Feeding Question

[strout]

I know I am most likely over feeding my fish and wanted some thoughts on this. I am fixing to buy some test kits and start checking my water more often to try and get my tank ready for some SPS corals.

My Fish list:
1 Hippo Tang
1 Yellow Tang
2 Maroon Clowns
1 Alge Blenny ( Fred)
1 Midas Blenny ( Wilma)
1 Red Wrasse ( I think, hes not a big Fish, 4 inches)
1 Flame Angel
1 Fox Face, hes kinda big 6 inches
1 small purple and yellow something or another

Now what I feed: I buy these frozen cubes of mythis (sp) shrimp, they come in trays, I buy two differant kinds of these, one is green and the other is a tanish color. I feed three cubes in the morning and three in the afternoon. I also feed a pellet food every other day, one time, when I do this, I only feed two cubes of the shrimp. The clowns seem to like the pellet food better than the frozen shrimp. Also, not every morning, I would say 5 times a week, I feed fresh shrimp to my Rose Ann. and to my two shrimp. I also cut up a few pieces to feed the clean up crew and most of the fish grab a piece or two of this. The fish are fat and happy and eat everything I feed them in about 5 mins. or less. Do you think this is to much food or just about right? I read some where, lol, that over feeding causes nitrates to rise, be it by uneaten food or fish waste and that this is not good for SPS corals. Anyway I am going to get some testing kits in the next day or two, just to see where my tank is at.

 

[Lorna]

hmmmm in a word....yes. I feed my tank which is a not overly heavily stocked 75g with a yellow tang, 2 occellaris, 6line, midas & bicolor blenny, pink spot gobie and 2 chromis 3 cubes every 3 days.....in between I may feed them a bit of pellet such as spectrum or prime reef flake. I also clip a 1/3 sheet of nori once a week. I feed my two anemones in this tank (1 large lta and 1 very large bta) 1 silverside each every other week. For the most part the fish will scavenge around but none look starving or emaciated and all food gets eaten by the cleanup crew if the fish don't get it first.

 

[strout]

Well, I guess that answers that question. 3 cubes every three days and I am feeding 6 cubes a day, guess I need to cut back a tad. Thanks for the reply. LOL I figured you would say I needed to cut back to 4 cubes a day, lol.

 

[TRe]

lol i feed 1 cube a day! when i have nori i put about a half of a dollar bill size every other day but i havnt had any for a few months now... i feed my RBTA half a silverslide once every other month or so! like once a week i feed 2 cube of mysis instead of just one

 

[TRe]

btw the list of fish are:
large hippo tang
med-large purple tang
mystery wrasse
pair of percs
yellow watchman goby

 

[Lotus]

I keep an eye on my foxface. A while back, we weren't feeding him every day, and he did become skinny. He doesn't eat mysis or any other meaty foods, and because his metabolism is higher, he seems to need more than we were giving him. I believe tangs do the same.

Testing your nitrates is really going to be the only way to know whether the SPS will do well. If they're high, you'll need to consider ways to reduce the nitrates, including cutting down on feeding. Feeding a lot can also lead to high phosphates, which is bad for coral and good for algae.

 

[strout]

I don't have an algae problem, I don't have any algae in the tank at all, but most likely the 25g water change a week is the reason for that. I am having a problem with my zoas and polys though. They are alive and look nice, but they aren't putting out any babies. I figure it is because they are getting to much light from the MH or because of the over feeding. As far as the nori goes, I put two leafs of Romain lettuce in the tank each day before going to work, when I get home from work, I feed the fish then put in about a third of a sheet of nori, it dosn't last long and thats all they get till the next day. Now, my reasoning on the romain Lettuce, lol. You can tell me if I am wrong, feel free to speak up. As I said I haven't any algae in the tank, none at all, not even a small piece. I am thinking this gives the fish something to do all day.

 

[TRe]

i feel like with zoos they go thru growth sperts, than dont do much, than grow like crazy... try not to move them and keep the conditions stable and everything else should fall in place

 

[Lorna]

boy I only add nori about twice a week and a small piece at that.

 

[strout]

A question about this nori, I have heard that some fish, Tangs and others need to graze on seaweed like nori to keep in a healthy condition, that being said, if its true. I am guessing that a small piece twice a week is all they need as that is all you are giving them. Ok, where I am going with this is, as I don't have any algae in my tank ( not saying you do) should I just be giving Nori only twice a week also and shoud I stop giving them the Romain Lettuce?

 

[strout]

I forgot, I fed one cube this morning and one this evening. I tested for Nitrates tonight. All I have to check with is these little strips you dip in the water and give it a min. and see what color it is, it shows my nitrate is between 80 and 160. The color is close to the color chart for 80 but a tad darker, but at least I know where I am at and can work on it.

 

[TRe]

u need a real test! lol

 

[strout]

I have cut their food back, went from 6 cubes a day to two, and every other day I am giving a third. They just look like they are still hungry with only two cubes a day. Do ya'll think two a day is enough, I just don't want to starve them but I want the nitrates down.

 

[TRe]

definitly not starving them! like i said i feed a cube a day sometime every other day! and ive got some fish ive had over 2 years with that same schedule

 

[Lorna]

i have had some of my fish for over 4 years...my yellow tang is a pig and is fat and happy on the schedule I feed.....they always look hungry, they know that if they swim up to you hungrily you will feed them therefore they always look hungry besides it is good for them to pick at the rock etc and hunt for stuff to eat (not your corals) worms etc....

 

[strout]

They seem to be doing good on two cubes a day, everyone still fat. My Hippo is the pig in our tank. The Fox Face is the one I am keeping an eye on, he dosn't really compete for food as aggressive as the others and he is the biggest in the tank.

 

[Lorna]

Just make sure that the foxface gets enough veggie matter