How Often Do You Feed Your Fish?

[seaguru]

My intent for this post is to get an idea of what results people have with different feeding regimens/habits. I have read of people who feed their fish once, 2, even 3 times or more daily and then there are those who advocate feeding every other day or even twice weekly.
Our desire in this hobby should be an optimum balance between keeping our fish healthy and keeping the nutrient inport to our tanks at a minimum. I look forward to reading how you all do it! Thanks, Joe.

 

[aqua_man]

I feed once daily in the evenings(pellet,brine shrimp) I make sure everything gets fed without over feeding by using a plastic rod with some food attached to it and hand feed a few critters.
I place a strip of seaweed salad in the tank about 3 times weekly to keep the tang healthy as well as giving a variety of different foods for the other little guys.

 

[sinner's girl]

ideally i'd feed the clowns twice a day, i hear that's what they like. but this doesn't happen. they get fed once a day when i'm home. sometimes twice if they beg. brine shrimp first feeding, flakes as a treat if they beg later. stars, shrimp and hermits get fed once every 1-2 weeks or so (when we think about it)
however, i'm not home. i have no clue when the fish are being fed, it's drives me crazy being away from them (and sinner). swf is not a hobby for a student with little time, who is gone during the summer.
the lfs that we used to go to all time didn't feed one day a week. said it was good for the fish.

 

[carrie1429]

I feed my two false perc. clowns every other day a varied diet, One day i'll feed one thing then the next day i'll feed something different, live brine, frozen brine, bloodworms, seaweed, zooplankton, marine flakes, marine sinking pellets and liquid vitamins, I really spoil my clowns

 

[boogerbooger]

well i feed my banggais live brine and they go insane.. after all three females get some i gotta get the firefish which may get one shrimp that the banggais didnt catch.. so i eye drops some more near the firefish,,but then my banggais try to get it out of the eye dropper or the cleaner shrimp tries to..its pretty fun to watch.. its only like this with live brine.. frozen brine shrimp they'll eat it,, but don't get all excited..
also..usually every day..

 

[seaguru]

Please, some more feedback from all you fish lovers out there! Am really curious to hear from those who feed their fish sparingly, say every other day, or just a few times a week. Is this very common or do we all tend to overfeed? Thanks, Joe.

 

[broomer5]

Over the last 3 months, I've reduced feeding the fish from every day to every other day.
Sometimes every 3rd day.
I can't say whether or not this fact by itself has improved my water quality.
Since January I've gone to a DSB, installed an algae planted refugium with DSB, and as mentioned have reduced feeding.
I'm also experimenting with running my protein skimmer agaion, and run carbon occasionally.
My water parameters are more stable now, and the nitrate levels have dropped as well.
I suppose feeding the tank less often is part of it, but can't say for sure.
My impression is that it is helping.
Fish are all fine - tank's better than ever.

 

[tidepool]

My routine is when I get a fish home from my LFS is to feed it as much as it will eat at any one time. My experience has been that fish stores dont feed the stock a whole lot so they're scrawny when I get them home.Then after they've put on some weight I'll feed them a little twice a day,maybe missing a day here or there.I've been fishing in the ocean my whole life and I've never caught a skinny saltwater fish!

 

[bluewater]

i have a 15gal with a FuzzyDwarf, Scooter, and Green spotted Puffer. I feed them 2 tsp of Brine a day. occassional 1/4 cube of frozen forumula-one every other day with a 1/4 cube of diced squid I buy at a fish market. I might cut to 1 tsp. a day.
The Fuzzy Lion is like my turtle. It just "doesn't" stop eating.
There are 3 hermit crabs in the tank who eat the rest.

 

[brianf01]

HOw do you feed the frozen food?
I made a frozen block of a mix of Halabit, Shrimp, Muscles, Nori, and Dried Krill (blended in a blender to a mush). They seem to love it, but its hard to feed. I either have to use a cheese grader to get pieces off, or cut off a chunk, and there is a lot of excess oils etc that make the skimmer go crazy. I only give them that every couple of weeks. Do you put in a whole chunk of frozen food, or is it freeze dried?
Thanks
(I feed Nori in the morning, and flake food at night, or frozen brine, or live brine if I have it - I have 1 tang, a clown, 2 shrimp, live rock and hermits).

 

[grayne]

I usually give the my fish 3 very small feedings a day. I used to do the once-a-day feedings, but they seem to be happier and more interactive with people this way.

 

[seaguru]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences... Beth, Terry, Ed and some of you other Mods/Sharks care to chime in? I currently feed my quarantine system 1 time daily but when I get my fish (that used to be in my 60g plus a few additions) into their new home a 125g I plan to feed either every other day or every 2 days skipping a day then 2 more then skip a day, etc. Depends what my nitrates run after some time. Thanks again, Joe.

 

[jeffrey-chiang]

I feed my fish more than 5 times a day...
and all are dry pellet ,and every 2 days , I change 1 meal to
frozen food/vegetables/cookies/rice/bread .
...coz I have 8 anglefish n 3 tang in my tank...they are looking 4 food all day long...

 

[richy rich]

I feed my fish only once a week. ON sundays.....

 

[seaguru]

Still waiting to hear from some mods/sharks... Beth, Terry, Ed, etc. Would like to hear from some people with years in the hobby... Thanks, Joe.

 

[bang guy]

It's similar to lighting... it depends on what you are keeping and the environment they are in. Anthias in a FO will need to be fed regulary and often.
A green Mandarin in a large healthy reef will never have to be fed.
So my answer to your question is ... it depends.

 

[clasbya]

I feed mine every other day. They do just fine and they aren't beggers either.
Aaron

 

[musipilot]

To answer the question about feeding frozen food -- take a shot glass, fill it with tank water, and float the frozen in it. I usually leave it on top of the light bar for about 10-15 minutes, and that will defrost it. Then, pour it in.