Feeding Schedule and PO4

fort384 · Nov 18, 2012

Lately, my PO4 has been creeping up in my reef. For months it was testing at 0-0.03 with the Hanna. Lately it has been holding steady at 0.1-0.12. I started running GFO in my BRS reactor last week along with ROX carbon, but it didn't knock it down any (guessing I didn't use enough GFO).

I am thinking the culprit is overfeeding, as the PO4 creep didn't start until I started feeding reef chili (spot feeding) about 3 times a week. The coral seems to love the reef chili, but I want to get the PO4 back down.

In addition, I have been feeding a dime to nickel sized piece of rods reef (thawed) 6 days a week, and feeding a 3 or 4" square sheet of nori to my tang probably 4 days a week. Is this over feeding? Current stock: Yellow tang, 2 black bar chromis (small), 2 Percula Clowns (small), a coral banded shrimp.

Any input our thoughts on the feeding schedule and my PO4 readings would be excellent.

reefin101 · Nov 18, 2012

it is probably a tad over feeding, but not much. i would cut the nori back to maybe a 1x1"
Also cut the reef chilly to once a week. How much(reef chilli) and what size tank?

You really don't need the reef chilli unless you have very low nutrients or want to get better growth.

fort384 · Nov 18, 2012

It is a 57 gal tank. I have been feeding 2 of the little tiny scoops (target feeding using a bottle). I am trying to get increased growth as all of my coral are fairly small frags at this point (tank is only about 8 months old).

Oh, I missed my Royal Gramma on the stock list as well.

I suppose with feeding the rods reef food, nutrients wouldn't be all that low to begin with, but I wanted to try target feeding, especially to my acans. I have seen quite a bit of growth since I started feeding it, but obviously the PO4 creeping up concerns me along with it.

Here is a pic for reference.

SamsReef · Nov 18, 2012

A few other questions for you. What Kind of skimmer do you have? Do you have refugium...remember the key nutrient exports:
1) good skimmer
2) refugium
3) water change
I personally do not like to use anything else. Anything else is a band aid....

Sam.

fort384 · Nov 18, 2012

I run a bubble magus Nac 3.5 skimmer.

I have a refugium, it grows chaeto like mad.

I change about 15% of the water every 2 weeks.

reefin101 · Nov 19, 2012

all sounds good. but sounds like you need to cut back feeding reef chilli.

Pkunk35 · Nov 19, 2012

Nice tank!

just some suggestions, if me I would try cutting back on the reef chili to seldom if at all. I believe Rod's food has a lot of tiny sized particles that can feed the corals too.

Also target or spot feeding the fish more will help. Prune the macro back as an export process (prune the older stuff). See if any of this helps your nurtient/phos levels over time.

For spot feeding acans i think the best is either fauna LPS pellets or mysis, is easier to spot feed and be clean about it. Change your filter socks and clean debris more often now if you are feeding heavier.

fort384 · Nov 19, 2012

Ok I will scale back on the reef chili and feed smaller portions of nori. Thanks for all the advice!

Is feeding Rods 6 days a week ok? It seems like there are a few folks out there advocating feeding a reef only 2-3 times a week.

fort384 · Nov 25, 2012

After not feeding Reef Chili for 1 week, my PO4 is back down to 0.03ppm on the Hanna. Thanks for the advice/help.

MarvinsReef · Nov 25, 2012

fort384 said:
After not feeding Reef Chili for 1 week, my PO4 is back down to 0.03ppm on the Hanna. Thanks for the advice/help.

Great result.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

stunreefer · Nov 25, 2012

Great news. Reef Chili is a good food source but certainly hard to contain, even while spot feeding. I would continue to feed Rod's and same amount of Nori you have been. Fat fish are healthy fish, and will excrete waste to feed the coral. Growth will happen naturally in due time while keeping parameters stable

Feeding a reef only 2-3 times a week is not good practice, IMO/IME. (Most) Fish graze non stop throughout the day in nature, and should be offered food at least once a day.

fort384 · Nov 25, 2012

Thanks for the advice.

NanoNathan · Nov 25, 2012

off topic sorry, but is your bacl glass not painted or is it? looks great HOW DO YOU KEEP IT SO CLEAN LOOKING!! sweet tank

fort384 · Nov 26, 2012

It is not painted. I am not a fan of backgrounds on a tank. I keep it clean by using a piranha mag float and a razor blade. I scrape coralline with the razor about once a week, and I clean the glass with the float probably 3 times a week. It helps that my nitrates always test at 0 and until this recent issue my PO4 has been at 0, so very little nutrients to feed any nuisance algae.

Pkunk35 · Nov 27, 2012

Great to hear about the lower phos, fort384!

I think with feeding frequency i tend to agree with Stunreefer in the fact that feeding as often as possible without upsetting a balance is optimal especially in regards to fish.

Personally after lots of experimentation with broadcast type foods I'm on the fence as to whether they feed the corals or whether they feed the pods/critters/algae which in turn feed the corals...both are good results but this type of feeding is not as clean as spot feeding corals that need food and letting pods eat fish/coral leftover food. Of course it matters what you are feeding as well.