FEEDING TO MUCH?

[mathias]

well I was at fin addict and I was asking for help with aptaisa and they first asked me how much do I feed? so I said about 3 cubes in morning everyday.....



They kind of laughed and said 1 cube at the most lol.... I have about 4 fish in a 55 gal.....



so now its time for me to put my fish on a diet....


reason I posted this was to see if I wasn't the only one over feeding my tank...

[Ram_Puppy]

I definately dont feed near that much... two small pinches of flake aday for my 5 fishes, usually not a flake left over, only feed live or frozen a couple times a week ( feed the spirulina and krill plus from CB pets, it is GREAT stuff.) then for frozen I vary between cyclopseeze, mysis, and prime reef.

My problem, even though nitrate, nitrite, amonia are all undetectable, is that every time I joes Juice an aptasia, a bunch of little ones pop up in it's place... they don't grow large like the old ones though, so I guess that is something.

It is a never ending battle man... buy some berghia from larry and be done with it! :)

[DeletedAccount]

I feed a ton and know it, thank god for skimmers!

[Gator]

i like to over feed my fish to keep them fat. I have learned to feed alittle bit at a time so the fish have plenty of time to eat and not let the food float away.

[Jenn]

I am with Misti and Gator on this. I know I feed too much and have thought about adding another skimmer to my system to help. I think of it like this; in the wild, they graze all day like cattle. I want to try and keep them as happy as possible - not to mention fat. I have 6 round fish - 4 tangs, 1 huge foxface, and a moorish idol.

[Shark_Bait]

I feed twice a day. And overfeed both times !! Not alot but there is always brine shimp or 8or9 mysis floating around. Think the crabs must get them though because it's gone for the second feeding. Or I guess the fish go out and get them when I'm not there. i have a goldenhead sleeper goby that I might see once a week, never really sure if he died but then look around for the pile of substrate he's moved maybe he's coming out and grabbing it.
Either way I think we all overfeed

[alton]

Tell my Clown Trigger he is only getting one cube a day. He is already packing the crabs and starfish around the tank. I don't want him to start eating them.

[alexwolf]

i just ordered 4 "feeding stations" that float. when you feed, you put the food in there, and it stays in there so it doesnt go straight to the overflows. I feed too much because when i put the food in, it bolts straight for the overflows and gets stuck in there. :blink

[eric]

Sounds like I'm the only one that's completely opposite. Granted I only have one small fish in a 55 gal, but he only gets "fed" when I get around to it. I'll split up a cube of froze myses (sp?) shrimp over several days when I do feed.

I feed the anemone, brain and frogspawn sometimes with chunks of shrimp. And the fish usually steals some of that.

He has breakfast on 'pods in the morning when the lights come on and catch them in the open.

I had one domino damsel a while back that didn't get a manual feeding from me for over a year. The fish was not starving. I like to at least think that I complete ecosystem of which I only had to add water and light. But then again, maybe he wouldn't have been taken by the sneaky crab if I'd been putting more food in there.

[StephenA]

I feed my 6 fish (120Gal) one cube and some cyclopeeze once a day. One of them is a large trigger. I think I under feed. Do I think you over feed, not really. I might go to 1 cube in the morning and 1 at night.

Now as far as your aptaisa issue, a copperband butterfly, peppermint shrimp could help out with that. I used a copperband butterfly and they were all gone in a month.

[CD]

asking for help with aptaisa and they first asked me how much do I feed? so I said about 3 cubes in morning everyday.....


I think I overfeed, and that seems waay excessive (even to me) with only four fish in your tank. Just out of curiosity, what do you feed "3 cubes" of? Is it a variety, or just one type of food? Also, I think your fish will be happier if you feed smaller portions more often, rather than all in one feeding. I mix up a small cup of food every morning with tankwater, and feed half in the morning (putting the leftovers in the 'fridge) and the other half in the evening. The frozen cubes are pretty easily cut up for smaller portions. In one day (over two feedings) I'll feed 1/3 cube of Hikari mysis, about the same amt. of Piscine Energetics mysis (bigger shrimp), 1/3 cube Formula 2 frozen, a small shaving of frozen cyclop-eeze, *very* small pinches of both Formula One & Two flake, and a couple of drops of Garlic Xtreme. Once or twice a week I'll throw in some brine shrimp too. That's for seven fish.

Personally, I think the aptasia are probably enjoying the extra food you feed, but even decreasing the food amounts will not help get rid of them at this point. Kalk paste, Joe's Juice (never tried this yet), or berghia would be my suggestions. Peppermint shrimp and CBBs are OK if you plan on never having any clams, feather dusters, anemones, etc.

Wendy

[Viet-Tin]

I dont think i overfeed my fish and i never do periodic feedings either. i feed my fish 5-7 times aday but only feed small amounts. This way they are always eating like in the ocean. they all seem to be happy.

[mathias]

I fed 3 variaty cubes.... so all diff stuff.... but the reason I was told to take back my feeding is so my 4 peppermints start to eat the aptasia....