Feeding Fish

[robrich342]

I'm wondering if maybe I'm not feeding my fish enough. I have 7 fish in a 120gal tank and I only feed them 1 cube of brine shrimp per day sometimes two and they are always starving. My nitrates are at 5ppm and PO is 0.

any comments ?

 

[Rebel]

You might do some searches. One thing--brine shrimp has little nutritional value to the fish. You might use some mysis or formula one as well. I like to mix different food types in a food processor with a scallop, a fresh shrimp, and a clam or two if I can get it. Add vitamin supplements/selcon as well. Mix it all up nicely and put it in a gallon freezer bag. Smooth it flat and refreeze. Break of chunks and serve. It gives them a variety of foods that way.

 

[robrich342]

I feed them formula one evry few days but not much

But thanks for the info

 

[Rebel]

It would help to know what fish they are. Not every fish has the same needs.

 

[IFbettas]

Brine shrimp is no good for saltwater fish. It can entice finicky eaters to begin eating, but it has very little nutritional value. Replace the brine shrimp with mysis and also pick up some New Life Spectrum pellets. Between those two you can keep almost anything alive long term. You still need to mix up their diets with various other foods though.

 

[klepto]

As mentioned- get some mysis and start replacing your brine. (Piscene Energetics aka "PE" is my favorite company by far). If you want to keep feeding brine then at least buy the spirulina enriched ones. PE has a higher protein, omega 3 and HUFA content than enriched brine. It isn't cheap, but a little goes a long way.

Mixing things up has worked well for me. I feed all sorts of fresh and frozen seafood (too many types to list), PE, and rarely some enriched brine. (all frozen is slow thawed in saltwater)

Rebel has a good point- what fishes are we talking about? I think it's safe to say that you could be feeding more. 1 brine cube/ day for 7 mouths sounds like pretty meager rationing for just about anything you might be keeping.

 

[maynardjames]

i agree with the above. i rotate between several types of frozen food. just recently started using piscene energetics & my fish love it. most prefer over any other type i feed.
also just got my first pack of rods food this week. fish seem to like it, but have not noticed huge reaction in fish or corals as others have stated. but i have only fed it 2 or three times since getting. since starting out i have learned about the downside of just feeding brine. but why is it one of the most widespread & available of marine fish foods. because most people are unaware of low nutrient value & its cheaper to produce, or am i missing something

 

[maynardjames]

by the way i have more fish then thread starter, but i have always fed at least 2 to 3 times a day. not more then fish will eat up quick. but i do not keep sps & can stand a little nitrate & phosphate in system. i think a lot of people under feed to avoid rasing these levels & fish suffer imo. i have seen some post that they only feed 1 to 3 times a week