How much should a fish eat?

[boboyo]

Hi, I'm absolutely 10000% sure I'm overfeeding as I'm worried the fishies arent eating enough and whatever hits the bottom becomes a feeding frenzy for my crabs and snails so im not too worried about it for now - nitrates and phosphates are under control.

Let's say, 1-inch clownfish, how many mysis shrimps are they supposed to eat per day?

I'm also worried about my orchid dottyback not being well. He seems to eat the least... Today he even tried to eat a few mysis shrimp but spat them out right away. I saw him poop today so he might not be dying of hunger yet (had him for about a week now). Or maybe they just take a long time to digest food?

My small sized blue tang that I got today eats like a pig


Also - do you guys turn off the pumps and filters when you feed? Seems like the only one being able to catch the food once they're on is the blue tang. (I've been turning them off when I feed since day 1)

 

[Macbalacano]

i wouldn’t worry about them eating too much, in my experience they’ll stop eating once they’re full at that moment.

yes, you should turn off or really lower pumps/wave makers when feeding, it makes it much easier, makes sure the fish can eat, and less waste of food.

 

[boboyo]

i wouldn’t worry about them eating too much, in my experience they’ll stop eating once they’re full at that moment.

yes, you should turn off or really lower pumps/wave makers when feeding, it makes it much easier, makes sure the fish can eat, and less waste of food.

I'm mostly worried they dont eat enough tho. Especially since the dottyback is barely eating.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Feed what it can clear in 60-90 seconds
Easier to add a little more than to remove it

 

[Macbalacano]

I'm mostly worried they dont eat enough tho. Especially since the dottyback is barely eating.

Try it with the pumps off. And try different kinds of food. Your dirty back might have a preference for other kinds of food. I feed a mix of 4-6 different kinds of food when I feed. Different sizes as well.

 

[boboyo]

Try it with the pumps off. And try different kinds of food. Your dirty back might have a preference for other kinds of food. I feed a mix of 4-6 different kinds of food when I feed. Different sizes as well.

Youre right I should probably try different stuff.

Quick question - do you rinse the frozen food before feeding? I was told to do it by some and by others they said it doesnt matter... Is tap water ok? I also dont want my fishnet to smell like fish food lol

 

[threebuoys]

I stumbled across a freshwater aquarium blog that had some interesting analysis pertaining to food quality and quantity that I have found relevant in the saltwater aquarium realm.

First, food quality is a critical part of deciding how much to feed. Some foods, e.g. frozen brine or mysis shrimp, have a very low percentage of protein and fat (Omega One 3.7% protein, .44% fat, 92.0% moisture), while many dry foods, e.g. pellets, flakes have much higer percentages (New Life Spectrum 36.0% protein, 7.0% fat, 10% moisture).
Homemade foods will vary depending upon how its made). So, a much larger quantity of frozen birne shrimp would be required to achieve the same nutrition

Second, the quantity of quality food is driven by the weight of the fish being feed, whether they are growing juveniles or stable adults, and activity levels. As a rule of thumb adults require 0.5% to 2.0% of body weight, juveniles require 2.0% to 5.0% of body weight of higher protein and fat food.

An average 2 inch fish weighs 1.4 grams, 3 inch=4.8 grams, 4 inch=12 grams and so on.

For my saltwater fish (damsels, drawf angels, clowns, cardinals, blennie) and freshwater fish(african cichlids),
I decided to start with 2% body weight.

I've been very happy with this approach. I can accurately control the amount of food fed and I can confirm visually that the food is quickly eaten and the fish have fat tummies. I do not go by the "feed as much as they can eat in two minutes). I feed twice per day and each time they clean the plate in no more than 30 seconds.

 

[Roytrolls247]

The way I see it is Fish in the wild have food (Prey) present at all times I normally feed once everyday and usually at the same time. I switch it up one day I feed Frozen next day ill use pellets.