I need to reduce feedings. Will they be ok ?

[acropora4u]

265 gallon water volume. 225 gallon aquarium. Current fish load - 2 yellow tangs , 1 yellow eye kole tang. 1 scopas tang , 10 green Chromis 2 clowns 2 Bangii cardinals , 2 clowns , and 1 filefish. Need to cut the feeding down from 8 cubes frozen a day ( 4 in morning and 4 at night to 3 in morning and 3 at night to reduce nitrates. Will the fish be ok ???

 

[EugeneVan]

Setup a refugium if you have not. Then you don't have to cut down the food. My refugium works so well, I have to even do daily dose of NO3 and PO4 to keep up with the demand

 

[acropora4u]

Setup a refugium if you have not. Then you don't have to cut down the food. My refugium works so well, I have to even do daily dose of NO3 and PO4 to keep up with the demand

I already have an algae scrubber running 24/7

 

[CanuckReefer]

265 gallon water volume. 225 gallon aquarium. Current fish load - 2 yellow tangs , 1 yellow eye kole tang. 1 scopas tang , 10 green Chromis 2 clowns 2 Bangii cardinals , 2 clowns , and 1 filefish. Need to cut the feeding down from 8 cubes frozen a day ( 4 in morning and 4 at night to 3 in morning and 3 at night to reduce nitrates. Will the fish be ok ???

I run a 90 with less stock but to my eyes with your group, you've got quite a few that will find their own food for awhile....and specifically because its not near full stock load imo....yep do it imo and monitor.

 

[acropora4u]

I run a 90 with less stock but to my eyes with your group, you've got quite a few that will find their own food for awhile....and specifically because its not near full stock load imo....yep do it imo and monitor.

I have too. Nitrates at 18ppm

 

[CanuckReefer]

I have too. Nitrates at 18ppm

Yep mine between 10-15 usual. I understand your concern on the slight elevation

 

[jda]

You will starve the corals too, or at least cut back for them too. The ammonia/ammonium from the fish is what gives most coral nitrogen - most cannot use nitrate without a significant cost that can harm them. ...phosphate forms too (not just the one that you test for). Best bet is to increase export, not decrease import. If you don't have coral, then never mind.

Do you have lots of live rock and sand? It should be completing the nitrogen cycle by turning no3 into n gas, if it is mature and in decent volume. Old sand might need some vacuuming (slowly) since it can get gummed up with inert organics, but it can work again if tended to.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Good discussion. I agree. Increasing export is better than reducing import.

 

[Hans-Werner]

Yes, it is ok to reduce feedings to control nutrients ...

... but only, if you are overfeeding or the nutricious value of feedstuff is increased, in my opinion.

In my example I will use dry feeds because it is easier to explain:

If you are feeding granules with 4 or 5 % lipids fish will excrete a lot of ammonia and phosphate because they burn proteins for their energy metabolism and excrete ammonium as a kind of waste product.

If you are feeding granules with 18 % lipids including PUFA (essential fatty acids) you need to feed less because lipids are very concentrated energy. Also with a little less feed the fish will look better and better nourished since their energy needs are fulfilled and the fatty acid profile is improved because fish may select better for the essential fatty acids. And fish will excrete less ammonia and phosphate because now they can use these nutrients for growth and not for energy metabolism. So you have a double effect, you will have to feed less and the fish will excrete even less nutrients in proportion.

 

[X-37B]

Thats not really alot of food, imo. I feed 8+ cubes and some pellets daily in my 120 with 15 fish.
I had no3 creep up to 15-20 around 1.5 to 2 years in.
I upgraded my skimmer from.a Tunze 9410dc to 9430dc. Nitrates now run less than 5 with no other changes
The smaller skimmer could not keep up.
I just setup a 30 gallon remote fuge to reduce/eliminate gfo useage in the future.
I only run a 7" filter sock and skimmer for export and now 10% WC every 1-2 months.

 

[X-37B]

Yes, it is ok to reduce feedings to control nutrients ...

... but only, if you are overfeeding or the nutricious value of feedstuff is increased, in my opinion.

In my example I will use dry feeds because it is easier to understand:

If you are feeding granules with 4 or 5 % lipids fish will excrete a lot of ammonia and phosphate because they burn proteins for their energy metabolism and excrete ammonium as a kind of waste product.

If you are feeding granules with 18 % lipids including PUFA (essential fatty acids) you need to feed less because lipids are very concentrated energy. Also with a little less feed the fish will look better and better nourished since their energy needs are fulfilled and the fatty acid profile is improved because fish may select better for the essential fatty acids. And fish will excrete less ammonia and phosphate because now they can use these nutrients for growth and not for energy metabolism. So you have a double effect, you will have to feed less and the fish will excrete even less nutrients in proportion.

Very interesting info on pellets.
I feed Hikari pellets around 2-3 times a week. The fish go nuts for them. I feed herbivore and canivore.

 

[Floyd-]

8 cubes a day! wow. I might do one a day on my 175 gallon. I couldnt image 8!
I normally do either a cube or some pellets once a day.

 

[Cory]

No i wouldn't id set up a second or larger algae turf scrubber. Reducing food wouldn't benefit your fishes. It might increase aggressive tendencies and cause otber problems.

 

[blaxsun]

18ppm really isn't that bad. I have 32 fish and I feed them maybe 4 cubes a day (but I supplement with 1 sheet of SeaVeggies and 4 feedings of algae pellets). Maybe substitute some frozen for pellets?