What's considered overfeeding?

My system is 76US gal. and has 17 fish, my sunface damsels, yellow tail damsels and yellow watchmen gobies frequently spawn. I have struggled with nutrient export in the past as you are at the moment, I now dose bacteria and add a carbon source which has rapidly reduced the nutrients in my tank.

 

hmm Do you have big fishes ? like tangs? what kinda bacteria are we talking about? i do not feel comfortable dosing anything to my tank atm, i have a large refugium and skimmer as my nutrient export now..

 

I have read that also about sand sifting stars killing your sandbed, I have had mine for about 10 months with no problems and a rediculous amount of life in my sand. I think the regular feedings are key for keeping it alive and my sand full of foragers.

 

I have a tomini tang and a mimic tang which are the smallest of the tangs (6") my DT would be too small for other types of tangs as there wouldn't be enough swimming space. I am dosing a mixture of vinegar, sugar and vodka (mixed) plus bacteria which I am growing separately. I am currently writing an article to explain it all and the results are looking very good so far. I also use activated carbon and my smaller tank has macro in it which is dieing at the moment from the lower nutrients..

 

Does the sand sifting starfish keep your tank detritus free? and what species is it?

responsible reefkeeping, K + ;D
you haven't told me what bacteria you dose yet

 

I have edited my previous post...

 

sorry just read it wow i'll be waiting to read your article

 

when i feed my fish, *only have two right now* i feed them a very very thin slice from frozen cubes of mysis and brine shrimp. I then soak it in garlic for half an hour. Once i feed i pour in a tiny bit at a time, and even then i think i'm over feeding as well, i also have to be really careful when i feed, which is also why i go so slow with pouring the food because i don't have a clean up crew yet.

 

Astropecten polyacanthus is the species of sand sifting starfish in my DT. It doesn't feed on the dtritus, I do a 10% water change every 2-3 weeks and siphon the sand using a gravel siphon to remove the detritus. In my second tank I have a sand sifting chalk goby, and 2 Nassarius Snails. The snails do a good job of removing detritus.

 

hmm when you soak the frozen food, some nutrients ( probably unwanted ) leeches out , so you may not want to pour the whole thing in? what i do is i soak it in tank water or filter water than pour it on to a net , then soak the net into the tank, that way only the food gets in