How much to feed?

[kaileykari]

Any help would be appreciated. Just not sure how much to feed my fish! My test kit got old, so I purchased a new API Master Test Kit. All levels good except for Nitrate, which is 40ppm
Is that way to high for a fish only tank?
I have a 55 gallon with:
1 Ocellaris Clown
1 Tomato Clown
1 Canary Wrasse
1 Yellow headed Goby
1 Starry Blenny
1 Dart Fish
1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
I usually feed a cube of Mysis or Brine Shrimp, and a couple pinches of Algae Flakes per day.
Should I feed every other day?
I have a good filter on the tank, and live rock.
Thanks

 

[icydeath]

It is a little high. Test your tap water. If it is high too, when you are preparing the water, run it through an algae scrubber (pretty much an area that has surface for algae to grow on and has very good lighting) and the algae will eat most of the nitrates. Also if you have a sump you can do that.

If your tap water doesnt have many nitrates, just do a larger water change next time.

 

[kaileykari]

I use rodi water from LFS. I do a twenty percent water change every two weeks. Is twenty percent enough?

 

[icydeath]

I'm not sure what filter you are using and I'm unaware of some of the species you keep to recommend a water change schedule BUT this may help?

aqadvisor.com (marine version)

 

[kaileykari]

Thanks!

 

[icydeath]

Any time!

 

[bribo12]

That is a bit under stocked for a 55 IMO. Using rodi you aren't putting any nitrates back in. I'd feed every other day though and do a large water change to get nitrates down. 40 ppm isn't awful for a fowlr but it should be lower. Do you have nuisance algae?
Oh and I'd start doing weekly wc.

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[kaileykari]

Ok thanks! I don't have a lot of algae, lots of feather dusters though, on underside of rocks.
What else would be a good addition to my tank for livestock?

 

[icydeath]

Hey just a question... How much live rock and live sand do you have?
They both keep nitrates low once colonized so maybe you don't have enough.

Good luck on nitrate dropping, - Raymond

 

[kaileykari]

About 25# rock, sand mostly about 1 1/2 inch deep, except for four and half inch hill in a corner that Tomato Clown keeps going!

 

[icydeath]

You could stand to add more but you could get away with doing more frequent water changes.