How often do you feed your reef?

[klepto]

How many times a day/week do you feed?

Please feel free to add as much information as you like.

Some potential areas to cover: water volume, general stocking list, number and quantity of feedings, type of food, enrichment, filtration (mechanical and chemical), diseases, major struggles or accolades...

I'm currently running a rudimentary 55 gallon AGA with a HOB Remora skimmer, GFO and ROX carbon reactor.

Stocking list: male Solon Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus solorensis), Tail Spot Blenny (Escenius stigmatura), Lawnmower Blenny (Salarius fasiaticus), Orange Lined Cardinalfish (Apogon cyanosoma). I keep a basic "mixed reef" with primarily LPS and SPS.

I feed:
-Spectrum Small Fish Formula, roughly 5-10 times a day (using very small quantities to make sure the majority is consumed).
-small quantities of PE mysis and Capelin roe, daily or every other day. While the food is slow thawing it gets enriched with Selcon. Monthly or bimonthly I mix it up with different seafood. Either with diced fresh fish or frozen silverside, krill, table shrimp etc.
-occasional unroasted nori (chopped) for the blennies

I use a turkey baster and spread out the frozen feedings as much as possible. I also like to keep a container of saltwater in the fridge for thawing frozen foods with and so I can change the oily water after thawing. Using cold water makes a world of difference in my experience. Mysis maintain their shape and nutrition when properly thawed rather than just degrading in the thaw water.

Occasionally I use some of Reef Nutrition's products to feed my LPS, but this thread is mostly targeting the feeding of fishes.

I had a trio of the Cardinals that were spawning regularly and lost two after relocating my tank and reducing feedings drastically. This combination of foods has worked very well for me. In the past I have successfully kept a single lyretail anthias (P. squamipinnis), swallowtail angelfish (G. melanosplios), mandarinfish (S. picturatus) using mostly these same foods.

All of my fishes are healthy and are showing no signs of disease.

What are your feeding practices?

 

[thelizardkin]

i have a 420 reef with
1 salifin tang
3 yellow tangs
1 purple tang stuck in overflow
1 niger trigger
1 copper banded butterfly
1 foxface
1 Marine Betta
5 yellow tail damsels
3 domino damsels
5 bluegreen Chromis
1 royal gramma
1 flounder
1 Green Mandarin
1 pair of Maroon Clownfish
and 1 starry blenny
i feed flakes 3-4 times a day homemade frozen 5-7 times a week and a sheet of nori once a day

 

[klepto]

Thanks. That is quite the list! Do you find your Marine Betta difficult to feed?
Arrr. Screwed up the poll.. The fifth option is supposed to be >10/day (more than 10/day)

 

[snorvich]

My multiple feedings are a variety of stuff (I have anthias).

 

[MCCOOL]

The only constant in my tank, is the 3x a day they receive NLS pellets. They also get a frozen course at least once a day, sometimes up to 3 times a day. The frozen variety changes all the time. I also occasionally feed live blackworms

I keep anthias, wrasses, firefish, a lone clownfish, marine Betta, canary blenny...

My marine Betta eats everything offered, and is not hard to feed at all, it loves NLS pellets.

 

[thelizardkin]

Thanks. That is quite the list! Do you find your Marine Betta difficult to feed?
Arrr. Screwed up the poll.. The fifth option is supposed to be >10/day (more than 10/day)

I don't think so it's my oldest fish but I never see it eat I never see it

 

[ColaAddict]

Marine Betta's are beautiful fish, but don't get them if you have alot of rocks, as you will never see them, all they do is hide.

 

[klepto]

Thanks for the input people. Please keep it coming.

 

[Korrine]

I feed once a day. So far staple is a pinch of 1mm sized nls pellets or thawed pe mysis soaked w/vitamins/garlic or formula 1 small pellets. A small piece of nori is thrown in for my loan tang several times a week. I plan on expanding to either Rogger's or Rod's frozen too.