How do you feed?

[d2mini]

I'd like to get an idea of how everyone else is approaching feeding.
Please list your feeding schedule and type of food, as well as any other pertinent details like tank size, type of inhabitants, amount of fish, and anything else you think would be helpful to add. Also interested in anyone who drastically changed the way they feed and what changes may have occurred, good or bad.

I'll start.

I feed about once every other day.
For the past several months, nothing but Rod's Food.
I break off a piece about the size of a nickel.
My tank is a 46g mixed reef with a clown, firefish, goby, and one chromis, plus a recently added fox face. I'll feed him a piece of Nori every couple days. I give the Anemone a thawed silver side once a week.

 

[Bifferwine]

I have approximately 20 fish in my tank. I feed once or twice a week, usually around 5 or 6 cubes of various frozen foods (mysis, Marine Cuisine, Emerald Entree, krill, plankton, bloodworms, tubifex worms, fortified brine, etc). I put a seaweed sheet in the tank once a week as well for the tangs.

 

[yote]

The only foods I've put in my 125 are either brightwells zooplankton,reef snow,frozen rotifers,or frozen cyclops.
Got an atlantic blue tang,kole tang,red fairy wrasse,one lil bartletts anthias,mandrine,and a dragon sleeper goby.
The tangs feed on the turf algae that grows on the rocks,the anthias loves the zooplankton,and the mandrine and wrasse eat the pods.
And I only feed 2 teaspoons of the brightwells or frozen stuff.

 

[JustOneMore23]

Thanks for making this thread. I'm also interested to know what people are feeding and what feeding schedules they use. I currently only have 2 Percs, but they aren't eating well after 4 days. :(

 

[winyfrog]

Okay Geez... I will start with saying I made a drastic change with my feeding about a year ago, and I have seen HUGE improvement with my fishes color and health. I changed from only feeding frozen foods to spectrum pellets, and frozen once a week I am also helping a client with some fish that are in horrible shape MHLLE, we have changed their diet from frozen foods to a mix of frozen and spectrum pellets, with garlic and vitamins soaked (its been a week and I have seen huge improvements)

12 gallon nano
2 percula clowns
1 neon goby
1 rose goby
1 pistol shrimp
1 bulb anemone
lots of majano anemones
newly found sand anemone
I feed about 6-7 spectrum pellets 5 days a week. I feed my anemone a silverside or krill about once a month.

120 gallon
mystery wrasse
pygmy hawkfish
2 female coral fairy wrasse
lineatus fairy wrasse
naked percula clown
(no corals yet, this will be an SPS tank)
approximatley 1 tsp frozen everyother day (frozen food cyclops, mysis, emerald entree or marine cuisine) 1/2 tsp spectrum pellets everyother day. both foods soaked in garlic and a multi vitamin.

180 gallon reef
dussimeiri tang
vlamingi tang
2 scopas tangs
blue hippo tang
foxface lo
potters angel
bicolor blenny
target mandarin dragonette
red scooter blenny
2 black percula clowns
skunk cleaner shrimp
pink cucumber
dragon pipefish
jansses pipefish
many banded pipefish
2 dwarf blue line pipefish
rose bulb anemone
condylactic anemone
assorted LPS
some SPS
Softies
approximatley 2 TBS frozen every other day (frozen food cyclops, mysis, emerald entree or marine cuisine) 1 TBS spectrum pellets every other day. both foods soaked in garlic and a multi vitamin. 1 sheet of green nori every other day.

I won't list the 850 unless someone asks me to. lots of tangs. :)

 

[dcantucson]

Winy I'm sure you could go days without seeing everything in that 850. How could you possibly be able to name everything. Do you have an inventory list?

 

[winyfrog]

Winy I'm sure you could go days without seeing everything in that 850. How could you possibly be able to name everything. Do you have an inventory list?

I do and you are correct that I don't see everything every day. I get so excited when I see the possum wrasse :bounce:

 

[d2mini]

ok, first of all... HOLY CRAP on the fish list! :shock: LOL!

I changed from only feeding frozen foods to spectrum pellets, and frozen once a week I am also helping a client with some fish that are in horrible shape MHLLE, we have changed their diet from frozen foods to a mix of frozen and spectrum pellets, with garlic and vitamins soaked (its been a week and I have seen huge improvements)

Second of all... FOR REAL?!
I never would have thought pellets (or flakes) would be better than frozen foods.
What gives? Somebody's got some 'splainin to do! :12:

 

[winyfrog]

ok, first of all... HOLY CRAP on the fish list! :shock: LOL!






Second of all... FOR REAL?!
I never would have thought pellets (or flakes) would be better than frozen foods.
What gives? Somebody's got some 'splainin to do! :12:

Thats was always my thought in the past, I still would not feed flake food it will desolve in your water. The pellets get eaten before they desolve. Let me give you a nutritional value break down.

Frozen food:
Marine Cuisine (sally's): Protein. 6.4%, Crude Fat 1.5%, Crude fiber 0.4%, moisture 90% (this also includes phosphates)
Emerald Entree (sally's): Protein 6.2%, Crude Fat 1.2%, Crude fiber 0.5%, moisture 90%
Mysis Shrimp (H2olife): Protein 8.6%, Crude Fat 1.6%, Crude fiber 0.5%, moisture 87.7%
fatty acids 0.5%
Cyclops (sally's): protein 4.2%, crude fat 1%, crude fiber 0.6%, moisture 94%
Cyclopeeze (freezer bar): Protein 50%, fat "lipids" 35%, carbs 12%, ash 3%

New Life Spectrum marine fish formula pellet: Protein 37%, crude fat 6%, fiber 4%, moisture 10%, ash 8%, vitamin A 8000IU/Kg, vitamin D 2500 IU/Kg, Vitamin E 200 IU/Kg

I will also add when adding garlic or vitamins to frozen food, that food is already soaking in water so it won't allow much more liquid in (so is your fish even getting the garlic or vitamins in their system) With pellets its like a sponge it will soak it up, and ensures that your fish will get it in their system. :)

 

[Melosu58]

I'd like to get an idea of how everyone else is approaching feeding.

I feed every other day with variety like flakes, mysis or vitamin fortified brine. On the off days I feed a sheet of dried seaweed.

 

[lilyicu]

72g
3 pj cardinals
2 perculas
1 foxface

small piece of frozen brine shrimp and 3 morning garlic flake food
small pieces of clam for the starfish (and the foxface)
sheet of seaweed every couple of days for the foxface

 

[ltljokersbetterhalf]

the husband and I make a mixture for our fish thatincludes frozen krill brine shrimp angel and butterfly frozen and a saltwater multipacklet it thaw and then drain the water off and add some flake food to the mixture and garlic we keep it in the fridge then every other day put just a small amount in our tank for the fish and then on the days we dont feed we put an algea sheet in for our tangs and our coral beauty

 

[KidJ57]

Thanks for making this thread. I'm also interested to know what people are feeding and what feeding schedules they use. I currently only have 2 Percs, but they aren't eating well after 4 days. :(

You may have added them to early and they may be a little stressed, what have you been trying to feed them? Adding something like Kent Marine Garlic Xtreme Fish Supplements to food can help their appetite. Also, I have had really good luck getting brand new fish to eat this stuff Aquarium Fish Foods: Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef Frozen Food

Oh, and I've got my hermit, blue headed wrasse, true perc, yellow tang, and blue demon damsel; I feed the fish a thawed cube of Prime reef every other day and another one I hand directly to the hermit. On the off days I use half a tsp. of pellets mostly for the hermit to clean-up, but the other fish tend to rush for them too...I'm definitely gonna start soaking them before I put them in though...good advice winy!

 

[lilyicu]

Winy - what exactly are you buying to soak your pellets in?

 

[Reefrookie]

Okay Geez... I will start with saying I made a drastic change with my feeding about a year ago, and I have seen HUGE improvement with my fishes color and health. I changed from only feeding frozen foods to spectrum pellets, and frozen once a week I am also helping a client with some fish that are in horrible shape MHLLE, we have changed their diet from frozen foods to a mix of frozen and spectrum pellets, with garlic and vitamins soaked (its been a week and I have seen huge improvements) :)

Makes sense to me . I just got some pellets and will soak them in vita-chem and garlic and I'm anxious to see the results in a few weeks! Thanks for the tip!

 

[dcantucson]

That make sense to me too. Winy please do post more on the products you use!!! Thanks.

 

[winyfrog]

I use Brightwell products.

garlic power
vitamarin - C
vitamarin - M
(I switch back and forth from the C to the M)

for my clients fish that have MHLLE we are using the same as above but also adding
aminomega - which helps there skin regrow

 

[Reefrookie]

Thats was always my thought in the past, I still would not feed flake food it will desolve in your water. The pellets get eaten before they desolve. Let me give you a nutritional value break down.

Frozen food:
Marine Cuisine (sally's): Protein. 6.4%, Crude Fat 1.5%, Crude fiber 0.4%, moisture 90% (this also includes phosphates)
Emerald Entree (sally's): Protein 6.2%, Crude Fat 1.2%, Crude fiber 0.5%, moisture 90%
Mysis Shrimp (H2olife): Protein 8.6%, Crude Fat 1.6%, Crude fiber 0.5%, moisture 87.7%
fatty acids 0.5%
Cyclops (sally's): protein 4.2%, crude fat 1%, crude fiber 0.6%, moisture 94%
Cyclopeeze (freezer bar): Protein 50%, fat "lipids" 35%, carbs 12%, ash 3%

New Life Spectrum marine fish formula pellet: Protein 37%, crude fat 6%, fiber 4%, moisture 10%, ash 8%, vitamin A 8000IU/Kg, vitamin D 2500 IU/Kg, Vitamin E 200 IU/Kg

I will also add when adding garlic or vitamins to frozen food, that food is already soaking in water so it won't allow much more liquid in (so is your fish even getting the garlic or vitamins in their system) With pellets its like a sponge it will soak it up, and ensures that your fish will get it in their system. :)

It's been a week since I started using the soaked Spectrum pellets. I havent seen any change in the fish yet but everything in my tank loves them!

 

[winyfrog]

It's been a week since I started using the soaked Spectrum pellets. I havent seen any change in the fish yet but everything in my tank loves them!

Keep us posted. You should see some changes soon. :mrgreen:

 

[project5k]

i get the little blister packs of mysis shrimp, let them thaw out in a cup with a little tank water in it, then i pour them into a fine mesh net, and then i put them back in the cup, add more tank water, and put in about half or so every 3rd day or so, and then for the eel, i just started getting krill, thier little shrimps, they get the same thaw drain procedure, and then one by one i feed snowflake till he quits taking them. (usually 3-4 little shrimps)