Overfeeding?

[JumperAlex]

I have been told by a few people that feeding a 3 inch square of seaweed in the morning and then mysis shrimp in the evening on a daily basis is too much, is this true? My stock list is 3 inch Foxface lo, 2 inch kole tang and about 3 inch blue spotted puffer.

 

[MikeYQM]

It's not over feeding provided you have a nutrient export system to back it up. Over feeding exists when uneaten food is left to decompose and release unneeded nutrients into the tank.

I feed in excess, but I don't over feed. Food the fish don't eat is eaten by snails & crabs and excess nutrients are consumed by corals or exported.

 

[woody390]

not neccisarily correct, the decomposing food would be big issue if that was happening although the more your fish eat the more they poop out so the more waste they produce creating excessive nutrients, however if you have the right equipment/ do enough water changes then yes you can export the nutirents and you wont have any problems. have you got any algae issues as this is usually a good sign of too many nutrients which is the problem with overfeeding?

 

[MikeYQM]

Woody, what you're referring to is being overstocked. Food going to waste is over feeding, inability for a system to handle bioload (poop) an overstocked situation. Symptoms are the same, however each is a separate issue.

 

[JumperAlex]

Well I only have 3 small fish in a 90 gallon tank so I'm sure it's not an over crowding issue. I do need a stronger power head though, I'm running a 1250gph and 2 500gph. I don't have any food settling on the sand but in 2 particular areas of the tank close into some live rock I will find a few pellets of poop. Below is a picture of my power head placement. Any suggestions?

 

[MikeYQM]

I'm sure you're fine like that. As long as you have good flow coverage. Play with it.

As for the food/poop issue, fish poop & you're going to see it. No biggie. If your food is all consumed within about 5 mins you're ok.

 

[woody390]

Not really end of the day my puffer will eat all day if I keep putting food in for him but only needs feeding once a day so still over feeding and creating more nutrients than needed and none is left over. Overcrowding is simply having too many fish in the tank. And for the power heads you should try and put the either end of the tank and try and almost circulate the water

 

[JumperAlex]

I was also wondering if I should unplug my power head when I feed or just let i take the food where it will and the fish will find it? They don't seem to to be having a problem finding it but I didn't know if this would lead to problems in the future.

 

[woody390]

I just put the food in personally, think spot feeding just means everything gets fairer amount but seems ok to blanket feed

 

[mr_X]

I agree with woody. Just because something eats the food and you no longer see it, it's still there. Everything you add to the tank must be removed by you.