How often do you FEED?

reefkprz

Active Member
3-5 times a day, with a reason I am trying to get my clowns to breed and I feed a very diverse diet and target feed many things. I do not reccomend feeding this often to everybody as it can lead to excess waste and problems if you dont have an established tank and extremly strict quality control on your tank.
 

fender

Active Member
I feed alot and have 0 nitrates. If I see Nitrates increase or my fish get fat I will cut back. Since increased feeding frequency and amount I am seeing alot more pods, worms,mysis, featherdusters and other life in the tank.
I read once that every minute on a reef the equivelant of a hamburger floats by. Feeding is good.
Let your nitrates be your guide.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
Honestly, fish eat many small meals all day long in the wild, so forcing them to go several days without food seems cruel in my opinion, I think several very small feedings are better for the over all health of the fish than one big feeding. would you want to eat only every other day even if you were getting all the nutrients and nutrition you require in that one feeding? some fish do nothing but eat all day like anthias they often dont survive long if not fed several times a day.
 

earlybird

Active Member
Okay makes sense. Am I crazy or did I read that it is best to feed every other day. Did I dream this?
 

reefkprz

Active Member
its actually a standard practice to feed everyother day. most people feed wayyy to much in one sitting, so its less polluting to feed by that method. often safer for the tank. if you take the amount you would feed every other day and break it up into six equal amounts thats how much you should feed if your doing multiple feedings per day, only what can be snatched up in 30 to 60 seconds, with almost none settling anywhere.
 

earlybird

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
only what can be snatched up in 30 to 60 seconds, with almost none settling anywhere.
If some settles the scavengers/inverts will find it though right?
What do you feed? I think I'm going to make my own frozen food.
 

cowfishrule

Active Member
i've been feeding 1x a week for the past 7 weeks.
it was part of my hair algae destruction plan.
im now going to do a pinch a day.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
yeah if some settles the clean up crew does its job.
I feed
ocean nutrition, formula one, formula two, prime reef
omega one marine pellets with garlic
New life Spectrum thera +A
san fransico bay frozen, marine cuisine, emerald entree, frozen squid, occasionaly fortified brine shrimp
Sallys, frozen reefplankton, mysis shrimp.
a blend of my own making including squid, whitefish, very little salmon(because its so fatty), clams, krill.
Nori
DT's oyster eggs, phyto plankton
mark weiss combovital (for some reason the shrimp love combo vital)
I believe diversity in diet is extremly important to vibrant colors and overall health of fish and corals.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
my fish love pellets I drop in one or two at a time so there arent too many targets. I never have had a problem with finiky eaters, all my fish are gluttons.
 

nictavius

Member
I think it depends alot on what type of fish you have also.....Some fish such as butterflys, dwarf angels, and clowns can only eat so much so fast.....so they may need to be fed more often....But, some fish such as lions can eat alot of food very quickly and require feeding less often.....
 

earlybird

Active Member
I'm in florida and have a ton of fish markets around here that sell all sorts of crazy stuff. I want to make my own food but would like to have variety and will probably purchase a few things. I know to stay away from oily fish but what else should I stay away from.
 

reefforbrains

Active Member
I feed daily. I mix it up day to day but its from a list of craziness Phytoplan,reefchili,coralvite,coralife marine buffet,microvert,cyclops,chromomax DTs,and homeade rawfish and shrimp stew w/garlic.
If making your own blend do not use raw oysters. make a mess when you blend them up and the skimmer goes apesnot. Also try adding a garlic clove or two when you blend. Makes it alot easier to get raw garlic to your friends fresh.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
I would say stay away from cooked, fatty, oily types of fish, and definatly dont use freshwater meats.
some people add garlic to their foods as well both for a flavor enhancer and for its semi medicinal qualities. there is a whole line of thinking on both side of the is it medicinal or not, I dont really want to go into another huge debate about it, so suffice to say if it makes the food more appealing to the fish and they miss less because of it its a job well done, any detoxifying effects or anti parasitic effects that may or may not be present are a bonus. remember too much raw garlic can cause gastric distress (stomach pain) so dont over do it.
 

3bavboys

Member
4x a day - a pinch of flake at 8 am , another pinch at 430 pm , 3 cubes at 8 pm , pellets at 10 pm ish -
90g fowlr - 125 lbs lr ,80 lbs ls - 11 fish (from 2" to 5" )
 
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