Feeding every other day. Is it recomended?

HI ALL,
I recently started a 34 G Solana. The thing is beautiful, and works like a charm. It really allows the pleasure of having a marine aquarium with out the unnecessary $$. Anyway, I only have 2 Saddlebacks, a basic cleanup crew and some mushroom. My intent is to keep coral mainly and for the meantime I am feeding my clowns every other day (mysid) and once in a while i'll give them some pelets.

How recomended is this? I mean, is it better to underfeed than overfeed? So far its been working good, but I wonder if feeng this infrequent poses a long term threat on the tank.

Id appreciate any advice.

Peace,

 

Honestly, its not how often, but how much that is important. Technically, it would be best to feed the fish 3-5 times a day, in very small portions But, we don't all have the time to do that
I feed every other day, and on the in between days put the veggies in the clip. I overfeed. My fish are fairly obese. But, I feed a lot. It really all depends on what you have, how the system handles it, etc. It's kind of something you will have to play with to get a good balanced schedule down, as everyone's system is slightly different.

 

In all honesty, you can never get one correct answer. Everybody has their ways of doing things that works for them, might not for others. As long as your not putting in a full cube every other day you should be OK. If the fish are happy, you should be too . Oh ya, welcome to 3reef! Got any water parameters to post up? You will know if your are feeding too much when algae begins to appear more readily than before. BTW make sure to rinse those cubes before they go into the tank, let it thaw into a cup of RO water and swirl it around. Let the shrimp settle to the bottom and gently pour out the water into a new cup, you will be surprised with how much gunk is in the juice.

 

Yep, that is a good question. And, as stated, there are many answers. You try to find that line where your fish are happy and the waste produced is broken down by the bacteria in your tank and/or any equipement you have attached.

My tank's problem right now are nitrates. They are 50ppm. I am waiting for my fuge to kick in and trying to fine tune my denitrator. Once things are leveled out, I intend on increasing my feeding from twice weekly to every other day. It just depends on what my tank is able to do and how much it is able to break down.

Just find your comfy zone where your fish are taken care of properly and stick with it.

 

This is a great suggestion. I didn't know this until just recently. I actually thaw my frozen food first (Rod's and other frozen cubes) in those little plastic containers you can buy in the grocery store. I let it thaw in the refrigerator. I don't have many fish, so I just break off a little piece of Rod's and one cube. That usually lasts a few days. At feeding time, I pour the food through a strainer and rinse with a little bit of water from the tank and keep it in a clean container.

 

In the long run, your tank will let you know. If your params start to get off (nitrates, phosphates) and/or algae starts showing up and not going away... it's a sign you are overfeeding/overstocked (or have too small a CuC).


Start by underfeeding and understocking. Slowly, over weeks, increase your bioload or feeding. The tank should let you know when you've hit the sweet spot.

Each time you add a fish or remove one, the sweet spot will move, so be adaptable.

I fed every other day. Then I lost 3 fish for various reasons. Now I feed every 3 days. Might bump it up whenever I replace some of these fish.

 

I don't supplement feed at all.
I have 1 shrimp, some hermits, a feather duster and an oscillating dragonet.

Theres plenty of detritus and algae for the shrimp and crabs and there are pods EVERYWHERE now for the dragonet.

I can't say never.....Occasionally I throw a flake or two of reef food in for the shrimp and crabs as the dragonet now ONLY wants to eat the pods instead of the prepared food he was eating...Fine with me though, that's what they're there for!!

 

Well put by Peredhil---Your tank will tell you a story--I almost lost my scooter blenny by underfeeding cause I was so scared of algae and nitrates..I now feed twice a day--Pellets in the morning and 1 full cube (1/2 green 1/2 brine or mysis) and pellets at night along with romaine with garlic and soaked in zoe--tank holds at 0 nitrates and no algae and scooter blenny and all other fish are really healthy looking--just do what works for you.

 

I use Hikari brand mysis and have found it to be very clean,no rinsing needed,just thaw and serve a little at a time so you can see its being eaten.