I have a feeding pyramid philosophy. Since most fish are opportunistic feeders, but some are specialty feeders, I stagger the kinds of food and delivery.
First, Nori. The tangs, rabbitfish and blennies will quickly consume any mysis, pellet, flake or even whole shrimp if they're hungry. That leaves little for the anthias, trigger, clowns, wrasses and jawfish. So they need to fill their bellies first. So, I make Nori sushi rolls with raw shrimp, mysis, cyclopese and even flake and pellets inside, but the top two or three layers and just Nori. This goes into the plastic feeders to hold it all together.
As the vegetarians eat the Nori, it exposes the meat inside and then the trigger and anthias can have at it. By that time, the tangs have been stuffed with Nori and while they can eat the meats, they are less likely to.
Next, the meat eaters can feast on the floating mysis and pellets that slowly dispense from the inside of the Nori rolls. Sometimes, I'll put the raw shrimp alone into the feeders so the big meat eaters - trigger and wrasse can avoid the frustration of waiting in line for the salad to be consumed. The trigger has learned to rip open the Nori emir hour eating it to get to the shrimp- so this avoids the mess.
Then I will do a broadcast daytime feed with pellets, Selcon, and Garlic-X. This hits the smaller fish who didn't get to feed during the feeding grill melee. I do this before the Nori is gone but after the big eaters have consumed enough to be satisfied. The piggies will still go for the pellets though. Something about small floating tummies triggers a feeding response. But they won't rip it away from smaller fish and corals.
Next is the mysis and cyclopese frozen broadcast. This is the most expensive fish food so I only put it in after all the greedy fish have been eating for hours and have a hard time taking on more. This goes to the specialty feeders and large corals. My CBB has been taking these as has the filefish. My dusky jawfish rarely leaves his hole except for these. The anthias, clowns, and smaller wrasses eat these.
By this time, the triggers and wrasses have been eating so long that the crabs and shrimp come out by day and start eating.
At night, I do my coral broadcast feed - cyclopese, mysis, reef Chilli and reef roids with Selcon, Restor, and Coral Amino (from Brightwell).
Then very late at night, I dose phytoplankton to feed the top of the food chain.
Wow - no wonder my wife thinks I spend too much time on it.
lol
