How Much and What Should I be feeding the tank?

[LeslieS]

Here is what is in the tank:

softball size rock covered in polyps
some random polyp frags
about 20 mushrooms - disc, rhod, and ricordia
60 snails total
12 hermit crabs
2 emerald crabs
2 tiny hitchhiker crabs
1 cleaner shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
1 big serpent star
anthelia
2 6" gorgonia - photosynthetic
1 small pink not a lobo from froggies tank
1 neon goby
1 yellow clown goby
1 lawn mower blenny

I was feeding 2 scoops of phyto and 1 frozen cube a day - OOPS!

What should I be feeding, how much, how often

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

You could feed what you were feeding above just every 3 days indtead of every day.

 

[prattreef]

Leslie,
I'd skip the phyto completely at this point-- not sure who in there is using it ( critters in the rock I suppose?) and try 1/3 of a cube every other day. Overfeeding is one ofthe reasons you are having an algae issue...but you know this already or you wouldn't hve posted this thread RD

 

[jhale]

I like my fish to eat every day. how about 1/4 - 1/3 cube a day.

the tank should handle that, if not more.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

leslie what cubes are you feeding? mysis, formula I, II??

 

[ShaunW]

OK, here is my "zen-like" answer!

You need to be "ONE" with the tank. In that the amount of food you add will be changing with time as your tank matures. Many of the best reefkeepers just know when their tank is hungry or full by observing the critters inside. So you need to figure out what "YOUR" tanks needs are.

I just went away on vacation, while I was away my tank only got feed twice (and not even that good). Upon my return I looked at it and just knew it was starving. All the SPS started to discolor, the fish were in a near feeding frenzy by just looking at me, and the hermits were wandering the tank eagerly looking for scraps that weren't there (CRAB FIGHT!). After two days of constantly feeding (twice as much as I normally do) the tank looks happy again.

 

[ShaunW]

As for what: you should be changing it up with a good variety of different foods ranging from microscopic (phyto) to large chunks of mysis.

 

[ezee]

Leslie,

I like my fish to eat every day. how about 1/4 - 1/3 cube a day.

the tank should handle that, if not more.

Agreed, less more often. You might also try a bit of cyclopeeze at night every other day.

E

 

[reefman]

i feed according to how long the food last.(under 2 minutes)2x day also cut back if algea creeps up more than normal.

 

[LeslieS]

thanks guys!

I cut back to 1 cube of emerald frozen entree for omnivors and 2 scoops of phyto every three days. In between, I have been feeding pellets (which only emerald crabs and serpent star seem to eat).

Tank is no longer green!!! Yeahhhhh!!!!!

It was like magic. I left this morning to a cloudy green tank and came home to a clear one. It has been cloudy for two weeks so it was pretty cool to see that things had grown and the colors were all really intense. I guess they were all getting plenty of food

 

[jhale]

Leslie, it's the phyto that's making the tank green.

not the frozen food. fyi on the frozen food's, they can be high in phosphates, which can add to the algae growth in the tank. some reefers rinse the frozen cubes in ro water to remove the PO4.

 

[LeslieS]

thanks for the tip - will start rinsing the cubes

 

[jhale]

before you do, make sure you rinse them in a fine net, otherwise the food will wash away.