# How much to feed



## njudson (May 21, 2009)

Now that I am up to 4 fish I am wondering how much I should be feeding the tank. For the last 4 days or so I have fed half a cube of frozen mysis and a few New Life Spectrum pellets once a day. The feeding response to the mysis is great from all my fish and inverts but I get the feeling half a cube is a little too much. I would say 80-90% of the food is eaten right away and the remaining 5-10% stays in the water column for a while and eventually is eaten or settles to the sand where my snails get it. Is this okay? On one hand I like it because it allows some of the food to make its way to corals without me target feeding but I don't want to consistently over feed the tank.

Also is this a decent balance of food? What else could I rotate in to give my fish some variety? (I will be trying a veggie clip with some nori for the tang soon)

Is it easier if I make threads like this or keep all my questions in the build thread?

Thanks for your help.


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

Brine shrimp (live or frozen), frozen Formula 2, and possibly krill would be foods to try beyond what you are offering now for the fish. For the corals, zoo plankton, coral plankton, baby brine shrimp, phyto plankton... all should be rotated to be sure everything is getting enough of what it needs. The fish should be able to finish the food you put into the tank within 1 - 2 minutes. A small amount reaching the bottom for the blenny is acceptable, but if there is 10% settling into the sand I would call that too much. Check your water quality. Where are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels at? Excess food will show up there, too. 

(When working with the frozen formula food, the fish will eat it best in very small chunks but the corals will also eat it if it is crumbled and let to circulate in the water column)

Be on the lookout for excessive algae growth and cyano bacteria growth. Both can become issues if the tank is overfed.


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## njudson (May 21, 2009)

Have you ever used Rod's food? It seems to have a little bit of everything and is popular. Just something I may try down the road.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

ive used rods and its pretty good. i like to make my own food but can be expensive for a large variety of ingredients but if you get a few friends involved it becomes cheaper then the store bought foods
i first pre-rinse all my foods ( besides a select few, like the planktons and such ) and this includes frozen cubes which i put into a net and rinse with RO water BEFORE putting them into the tank because they are full of phosphates and im sure other things you wouldnt want to introduce. after everything is rinsed i take a blender and go to work with all different kinds seafoods. asian markets are good to look for this kind of stuff. the one by me sells a seafood meadley in a bag that has a mix of stuff. you may find some of the things either wont get eaten or your fish dont like them so when you do before grinding them up pluck them out. ill even put alittle bit of flakes in ( even though theyre like flavored cardboard to me ) DTs plankton, mysis, garlic, selcon, algae waffers, algae sheets ( which can also be found in the asian food maket, its used for sushi wraps ) a few fresh veggies dont hurt either, all kinds of things can go into the food. after its mixed and blended well, i then freeze them into my own cubes. you can do this easy by putting a piece of eggcrate onto a cookie sheet and smoothing the mix into each of the squares on the eggcrate, freeze, then pop the squares out and put them into a ziplock and then back to the freezer. hope that can help.


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## njudson (May 21, 2009)

There is a reef club near me that occasionally gets together and makes a big batch of food for everyone to share. I will have to go check it out next time they do that. I just want to be sure I am feeding a variety of things. I get the impression that mysis alone would not be a great diet for a fish long term and only some of my fish seem to like the NLS pellets.


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

I personally have not used Rod's foods, so I can't help with that, sorry.

You are correct to say that mysis alone is not healthy. No single food by itself is going to be very healthy because no 1 food is going to provide enough of the many nutrients the fish need to be healthy and thrive. The more variety in the diet the more likely the fish will get a good amount of every nutrient they need, but remember that too much of a good thing can also be no good. 

Be careful with the veggies... not all veggies are healthy for your fish and/or your corals. Be selective and stick to greens that have high nutrient content with lower water content. Iceberg lettuce is not a good thing to use, but spinach is great and leaf lettuce is fine in moderation. Avoid cabbage, also... and don't over do the garlic. A small amount of garlic is plenty.


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## njudson (May 21, 2009)

I picked up some Rod's Food Original Blend on my way home yesterday. All 4 fish ate like champs. I will be alternating it with mysis and offer a few NLS pellets daily.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

njudson said:


> Is it easier if I make threads like this or keep all my questions in the build thread?


It is appropriate to start a new thread for questions, which will ensure that you get a response. The build thread should be more of a place for you to provide commentary on your tank and its progress, with the exception of the first few weeks when a lot of discussion is probably taking place.


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