What are hazards of overfeeding? How much?

[Kevin207]

I have heard that overfeeding can cause problems. Maybe I have experienced these problems and have not realized that they were caused by overfeeding.

I have heard 1 flake per fish from the local fish store.

I have seen "as much as the fish can devour in 3 minutes" on lots of perpared foods packaging. This seems like a lot and causes quite a feeding frenzy.

I have big occupants in my tank (a 6 inch Regal Blue Tang), lots of smaller fish like Chromis, Blue Damsels, and clowns that all eat plenty when feeding starts.
I have some timid eaters (yellow tang and pj cardinals) who I fear don't get enough. The yellow tang picks all days so I am not too concerned.

I am more concerned about the biggest eater, that big blue tang. I fear that he eats a lot of the food before others get to it when he starts his feeding frenzy. He got quite skinny a month ago so I have tried to give more than less to make sure he stays healthy.

In the mean time I have had at least 3 types of unwanted algae appear (hair algae and some fern like algae) that I fear is due to the flakes. :roll:

So is this one of the side effects of overfeeding? How much SHOULD I be feeding them?

 

[SnowManSnow]

ive never heard 1 flake per fish haha... that soulds a little weird. As far as some symptoms of overfeeding you would probably notice expediated algae growth, possibly cloudy water, and nitrate / nitrite spikes.

the fernlinke algae may be a microalgae. Difficult to tell without a pic.

what kind of skimming are you doing? and how big is your tank again?

b

 

[dnorton1978]

What type of flake food are you feeding? A couple that are good is Ocean Nutrition formula 2 and spirulina(spelling is prob. off) Other things are algae strips too. I feed small amounts a couple times per day of the flake. I also throw in some mysid shrimp for the chromis and clowns that I have.

 

[habsfan]

I was reading somewhere that before feeding live food you should rinse it because it contains high phosphates. Any truth to that?

 

[ChrisRD]

Yeah, the one flake per fish thing is nonsense. The guideline about the fish eating most of what you feed in a few minutes is the one to go with.

Overfeeding can contribute to nuisance algae problems, but there are lots of factors involved. If you have to starve your fish to keep nuisance algaes under control then you've got other issues with the system. Nutrient input/export, lighting, grazing animals, etc. are all factors in controlling nuisance algae.

If you describe your setup we can offer more specific suggestions.

 

[Kevin207]

Yeah, the one flake per fish thing is nonsense. The guideline about the fish eating most of what you feed in a few minutes is the one to go with.

Overfeeding can contribute to nuisance algae problems, but there are lots of factors involved. If you have to starve your fish to keep nuisance algaes under control then you've got other issues with the system. Nutrient input/export, lighting, grazing animals, etc. are all factors in controlling nuisance algae.

If you describe your setup we can offer more specific suggestions.

I have a 120 gallon 4'x2'x2' tank with two 400W metal halide pendants (14K bulbs).

I have two overflows, both siphoning (just to be redundant in case one fails). I have two returns (redundancy again), one directed through a WavySea spinning 360 degrees slowly. I have two Rio 800s with rio motions attached to diffuse the water output for circulation. I have one VorTech. The current runs around the tank in an oval pattern, but is broken up by the wavysea unit. Also the Vortech has more than half its flow directed at a large pile of live rock.

There is a protein skimmer running off and on during the day and night.
I have a drop in chiller in the sump.

I have the following fish in there:
1 Blue (regal) tang
1 Yellow tang
7 chromis
3 damsels (blue with yellow tails)
3 clown fish (biggest is 2.5 inches)
1 Royal Gramma
1 Six-Line wrasse
2 Pajama cardinals

Lots of snails (various types)
Lots of crabs (blue legged, red legged, etc.)
1 sand sifting star
3 blood red fire shrimp
1 coral banded shrimp

Here is a picture of the tank including most of the corals I have:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=91717

I think is is about time to build a web page with all this information so I can point to it instead of typing all of the above

I am really only getting various type of hair algae from any over feeding. It is pretty much in control at this point...water quality is fine, not less than 8 hours of light and no more than 10 hours these days.

The type of flake food I am using is a mix of Aquadine from the local fish store. This is the primary food source. It is supplemented a couple of times a week with brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, blood worms, and an occasional Formula 1 or 2 cube.

 

[ChrisRD]

Doesn't sound like too much food to me - especially considering all the fish you have. By the link it looks like you're just running one of those built-in skimmers, correct? Typically those built-in types aren't very effective. How much skimmate does it produce? Why are you turning it on/off?

A few more questions...
What are you using for source water (ie. RO, RO/DI, tap, etc.)?
Have you ever tried running a GFO like Phosban or Rowaphos?
Do you ever blow the detritus out of your rockwork with a powerhead?
Have you ever syphoned any detritus out of your sandbed?
Do you thaw/strain the frozen foods or just dump them in juices and all?

You have a heavy fish load (and some big waste producers to boot) and strong lighting so that makes it tougher to keep nuisance algaes at bay. It can be done, but you need to keep tight control of what nutrients you're adding and you need to have lots of export (ie. good skimmer, water changes, possibly use of GFO and/or GAC, etc.)...

 

[Kevin207]

By the link it looks like you're just running one of those built-in skimmers, correct? Why are you turning it on/off?
Yes, it is a "US Aquarium" sump with built in skimmer. It skims a good amount, but there are definitely more intricate skimmers out there.

It turns off at around 6 am so I don't have to listen to it in the morning. It then kicks on again from around 9am until 5pm. Then it turns off until about 11PM, then it kicks on again at 6am.

What are you using for source water (ie. RO, RO/DI, tap, etc.)?
Tap water from a drilled well (880 feet 8O) It has a natural pH of around 8.0+, but brown diatom algae still appears when I top off the sump to replace evaporated water. I am not too concerned about phosphates, or should I be?

Have you ever tried running a GFO like Phosban or Rowaphos?
No

Do you ever blow the detritus out of your rockwork with a powerhead?
Not intentionally

Have you ever syphoned any detritus out of your sandbed?
Every water change.

Do you thaw/strain the frozen foods or just dump them in juices and all?
I thaw them by putting them into tap water in a little jar and then I shake them up until they thaw. So juices and all :?

 

[ChrisRD]

Well, if it were me I'd get an RO unit and stick to using purified water for topoff and water changes. Personally, I've never been able to run an algae free reef tank with tapwater. I'm not saying it's impossible, but IME it's a lot easier to keep nuisance algaes in check in a brightly lit reef tank when using pure source water.

I also make a habit of blowing the rockwork out with a powerhead at least a few times a month. You'd be amazed at how much crap can accumulate in the rockwork, even in a tank with decent circulation. All that decomposing detritus will surely contribute to phosphate levels (and therefore algae problems)

I also thaw and then strain frozen foods through a net and discard the juices adding only the food. The juices are loaded with nutrients and will contribute to algae problems IME.

Personally, I would be using a better skimmer on that tank and running it 24/7 but if you're comfortable with what you have and your current on/off routine you can try some of the other things mentioned above and see if that's enough to get some positive results.

Using a GFO can make a major dent in nuisance algaes as well. If you decide to try this, do some searches here and read-up on how to best use them. When used too aggressively they've been known to negatively effect some corals.

Just remember to be patient - even once you've found the problems and addressed them it will take time for the effects to show (just like it took time to develop the problem).

HTH

 

[snapper1]

Over feeding can cause the uneaten food to fall to the Bottom and cause Nitrite and Ammonia levels to became lethal. I have learned the hard way what you feed your fish should all be eaten within a few minutes.I changed to frozen cubed food it is better for fish and my fish eat it Fast.