Info: How often to feed

[CleverBs]

Ok so I wanted to take the time to post a bit of info on how often a persons should feed their tank and I encourage others to add in to this and give their opinions.

My issue is I see people who all the time ask how often should I feed? Then they get replys saying oh just feed every 3 days and other person say they need to feed every day. However the issue here is that no one discusses what fish they are feeding when asking this question.

I personally feed a mix of my own making it includes

Clam, squid, shrimp, scallops, krill, and nori that I blend up, drain, and put in a bag that I flatten out into a sheet then I freeze it. In my tank I have all different kinds of fish. I have a tang, marine betta, and angel that are more then happy to eat every other day but I have a dragon wrasse who is constantly busy swimming, digging, swimming, and digging. Because of him I need to feed twice a day at lest if not three times. I have gotten to know when he needs to eat based on the size of his stomach. I was feeding the whole tank three times a day but found it kinda uncnessary because a lot of the food would be untouched because my other first are full. So now I feed every day the whole tank and then target feed my wrasse the other time or two times.

Some perks to fat fish are that they are very active. I have seen a huge increase in activity since I started feeding fresh food every day. You also reduce the stress of the fish which prevents and ich outbreak due to low immune systems (assuming ich is present in your system). Fat fish are also a lot better at defending themselves from more aggressive fish.

People fear over feeding because of phosphates in food causing algae or raising your nitrates to much. Well feeding the right amount every time and feeding quality fresh food will help this tremendously. Feeding pellet food or flake food or frozen cubes this often will cause issues with phosphates and nitrates this is why I make my own food. You reduce phosphates, fish are much more aggressive eaters have less food hit the sand and decompose.

Don't starve your fish because you don't want to go the extra step of staying on top of water changes and using quality food. Remember fish eat all day long so they are going t be mighty Hungary after 3 days without food. This is especially important for some fish that don't graze in your tank. Tangs and angels often require less feeding because they will graze algae, my gramma eats pods all day long as well as clowns. My wrasse however has no snacks and many fish don't.

Please feel free to add your own thoughts and experience.

 

[h8z2luze]

This is a great write up. If you dont mind what do you get to make your own food? Do you just buy it all from the grocery store?

 

[CleverBs]

This is a great write up. If you dont mind what do you get to make your own food? Do you just buy it all from the grocery store?

Yes I try to buy as much of it fresh as I can. Some things like scallops and squid however are just so much cheaper to buy frozen so I do that. There's actually a bag I buy from SAMs that I like. It has squid,shrimp, and scallops. I personally even go as far as removing the "poop" vein from the shrimp because I feel as all the waste in the shrimp will just contribute to phosphates and nitrates. I could be wrong it's just something I do. I get nori from an Asian market because its alot cheaper. I also mince garlic into the mixture as well.

 

[h8z2luze]

Awesome. its probably more organic that way too. Do you have a Dose amount per feed? I mean of corse it depends on the amount of fish...

 

[Gregcoyote]

I also have a thread going about home brew foods. Fat fish are healthy fish. We also discuss different methods of feeding. I totally support using fresh foods rather than packaged.

 

[CleverBs]

Awesome. its probably more organic that way too. Do you have a Dose amount per feed? I mean of corse it depends on the amount of fish...

I just use the amount of food I found works for my tank. I think it's different for every tank beings there's so many different types of fish. Your fish type will Leo effect how you make your food. I only had 2 fish that really require greens so I don't add much to my food and I have more proteins beings most my fish enjoy meaty foods.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I don't add veggies to my mash, I like to feed them as flakes or as nori sheets. It doesn't get so soggy that it breaks up too fine. But any way you do it, if you can get the fish to target feed rather than broadcasting the food out to the whole tank, it works better.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I also have a thread going about home brew foods. Fat fish are healthy fish. We also discuss different methods of feeding. I totally support using fresh foods rather than packaged.

I'm interested to know how often you feed. I always believed that small daily feedings work better than larger, or even small feedings every few days. I usually do about 2-3 very small feedings every day with exceptions when I'm away. So small in fact that some fish may not get a bite. Everything is always eaten in moments and I can't say I've had any of the problems some people report from overfeeding. Still, many people gawk when I say feeding daily is fine. I don't understand the benefit of feeding once every two or three days.

 

[h8z2luze]

I target feed my anenome and duncan with a seringe AND I found out if i squirt out a little at a time and let the fish eat it i have very little food settling to the bottom.

 

[CleverBs]

I don't add veggies to my mash, I like to feed them as flakes or as nori sheets. It doesn't get so soggy that it breaks up too fine. But any way you do it, if you can get the fish to target feed rather than broadcasting the food out to the whole tank, it works better.

I shred mine up really fine and I don't put much in the mix just enough to have a nice green in the food. I'd agree however that the more you target feed the better. That's why I target feed my wrasse.

To people asking how often people feed this is exactly what I was trying to get at with this thread. No one can tell you how much to feed you have to learn your fish and learn your tank to figure out how often to feed. My intent to this thread is to Incourage people to see how much they need to feed and not be afraid of algae.

One person feeding 3 times Aday is because of a fish that needs a lot of food. Others only need to feed one time a day. It is 100% dependent on the type of fish you have. Unless a tank is stocked with the exact same fish as another tank all the same size it's going to be impossible to say how often you should feed. A 4" trigger is going to eat a lot less then 7" trigger.

I can tell you that every tank will benefit from daily feeding if done with fresh foods.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I'm interested to know how often you feed. I always believed that small daily feedings work better than larger, or even small feedings every few days. I usually do about 2-3 very small feedings every day with exceptions when I'm away. So small in fact that some fish may not get a bite. Everything is always eaten in moments and I can't say I've had any of the problems some people report from overfeeding. Still, many people gawk when I say feeding daily is fine. I don't understand the benefit of feeding once every two or three days.

I agree with this. If we are trying to model the organisms nature environment as best we can, then you recognize that these fish nibble all day long, with occasional big snacks. If the food goes in the fish, rather than the rock work, I think you are doing the best possible feeding no matter how you accomplish it. I have never had a fat, fit fish get ICH or anything else.

 

[CleverBs]

I agree with this. If we are trying to model the organisms nature environment as best we can, then you recognize that these fish nibble all day long, with occasional big snacks. If the food goes in the fish, rather than the rock work, I think you are doing the best possible feeding no matter how you accomplish it. I have never had a fat, fit fish get ICH or anything else.

+1 the best way to keep a tang from getting ich...is to have it be fat. Ft tangs don't get ich. I like to think of it this way. If I'm Hungary I am cranky and I don't deal with stress well. However if I am full I am much more "jolly" this could explain why so many Americans are over weight but unlike humans fish are not only cuter and more active when fat but also healthier. I think an over weight clown fish with big chubby cheaks would be possibly the cutest thing ever if only you could get one. This fat...lol