How much to feed?

[+capty99]

How do you guys know how much to feed your tank?

Everywhere I read says 'whatever they will eat in 3 minutes' but thats a pretty terrible way to measure so far since my shrimp just sit and wait there for the food to come to them before attacking it. They'll eat for a while too.

Current tank is 3 peppermints and an 1 1/2 inch ocellaris clown -- but don't be specific for that I want to know as I scale the tank up what I shoudl be dropping in.

Thanks

[Gonzobob]

For fish and shrimp the 3 minute rule makes basic sense. (note it doesn't take into account shy fish and other situations) Add coral and other inverts to the mix and it quickly gets much more complicated.

I feed fish daily (for the most part) and corals (again for the most part) 3 times per week. There are exceptions, my Dendros get daily attention.

[reefman]

Gonzobob, how does the 3X a week for corals working for you, and what are you feeding them?

Stephen

Edited August 18, 2009 by reefman

[Gonzobob]

OK,

Target feed

torch, hammer, frogspawn, dendro (larger) brine, mysis

acro, millis, ect reef roids, rotifers, cyclopes

Palys, zoos, blastos, acans cyclopes, rotifers, brine, mysis

I have about 6 very small buds on my dendro frag so I also target with Oyster feast, marine snow) *trimmed plastic coke bottles are great for this

General tank

Oyster feast, reef roids, marine snow, DTs

Generally seeing good growth.

Comments and suggestions welcome

[GKarshens]

Basically you want to make sure that most of what you feed gets eaten. If a good portion ends up laying on the sand or in the rocks it is too much. I try to feed in segments. I melt the food in a small cup and pour in little bits at a time. That way the fish have a chance to get it all.

[renman303]

Ditto Gabe on this one. I melt one cube once a day plus one tightly rolled hunk of Nori on a "tent clip" tied with fishing line (No pun...courtesy and kudo's to the Mannin's for this idea). Once every 3 days I melt a cube of some sort of Coral plankton food and dump it in the water stream AT NIGHT. Turn off the Protein Skimmer if you are using one. I don't spot feed corals but do give a big chunk of fresh shrimp directly to both my BTA and my Tiger Serpent Star.

[mFrame]

Ditto Gabe on this one. I melt one cube once a day plus one tightly rolled hunk of Nori on a "tent clip" tied with fishing line (No pun...courtesy and kudo's to the Mannin's for this idea). Once every 3 days I melt a cube of some sort of Coral plankton food and dump it in the water stream AT NIGHT. Turn off the Protein Skimmer if you are using one. I don't spot feed corals but do give a big chunk of fresh shrimp directly to both my BTA and my Tiger Serpent Star.

tent clip?

[renman303]

tent clip?

It may be a Tie down clip? Acadamy has them in the camping section although you have to buy a 6-pack of them. McCoy's Building Supplies has them individually for $1.59/ea.

[JamesL]

Hmm.. I like the idea of tying the clip. Because the suction cups on the algae clips seem to go out pretty fast (mainly because I am too lazy to remove them from my tank when not in use ).

[renman303]

Hmm.. I like the idea of tying the clip. Because the suction cups on the algae clips seem to go out pretty fast (mainly because I am too lazy to remove them from my tank when not in use ).

It works great! Tie it to the canopy with about 12"- 18" of fishing line (no pun) and drop it in the water! It constantly moves causing more of the fish to have access to it and have to chase their food.