How much to feed

[geoffer]

I can't figure out if I am over feeding or under feeding my tank. It's a 30 gallon tank and I have the following livestock: 2 percula clowns, 1 lemonpeel angel, 1 fire shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp, 5 hermit crabs, and about 10 snails. I have been giving a pinch of Tetra MircoCrabs Cyclop-eeze Granules twice a day. About twice a week I will give frozen brine shrimp in lieu of one of the cyclop-eeze feedings and occasionally I have been adding some algae sheets. The livestock always seem to be anxious to feed but I also always seem to be battling the nitrates.

 

[teen]

Originally Posted by Geoffer
I can't figure out if I am over feeding or under feeding my tank. It's a 30 gallon tank and I have the following livestock: 2 percula clowns, 1 lemonpeel angel, 1 fire shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp, 5 hermit crabs, and about 10 snails. I have been giving a pinch of Tetra MircoCrabs Cyclop-eeze Granules twice a day. About twice a week I will give frozen brine shrimp in lieu of one of the cyclop-eeze feedings and occasionally I have been adding some algae sheets. The livestock always seem to be anxious to feed but I also always seem to be battling the nitrates.
i normally feed like 3 times a week. its usually flake and sometimes live clams or scallops that i blend up. the rest of the time the fish and everything else are on their own. i also have a 30, but its a reef and mostly dominated by corals, so i try not to over feed. fish are a goldstripe maroon clown and a six line wrasse. and a medium size clean up crew.

 

[40 galons]

i feel bad sometimes the way i feed mine ( my fish always seem really eagere to get food!) but i no they eat good .. i feed them 1 time everyother day, with pellet food so that none of the food hits the bottom of the tank , except for the ocasional piece. and 1 time a week i feed a variety of frozens

 

[geoffer]

how much do you feed at a time? Is just a pinch sufficient?

 

[xdave]

Every book ever written says the same thing, feed no more than your livestock can finish in 2 to 5 minutes, 2 to several times a day.

 

[anonome]

Originally Posted by xDave
Every book ever written says the same thing, feed no more than your livestock can finish in 2 to 5 minutes, 2 to several times a day.
I agree with xDave, I feel that if you feed only 2-3 times a week you are potentially asking for trouble. Either picking on corals, or each other, or being stressed to where illnesses can become a problem. I feed at least once a day, 2 days I work late so they only get fed once, most of the week it is twice a day. They get a variety of frozen, flake, pellet. Feed enough that it is gone in 2 minutes...as to not be sucked up by the filter to clog it prematurely, or foul your water. I also don't put all of the food in at one time, put it in stages, so all is eaten.

 

[reefkprz]

I feed four to five times a day only what can be consumed in about thirty to 60 seconds, and every meal is a different type of food. but I also do a lot of water changes, and have my system designed to handle this amount of food and waste. for foods I feed Omega one marine pellets, sfb frozen mysis shrimp, sfb frozen reef plankton, sfb emerald entree, Sfb frozen squid, ON formula one, ON formula two, ON prime reef, new life spectrum pellets, fresh chopped haddock, fresh chopped whitefish, and a few other things too.
For the best color and health of fish I believe it is important to feed a variety to create a more balanced diet.
Oh IMO tetra doesnt make a really great food but if you get another food type or two you can switch them up so it doesnt get wasted.
I also feed all my freshwater tanks formula one and prime reef (except my goldfish they get omega one goldfish pellets)