Continuous feeding through top-off?

[sneeyatch]

I posted this under Reef Discussion, not thinking it would probably get better traffic here...

I've seen a few threads where folks are using the refrigerated / syringe type feeders (I forget the name of them) that feed a slurry continuously over like 24 hrs. Uhuru's NP tank comes to mind.

Anyway - my tank is a softie dominant system with leathers, gorgonians, zoas, and palys. I also like to keep a variety of inverts, especially porcelain crabs and other filter feeding animals.

I use a 10 gallon tank as top-off hooked up to an ATO unit and I evaporate about 2-1/2 gallons per day, so I refill it every 3rd day. I was wondering if I was to add a small amount of Coral Frenzy to my top-off tank and continuously run a powerhead (I have a MJ1200 in there now that I use to circulate the water once a day), if I were to be able to continuously feed the tank (minutely) over the course of a few days. I would obviously need to check parameters often enough to watch for nitrate spikes, etc.

Thoughts?

 

[SWINGRRRR]

Unless you can cool the ATO, the food will spoil rather quickly. Spoil food after 3 days does not smell very good, not to mention you'd be dosing bad nutrients in all stages of breaking down.

 

[pj86]

I use to feed through ATO. But had to change the ATO water every 12-24 hours. It does work but the longer it stays outside the fridge the more likely it will spoil.

 

[sneeyatch]

Even with a freeze dried food, something that doesn't require refrigeration at all? I didn't think to check the temp of the top off water, but I will when I get home this evening. I do know that since I fill it up directly from my RO/DI, the water is cold.

I started it last night just to see / experiment with it so I'll check the temp this evening and keep tabs on it. I also cranked up my skimmer a little to run wetter so I'm hoping that will help some.

Thanks for the advice fellas.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

You should also consider that saltwater-based food will spoil much more quickly in RO/DI freshwater. As one would expect, saltwater-based food is high in salt and is more or less isotonic with seawater. When exposed to freshwater, however, osmosis will drive tons of water into the food, causing it to swell and leach out all of its nutritive content into the surrounding water. Feeding in such a manner will simultaneous result in higher nutrient levels in the water column and less nutrient content in the food that is actually being eaten.

 

[sneeyatch]

Interesting. I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the info.

I figured that the very fine food particles in Coral Frenzy would swell up to a degree since it's freeze dried powder for the most part, I didn't think anything of the nutrient content being driven out. I don't know how much it would actually increase the nutrient levels in the tank since I've only used a very small amount (the typical Salifert spoon measurement), added to 10 gallons of RO/DI (which is vigorously circulated) and added over a period of around 3 days. I will keep an eye on it. If anything, I can always drain my ATO tank and start again with fresh RO/DI.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Freeze-dried food might be better than frozen in this regard, since it hydrates anyway. Still, it won't last very long in RO/DI water (certainly not 3 days), in terms of holding its nutrient content. You wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at the food, especially considering that coral frenzy is in fairly fine particles.

Overall, considering you are only adding a small amount and feeding over a rather long period of time, I really don't know if you'll see a difference in your tank, for better or worse. I like that you're going for continuous feeding in your tank, but I think you're going about it the wrong way. Since you're dosing dry food, why not just use an autofeeder?

 

[sneeyatch]

I didn't want to get into an autofeeder just because I only have 1 fish in my display at the moment - a blenny. I have a couple of other fish in QT, but they still have some weeks to go. My fish bio-load is low, but I keep a lot of filter feeders, gorgs, leathers and palys that appreciate the free floating foods.

I just checked the temp in the ATO tank and it's tapping 80º... nothing negative in the display, but I think I may drain the ATO to be on the safe side...

Oh well - you don't know until you try right?