Am I starving my fish?

[TankArchitect]

I've had my tank up for over 1 year and all the fish seem healthy but I really haven't noticed any growth. Current occupants are 2 O. clowns, 1 blue green chromis, 1 Yellow tang, and one bicolor pseudochromis. They all seem to get along great, look healthy and eagerly feed.

I feed a mixcture of about 1/3 cube of frozen mysis shrimp, 1/3 cube of frozen brine shrimp, and 1/3 cube of Formula one which I thaw and mix together like a gulash. I also strain out the "juice". In addition, I add in broken pieces of Seaweed Select for the tang. I feed this combination once each day.

Should I be feeding more?
On the other hand, I don't have any algae problems and don't want to risk overfeeding. Like I said, they all seem healthy, just not getting any bigger.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[JeremyT]

If they seem healthy I would say everything is OK. They might grow faster with more food, but sacrificing good water quality would do more harm than good. If if it was possible you could split the portion that you feed 50\50 and feed a half portion twice a day. This would be a more natural way to feed them. If you think about it alot of fish don't eat one large amount each day, but feed continually throughout the day{or night if they are nocturnal}. Good Luck!

 

[TankArchitect]

JeremyT,

Thanks, I'll try smaller portions twice a day.

 

[rlp]

I usually go by if the fish look well filled out in the stomach area. If they're filled out (especially the tang) then you're probably feeding enough; but I agree that 2 or more smaller feedings (if possible) is better than one large feeding (especially for the tang who is a grazer by nature). Rita

 

[Jens Kallmeyer]

Hi John

I would feed more, and more often. I feed my fishes several times a day, and a lot, and they all grow and behave nicely, out of the 6 species of fishes in my tank, 4 are mating or breeding. As I only buy my frozen food in these handy 2 pound flatpacks, I really don't know the size of a cube, sorry. But I think it is too little food.

I would just go by the looks of your fish, are they nice and round? And please don't look just at the belly, look at the back, this is the area where fishes put on their reserves. Above the lateral line towards the dorsal fin the fish should be "bulky" and round. If this area is not convex shaped but rather flat or even concave bent inward, the fishes are too thin. The belly can be full rigth after the feeding, but that doesn't tell you much, the question is whether the fish has some reserves.
If you don't see any growth in a year something is either wrong or your fishes are fully grown, which I doubt.
In case you are concerned with your water quality, well, I do not let this argument pass. Would you put yourself on a diet because your toilet can flush only once a day? I think you may call the plumber and get this fixed, no matter what it would cost. So if your skimmer can't keep up with the fishfood, get a bigger one.

Best wishes

Jens

 

[TankArchitect]

Thanks Jen,

I'll try feeding more.
No offense, but how do you feed several times a day? Are you home? Does someone do this for you?
I leave early in the morning for work (6:00 AM) and am usually back at 4:00 PM. I could feed a few times after that, say a couple of hours apart if that would work. Otherwise I can't spread the timeframe for food out that much more. Like you I use only frozen with the exception of the Seaweed Selects for the tang. I could put a small sheet of that in for the Tang to graze on, but the rest of the fish are omnivores or carnivores.

Thanks again for the reply).

 

[Jens Kallmeyer]

Hi John

I belong to those people that have to work to make a living.
The way I prepare my food is a bit different. I have several Carnation Corals and other non-photosynthetic animals in my tank that need almost constant feeding. I prepare the foods myself, using mostly products from Germany. On of these products is a gel, which I use to bind all other compounds togehter.
When I prepare food, I do it for two weeks at once. I mix the filter feeder food, then thaw a two week portion of frozen food, mix it all together into the gel, fill it into centrifuge tubes ( I work in a lab, we use thousands of them every day) and freeze it again. The tips of the centrifuge tubes are cut off, every morning I take out a tube, place it into a holder and let it slowly thaw. The food will drip into the tank over several hours. One tube in the morning, before I leave, one after I get back and one with only coral food and no fish food for the night. That way my fishes will get fed almost continuously.
Before I used a frozen Food dispenser from a German company, pretty neat thing, but expensive and not 100 % developed yet.
If your fishes eat flakes or pellets, you could just add an inexpensive automativ feeder that would feed during the day, and you could feed the frozen stuff in the evening.

Best wishes

Jens

 

[Dave Cox]

For what its worth, my feeding routine is :

Lights on 3.30pm

Auto feeder drops small portion ofpellets in at 4.15

I get home 5.15, clip on some nori and add a pinch of flakes. Start to defrost a cube (either mysis, krill, artemis, bloodworm or diamond entree)

Around 6.30 half the cube goes in.

Around 7.30 the other half a cube.

At 8.30 the auto feeder drops another small portion of pellets.

As you can see, I subscribe to the 'little and often' theory !

The auto feeder is great insurance for when I get home late, as sometimes happens for reasons beyond my control. If I know I will not be home until after 'lights out', I will adjust the feeder the night before to give double the normal amount.

 

[TankArchitect]

Jens,

I like your idea with the centrifuge tubes. How do you control the "drip" rate? Do they clog? Is this governed by the size of the hole you cut in them. If you have any pictures of how this works I would appreciate seeing them.

I also posted a thread on the DIY forum asking if any other members have unique ways to automatically feed frozen foods (my fish don't seem to take to flake or pellet).

Thanks again

 

[Rothie]

These pics are from a thread in the DIY forum.It was from sometime last year and I can't find the thread anymore.This only helps with feeding frozen food slowly.

 

[Jens Kallmeyer]

HI John

The drip rate is controlled by the hole I cut into the tube. It is a rudimentary device, it works for me, because I know how thick the slime has to be, I can hardly give you any more details (is there a measure for slimyness?).
There are pictures online, please take a look here, it is a pdf of a talk I gave in Germany last year. At the end there are some pictures of my food and the centrifuge tube.

http://www.korallenriff.de/Sindelfingen2005/Kallmeyer_2005.pdf

best wishes

Jens

 

[stykthyn]

Ingenious, I bet it smell horrible when you open it though