Can I feed fish before lights come on?

[Trickdout69]

I'm very new to this so any advice would be great. I finally got a light for the tank and will be getting coral soon I work late so I want my light cycle to come on later and I leave early. So my question is I feed in the morning but now I got this light and it will come on later can I still feed in the morning before the lights come on or do I have to adjust. Thank you

 

[returnofsid]

Yes, you can definitely feed before lights come on, IF the fish are awake and active. Otherwise, the food will go to waste AND cause pollution problems in your tank. On the other extreme, I wouldn't recommend feeding right before lights go out, since the fish's metabolism is slowing down and proper digestion won't take place.

 

[josh4107]

you can feed in the morning if you like but what time will your lights come on? for example if your lights wont come on till 2 pm and you feed at 8 am they may not be very active b/c its the middle of the night to them. im sure it wouldnt make much of a difference either way but if you feed when you get home you could enjoy watching them eat. just my 2 cents.

 

[BlueDartReefer]

Returnofsid said it perfect.
I regularly leave between 7-8:00 am. My fish are always begging for food as I walk by. Sometimes I give in and feed them. Sometimes I wait until I return home from work. My lighting schedule is 12:00pm - 10:00 pm

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Sometimes (actually it's pretty often), I feed my fish an hour after the lights go off. The fish eat most of the food and the CUC scavenges the rest.

 

[Ron Reefman]

What time of day you feed isn't that important, fish don't wear watches. They get accustom to whatever you (as god of the tank) sets for them. I'd recommend you feed when the lights are on for the most part as most of your fish and critters are up and active. I don't think it matters much if it's just after the lights are on or a few hours before they go off. You can, maybe even should, feed some (but less) when the lights are off as a few of them are probably nocternal, like the pajama cardnial.

 

[Pkunk35]

I do as seahorse keeper does, feed before lights out so the night critters eat the leftovers. One problem I have with that tho is bristle worms stealing food from coral (they dive into acan mouths in my tank...ugh).

IMO any time of day is fine, but most fish are prob going to do better with multiple smaller and targeted feedings per day.