How much do fish need to eat?

[alexmir]

I have 7 smaller fish in my 55 gallon fish only setup. I was curious how many times a day-week i need to feed them. I am having trouble keeping my nitrates down, they are around 70 and i think that i am over feeding. I currently feed 2 to 3 times a day, and they eat all that i put in so im not sure if im doing this right or not.
Any help?

 

[chub]

I have the same amount of fish in the same size tank as you. I feed my fish a little bit every day. I may start to feed every other day also

 

[nycbob]

i feed mine 1x a day for as much as they would eat within 2 minutes. i have lots of big fish too like tangs and nigers. i'd also skip a day there and there to clear out their systems.

 

[1journeyman]

Depends entirely on the type of fish.
Active planktonic feeders like Anthias need food much more often than a Blenny or Hawk.

 

[mcbdz]

It may help if you could give more info on your system. What filters, how much live rock, All your para(actual numbers), how much and often you do a water change, and what fish do you have.

 

[mie]

Your stock list will help. My sons tank get's fed two or three times a week, I feed mine every other day rotaing my food choice, tuesday homemade food, thursday cyclops and silversides, Saturday or sunday i feed big mushrooms and sometimes my purple anenome, My gbta gets fed from it's clown so no issues there. If you overfeed you will have problems.

 

[tokey]

I feed my main tank 3 or 4 times a day my other tanks twice a day. It all depends on the fish do a Google search on each of your fish you should be able to see what the needs of your fish are. There are a lot of different species that need to be feed 2 to 3 times a day or they will slowly starve over a long period of time.

 

[mie]

Just remember food is'nt always availible in the ocean.

 

[earlybird]

And remember that your system produces some food as well if you have ample LR.
I feed 2 false percs every 2-3 days.

 

[ci11337]

also depends on the age of the fish (so im told) for instance a little baby tang needs to have veggis avilable almost all the time.

 

[alexmir]

the ammonia, and nitrite is at 0. the ph is 8.2, specific gravity is at 1.024. the nitrate is now at 20( i did a huge water change and it helped out a whole lot. ) I have a green filefish about 3.5 inches. 3 damsels, 2 are 1.5 inches long and the other is 3. a dwarf angle thats 3.5, valenting puffer thats 3 and a 2.5 inch royal gramma. and a small eel that hangs out in rocks all day.
I usually feed a small pinch of quality fish flakes and half a cube of mysis shrimp 2-3 times a day. they all also attack the fresh shrimp chunk that i give my eel every 2 days.
I have a double bio-wheel emperor filter and have purchased an eheim classic canister filter that will go on this week. The bio wheel isnt working as well as it should.
Theres not much liverock about 20 lbs. Im planning on getting more, but am doing it slowly due to the ridiculous cost of the rock

 

[nemofreak]

I feed my fish everyday sometimes 2x day no problems with nitrates.

 

[peter1215]

I feed my fish everyday . I have ten fish on fowlr - 210. angels, triggers, b/f, clowns, tang, anthia. my nitrates are around 15. I change 20g water per week.

 

[petjunkie]

I would say the problem is overfeeding and a huge lack of filtration. With so little live rock you should be doing large weekly water changes. The biowheel is adding nitrates, that's what they are designed to do and canister filters have to be run without floss/media and cleaned regularly to prevent them from adding more nitrates. Your best bet would be add about 50-90 pound of live rock and lots of flow, add some powerheads and get rid of the hang filters. I feed my fish about twice a week, they can scavenge for the rest. Fish only need about a mouthful each, cut down to at least every other day, and once a day on feeding days. Cut out the flake too. Your dwarf angel needs algea sheets every week.

 

[alexmir]

Thanks for the help. I just moved the tank thiweekend to my new house so i am planning on buying some more rock very soon. I have a better filter being shipped so i wont be using the bio-wheel, i figured that was part of the problem.
I will definitely cut down on the feeding.
Thanks for the help, ill see how it goes for the nex few weeks