn't mean that you add a ton of food. Again, what fish do you have?