feeding those little buggers - how much is too much?

[Milad]

ok, when I first started my tank, I was feeding pellets automatically 4 times a day and every day I was feeding some mysis or brine shirmp. also put some nori in every day.

I removed some GFO and started getting all kinds of algea everywhere.
I also had an oil slick at the top of the tank (which turned out it was because of my overflow wasnt tweaked right)
and my ntirates were 20

anyways, because of the above three things, i turned back my feeding to twice a day, 12 hours apart. three times a week i do nori, and twice a week i do mysis.

my fish seemed to be ALOT happier when they were getting fed several times a day. now they fight all the time, they chase each other around. I even saw my mimic chase the yellow which ive never seen any aggression from that mimic tang ever.

So my question is, all these things I read about not feeding to much, is there a science behind it? It seems its better to feed small amount many times a day than just feeing twice a day. it seems to me there must be a balance between stuffing that fish so hes happy and not feeding your tank.

im leaning to putting my feeders on 4-5 times a day timer and small amounts.


o btw since I lowered the feeding, ive also introduced bio pellets which seem to have destroyed the nitrates and phosphates because they are now 0.

[Skimmerking]

i feed 2 times per day sometimes once

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Personally I feed once a day, when spawning maybe twice.

At the store once every 2 days, to keep them active, and hungry when someone asks to see them eat.

Ken - BWA

[DiverDude]

You have to remember that in the wild, fish will eat whenever they can. Sometimes thats a couple of times a day, sometimes not for several days. herbivores nibble relentlessly.

I think being fed a reasonable amount of food, once a day, guaranteed, makes most fish plenty happy.

I suspect that your fish are cranky because they were used to getting more but will settle down when they adjust.

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Also, remember to vary the diet, and supplements.

[sphelps]

I've always feed once a day and not a whole lot, basically as much as they'll eat in about 30 secs or so and no food hitting bottom or being taking out by the overflow.

[daniella3d]

Ha gee that's bad! I rescued a yellow tang that was as skinny as they get because the store did that exact same thing and kept them hungry so that they would eat when people would want so see them eat. That poor fish was so skinny that it took a month to fatten it up to decency.

This is BAD practice!

Originally Posted by BlueWorldAquatic

At the store once every 2 days, to keep them active, and hungry when someone asks to see them eat.

Ken - BWA

[Rbacchiega]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

Ha gee that's bad! I rescued a yellow tang that was as skinny as they get because the store did that exact same thing and kept them hungry so that they would eat when people would want so see them eat. That poor fish was so skinny that it took a month to fatten it up to decency.

This is BAD practice!

not really. If his fish were still active and eating, it's not a bad practice at all...there's a difference between feeding lightly and starvation...feeding every second day wouldn't make a tang super skinny. I don't feed the tank at all on Sundays...and my fish are fine

[daniella3d]

that's what the lfs where I got the yellow tang was doing, feeding every second day so the fish would be hungry. sooner or later that means trouble for a tang wich need to graze all day in order to be well fed.

If you have tangs in your aquarium and you have liverock, and you feed every 2 days, your tangs may still be able to scrape some algae off the rocks but usualy in stores there is no liverock and a fish cannot find anything to eat. You cannot compare skipping one day per way to feeding every 2 days..that means the fish is receiving half of what you give yours, maybe less.

Originally Posted by Rbacchiega

not really. If his fish were still active and eating, it's not a bad practice at all...there's a difference between feeding lightly and starvation...feeding every second day wouldn't make a tang super skinny. I don't feed the tank at all on Sundays...and my fish are fine

[reefwars]

Glad to hear your nitrates went diwn like I told you on the other thread it's only a matter of time if you keep up with it so good job

what your seeing now is your fishes true behavior .... Aggression, territory/dominance , protection/defense. Like someone said in the wild one day they could have eaten ten times while then have nothing for a week now you have fish that are acting like they should after all survival of the fittest.


I don't think Ken means he starved fish so they eat for customers he's merely saying like all of us he feeds lightly and when someone asks to see it eats then it is happy too I think you do fine ken and have been there for feeding time and know they all eat the best they can

milad I too have Just cut back on feeding now it's flake once a day and frozen every 3 plus nori daily as tanga need a constant supply if greens. Most tangs i've seen are skinny but they take time to fatten up and most lfs dint keep them that long so you can't blame an lfs for that, tangs sell fast usually before they get fat and usully as juvies


Again good job milad and FYI watch there bellies you'll know if they are starving