To feed or not to feed?

[Mihai]

I'm trying to answer this fundamental question, and I have arguments
both for feeding and for not feeding, but I don't know which ones are
"stronger".

Let me start by specifying the setup:

90gal tank setup 1.5 months ago with 90lb of LR (45lb of cured LR
(Haiti Caribbean) added 1.5 months ago, 45lb more (mixed IndoPacific -
Fiji, Kaelini, Marshall) cured LR added last week). The tank has an
overflow but is currently unused, the sump is not built (rebuilt) yet,
and I'll not have the time to fix it for another month or so (lots of
deadlines next weeks). The lights are some 4 x 40 NO fluorescents.

To make matters worse I got some nice soft corals (mushroom, Xenia,
button polyp, zoanthids, sinularia leather) at a frag trade a couple
of weeks ago.

Therefore, basically now I'm filter-less (except for the smallest
fluval with activated carbon), the only input in the system is the
light, and I'm feeding the button polyps and some nassarius (and
relatives) snail with very little shrimp (about 1/8 of a shrimp twice
a week).

I will NOT add any fish until the sump and the skimmer will be in
place and working; there is some good coming out of this: the
fish-less period will allow the macro-algae, pods and live sand to
establish themselves.

My main question is: should I feed more or less?

Arguments for feeding more:

- the light alone might not provide enough input and hence the
corals, macroalgae, pods and live sand might not have enough to eat
(after all, all the poop from the grazing snails should get
nitrified and then de-nitrified and go away). I really don't want
my corals to starve, my snails to starve, my pods not to multiply
due to limited food intake (eat each other) and my live sand to
predate on itself.

Argument for feeding less:

- Too much food without a filter will accumulate and spoil the party
(too many algae, possibly ammonia -> not a real concern as I have
plenty of LR working for me there)

Currently ammonia is 0 nitrites are 0, nitrates are somewhere 3-7ppm
(hard to tell with my test kit).

If you think I should feed more, what should I feed (is shrimp/squid
OK?) and what size? I currently cut the shrimp up in very small pieces
(about 3-5 mm cubes) and feed them to individual polyps of the large
button polyps, and also I "spray" (target feed) all corals except for
the Xenia weekly with some blended shrimp and squid (not much, maybe
one half of a cubic cm).

Sorry for the long post, I'm trying to give you as many relevant
details as I could. I realize that ideally I should be able to "see"
if the system gets too much or too little input, but I don't have
(yet!?) the experience to judge it.

Thanks a lot,
Mihai

 

[Anonymous]

i would not feed at all

 

[Mihai]

Thanks Podman. Come on guys, 39 views and no other replies? Please, you simply cannot have less experience that I do, just let me know your oppinion.

Thanks,
Mihai

 

[fishinsouthga]

need more light, the no don't go deep enuf, the food won't matter the zoostuff will die without lights...

 

[Anonymous]

you have no other critters other than corals and snails....?? you can supplement food for your snails with freeze dried algae of some sort...Definetely upgrade your lighting....I would say the bare minimum would be PC lighting... HTH

 

[shellshocked]

I'm with Podman. I would not feed it anything. The snails will eat whatever is on the rock. You need a lot more light on the tank - maybe invest in some VHO's and an icecap ballast if you already have the tank wired. My vote would be to get some type of protein skimmer on the tank also.

 

[LFS42]

1. finish the sump asap
2. get a skimmer running. (it helps keep the redox up)
3. upgrade the lights
4. add some fish to watch

I only feed my corals about 1/week with vho lights
IMO, I would keep to that schedule and do 5-10 gal wc per week
until a filter is running

 

[Mihai]

Now we're talking. Thanks a lot, I'll take the advice and finish the sump asap and increase the lightning.

Regards,
Mihai