How much do you feed a reef tank?

[LordJoshaeus]

I freeze the flat pack, break off a piece and cut it into small pieces. Then place the pieces into a small container , place back in freezer. Easy to pull out a piece or two.

Ah...not quite as precise as I like, but that works.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

I used flake, but i had a massive algae issue. After stopping, no more problems. As for frozen, I feed marine cuisine and reef frenzy, (either or, sometimes both), mixed with reef roids. I take one of my knives and cut it into 1/8 pieces if doing both, 1/4 if only one, save the rest for another time. I only have 5 fish in my tank though. I thaw it in tank water, grab a syringe, feed the corals, then the rest is broadcast for the fish. Everything is fat and happy, especially after the switch from flake

 

[Mrod]

Ah...this could have been the issue. The light was advertised to supply 100 PAR under 20 inches of water...and this was a 10 gallon. How much PAR is good for most marine tanks? I like macroalgae a lot but would likely keep some corals, chiefly LPS and softies.

Some well know tanks run 250-350 for SPS. So you could get by for softies and lps much lower but do you have a par meter or other way to measure? Sometimes I think people rent them or maybe the Mfg of your light has it posted or you could ask them?

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Some well know tanks run 250-350 for SPS. So you could get by for softies and lps much lower but do you have a par meter or other way to measure? Sometimes I think people rent them or maybe the Mfg of your light has it posted or you could ask them?

I could definitely do that. Would 50-100 PAR work for macroalgae and/or lower light corals? (Obviously most SPS need significantly more)

 

[Mrod]

Probably ok with 100-200 par. For softies might even be less and those are more hardy in general which is great.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Here's a crazy idea...could softies and macroalgae be grown under somewhat lower lighting if CO2 levels were increased slightly (perhaps to 10 ppm)? Obviously stony corals would not be too fond of the accompanying carbonic acid...

 

[FishDoc]

Hi everyone! I figured out the likely reason why my prior marine tanks failed...overfeeding. My 10 gallon marine tank, for example, was getting 1/4th tsp flake food most days, and when I alternated that with frozen food it got a quarter of a cube...I didn't realize that at the time, but that is FAR too much food for any ten gallon, much less a reef tank, doubtless causing my endless algae problems that eventually caused me to leave the marine hobby. My question is, how much should one feed a typical reef tank? For comparison, I am now feeding my three freshwater tanks (with a betta smaragdina in two of them, and a small persian killifish colony in another) only .15 ml TOTAL mini omega one pellets or mini bug bites each day, and most of that .15 ml goes to the killies. Thanks

I would wager that this was not entirely if at all the cause for your previous ranks downfall. First off, I would disagree that a certain amount of food correlates in any way to a particular tank size but rather your systems bioavailability to process the waste. If you had hungry fish, or several in your ten gallon, not that I’m advocating, you could easily have a fish load that would demand a quarter cube or more of food in a days time. If your fish loaf is causing to much waste and your filtration can’t process it then of course you’ll run into issues. The same could be said if you were feeding in excess of what your fish are actually consuming at a given time. Tank volume/size has nothing to do with nutritional demand.

 

[Greg Goby]

Roughly 1 square inch of frozen food per 30 gallons 3x a day.

Thats alot of food. I have a 15 gallon tank and I cannot imagine feeding 1 1/2 cubic inches of frozen food a day. I have 13 corals, five fish and two shrimp and feed 1/3 a cube of frozen food every other day. All my fish appear healthy.

 

[Luis1992]

I initially fed sparingly and worried about the tank and algae. I began to change my mind after hearing from several reefers I admired that they fed their fish a plentiful amount of varied foods and didn’t feed the coral. I’ve found great success with this. On a daily basis I feed mysis, rods, algae, reef roods, zoecon, veggie flakes and garlic extreme. I mix it all together and let it soak for at least 30 minutes. A sheet of nori a day as well (I have 3 tangs). I’ve never had issue getting fish to eat and haven’t lost a fish in over a year (knock on wood). Let the fish feed the corals. Simple tank maintenance and well regulated water changes. I started with aoi tanks and same advice applies. At least a 25% water change once a week. Test parameters. Have a good cuc.

 

[Hemmdog]

I would wager that this was not entirely if at all the cause for your previous ranks downfall. First off, I would disagree that a certain amount of food correlates in any way to a particular tank size but rather your systems bioavailability to process the waste. If you had hungry fish, or several in your ten gallon, not that I’m advocating, you could easily have a fish load that would demand a quarter cube or more of food in a days time. If your fish loaf is causing to much waste and your filtration can’t process it then of course you’ll run into issues. The same could be said if you were feeding in excess of what your fish are actually consuming at a given time. Tank volume/size has nothing to do with nutritional demand.

I said roughly, of course there is no direct correlation of amount fed to tank value.

A lot more people under feed their fish than over feed.

 

[TonyD1988]

OK. On a related note, how do you divide a frozen cube into smaller portions? Should I thaw it, divide the food and liquid into smaller portions, refreeze it, and thaw out each portion as it is needed?

I used to have a fish that was very greedy and attempt to swallow a whole cube. The solution....I get a cup full of tank water, throw the cubes in it and let it sit for about 10 minutes until its fully thawed out. Pour the water back in the tank (away from the overflow).

 

[mkwarner77]

OK. On a related note, how do you divide a frozen cube into smaller portions? Should I thaw it, divide the food and liquid into smaller portions, refreeze it, and thaw out each portion as it is needed?

I use a small paring knife and cut it into roughly 3rd's

 

[GlassMunky]

I feed roughly 3-4 cubes of frozen food at least 2-3 times a day on my 220G

 

[Metcho]

Well I’m in a totally different place with my tank it’s been running almost two years. 40 gallon peninsula sps dominant 5 fish (2) clowns, (1) Yellow belly Possum wrasse (1) exquisite fire fish (1) flame fin Tomini tang. I feed (1) cube of frozen food daily and (2) scoops of reef Roids and (2) scoops of Coral delight (2) ML of acro power and fuel every morning. I also dose 5ml of ME corals nitrates daily on doser. I test my Alk 7.5-8.3 Cal 425-450 Mg 1320-1360 No3 5ppm Po4 0.02-0.08 I check daily for months and staying stable. I have a large refug with Chaeto. It seams like a lot of food but it’s stable and works. Corals are thriving and colors are amazing

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Well I’m in a totally different place with my tank it’s been running almost two years. 40 gallon peninsula sps dominant 5 fish (2) clowns, (1) Yellow belly Possum wrasse (1) exquisite fire fish (1) flame fin Tomini tang. I feed (1) cube of frozen food daily and (2) scoops of reef Roids and (2) scoops of Coral delight (2) ML of acro power and fuel every morning. I also dose 5ml of ME corals nitrates daily on doser. I test my Alk 7.5-8.3 Cal 425-450 Mg 1320-1360 No3 5ppm Po4 0.02-0.08 I check daily for months and staying stable. I have a large refug with Chaeto. It seams like a lot of food but it’s stable and works. Corals are thriving and colors are amazing

Geez!

 

[Metcho]

Yeah I thought it was a lot of fish and coral food and amino acids. But it’s been the same everyday for close to 1-1/2 took about six months into tank running. But it’s thriving and not going to change it cause it seams like a lot of food use. Its working. And like they say if it’s not broken don’t fix it. Also my Chaeto grows from a size of softball to basketball in 8-10 days.