how is my feeding schedule?

[saltyESQ]

I am concerned that I am not feeding enough and that I am feeding the proper foods for my fish.

210g w/170lbs of LR and 240lbs of LS
BK SM 200 and midwest aquatics denitrator

nitrates are 40ppm
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm

stock list:
5" humu
pair of gold stripe maroon clowns
5" emperor angel (changing colors)
3.5" flag fin angel
3" singapore angel
5" red sea regal angel
9" golden puffer (anthron)
3.5" spotted toby puffer
1" bicolor psuedochromis
4" sohal (only eats nori)
3" purple tang
3.5" pearlscale butterfly

as for food:
1 sheet of nori per day
then every other day I feed a mix of mysis, clams and squid.
Then one day a week I feed spectrum pellets and some other types of pellets soaked in zeocon.

a

 

[agreeive?fish]

you really should double your nori,

change your every other day feeding to every day

my fish get feed a min of 2 times a day but usually 3 times a day

i feed nori ( 3 varieties and always have one on the clip), 3 types of flakes, 2 types of pellets and numerous types of frozen..what i feed each time just depends on what i feed on the frozen as to which flaskes/pelets i feed

 

[JustinReef]

Smaller more frequent feeding would be better in my opinion. I think you could feed more but I feed a LOT. I feed mysis and pellets every morning, 2 whole prawns (or clams, squid, mussels, ect.) around 5 and a little mysis at night before lights out. And I have less fish Not that you need to feed as much as I do though!

Your nitrates are kind of high too I would say. Do you know why? I guess they are not out of hand but you may want to try to lower them a bit.

 

[saltyESQ]

My nitrates are high due to a vacation (someone else feeding the fish) in combination with a failed attempt at using chemicals to kill ich (which required my skimmer be turned off for a week).

Which is why I purchased a denitrator. Everything that I have read on the midwest aquatics brand has been outstanding. The problem is that it can take over a month to get it completely working. In fact I am mixing 55g of NSW atm for a water change (which would only bring down nitrates to 30ppm)

 

[limitdown]

Once the your sulfur denitrator gets properly cycled, it'll drop your nitrates to zero.

Once that happens, then you can slowly increase your feeding steadily over a period of time. This will allow the bacteria to slowly increase in numbers. After reaching a the desired level, then try to keep your feeding schedule constant so that the number of anaerobic bacteria stays constant. This will help keep nitrates and aneaerobic bacteria at an equillibrium. If you underfeed, then some bacteria will start to die and release hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell).

I have been running a sulfur denitrator for a year and I can almost say that it's the best piece of equipment I've ever purchased. I keep large angels, triggers and tangs, which all need to be fed a lot of food, very often. Despite the heavy feeding, my nitrates have been undetectable for almost 1yr.

 

[saltyESQ]

I'm glad to hear that it actually works. Do you know if you can run the denitrator during hyposalinity?

 

[mhills16]

i was going to say............ I have never had my nitrates over 0ppm in my DT no matter how much i feed, what filtration are you using?

 

[reign]

I have never had to use a denitrator. what kind of maintenance schedule do you guys have? ..one system 250 gal has : hawaiian trigger,lionfish,naso, hippo,rabbit (lo),panther grouper,emperor angel,soapfish,maroon clown,marine betta, zebra eel,coral beauty,green bird wrasse. most larger specises are over 7"..I feed aqudine 50/50 mix and seafood mix (shrimp,clam,squid,nautilus,octopus .:gumbo) 1-2x daily and never have nitrates over 20ppm on a bad week...these fish have been in here for 2 yrs. I do do a bi weekly water change..

another system 450 gal. only has : blonde naso streamers 8", vlamingi 8" growing streamers, jv koran, 2 9" lions, fiji foxface, lo rabbit, niger trigger lyretail,lunare wrasse,cinnamon clown,lg panther grouper,md porcupine, dogface, domino damsels..and looking for new livestock...this one has been running for 8 mo and nitrate less than 5ppm feeding same schedule.

serioulsy what kind of filter of maintenace schedule are you on?

 

[limitdown]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13339770#post13339770 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltyESQ
I'm glad to hear that it actually works. Do you know if you can run the denitrator during hyposalinity?

Good question about hypo. Hopefully somebody with experience will chime in.

Btw, how's the cycling going with the denitrator? Have you tested the nitrate level of the effluent coming out of the denitrator vs. tank water? How many drops per second are you running? I find that with my 250g system, 1-2 drops per second is just not enough. I run it at 5 dps and have had great results.

Once you get down to undetectable levels on tank water then you can bump up your feeding schedule. I really like feeding my fish a lot and often to keep them fat so having a denitrator is a total godsend.

 

[anbosu]

How much do denitrators typically run? Can you run them without a skimmer?

 

[limitdown]

Midwest aquatic sells one for $340
http://www.midwestaquatic.com/PRODUCTS/sulfur_denitrifier.htm

But you can build one quite easily.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1288082

Just buy 2 pounds of sulfur pearls, $16/lb.
http://www.midwestaquatic.com/PRODUCTS/HPS_PEARLS.htm

They should run fine without a skimmer, but I still run an oversized skimmer in my system.