Feeding saltwater fish

[guitaris70]

I was wondering how everyone feeds their fish. Do you take a cup of tank water and then pop out frozen food cubes into it and let it thaw? Then feed when its thawed by dumping the tank water with thawed food in it? That's what I've been doing with mine and then adding Vitachem to it and letting it soak before I feed. I was wondering how everyone else does it I use ocean nutrition mysis and cyclops and have had an elevated nitrate reading and was wondering if maybe something in the food thawing has been the cause?

 

[Bob Escher]

I take frozen brine shrimp put in 50ml of selcon. When it's partially thawed then I ( I have a turkey baster) and I add three syringes of tank water and then I broadcast feed to the whole tank. If I'm feeding pellets it goes into a round feeding station so it stays in one place. I always put pumps, skimmer and wavemakers into feed mode for 15 minutes

 

[Joey waid]

I just throw it frozen in there, they just peck at it then of corse it goes everywhere. I only feed two times a day and only enough to were it almost gone in sixty seconds or so.

 

[guitaris70]

I take frozen brine shrimp put in 50ml of selcon. When it's partially thawed then I ( I have a turkey baster) and I add three syringes of tank water and then I broadcast feed to the whole tank. If I'm feeding pellets it goes into a round feeding station so it stays in one place. I always put pumps, skimmer and wavemakers into feed mode for 15 minutes

What does that mean skimmer turns off and pumps pump at a lower rate during feeding?

 

[Joey waid]

What does that mean skimmer turns off and pumps pump at a lower rate during feeding?

Just that. I means very little motion in the tank..

 

[Paul B]

I target feed everything with a baster looking thing I make. My fish eat live blackworms and clams every day. Sometimes some Mysis. The clams I buy live and freeze them.
Here is a video of them eating live worms. Every fish in the video is spawning except the copperband. If I feed commercially available food, I put it in a net and rinse it.

 

[jsker]

What does that mean skimmer turns off and pumps pump at a lower rate during feeding?

So that the food does not get sucked into the filtration and that the fish eat all of the food.

I slack mine in RO/DI and feed my mixture through out the week.

 

[PatW]

I feed pellets and flakes. My tangs love them. I soak them in tank water for a few minutes first to soften them. They are still young and so far show no interest in nori.

After that I have squirt bottles. I put a cube of fortified brine shrimp or pods defrosted is salt water. I squirt some in after my tangs and my blenny have stuffed themselves. My anthias and gobies who are a bit fussier than get to eat the shrimp and pods. The tangs and blenny still eat them but they are not so ravenous.

 

[guitaris70]

I feed pellets and flakes. My tangs love them. I soak them in tank water for a few minutes first to soften them. They are still young and so far show no interest in nori.

After that I have squirt bottles. I put a cube of fortified brine shrimp or pods defrosted is salt water. I squirt some in after my tangs and my blenny have stuffed themselves. My anthias and gobies who are a bit fussier than get to eat the shrimp and pods. The tangs and blenny still eat them but they are not so ravenous.

I have a big thing of pellets and flakes for marine fish but neither sink and it gets sucked into skimmer or filter the fish never seem to know they are floating around at the top of the water and the pellets are even sinking pellets lol

 

[guitaris70]

I target feed everything with a baster looking thing I make. My fish eat live blackworms and clams every day. Sometimes some Mysis. The clams I buy live and freeze them.
Here is a video of them eating live worms. Every fish in the video is spawning except the copperband. If I feed commercially available food, I put it in a net and rinse it.

awesome! you rinse commercially available food in a net and rinse with RO/DI water?

 

[tomtom2245]

I thaw in tank water and then broadcast feed half and then target feed corals with the other half. I also have an angler the I feed thawed silversides and krill soaked in selcon. I use a feeding stick for that guy and dangle it around for a bit.

 

[Maritimer]

I try to offer three feedings daily:

AM, before the white lights come on, a half-sheet of nori in a clip suspended just above the sand. Usually takes 45 minutes or so to finish that up.

Midday, if I'm home at lunchtime, I'll drop in some freeze-dried Cyclopeez, a few pellets and/or a small pinch of flake. More to round out nutrition and give them something to chase than to really fill 'em up.

Evening, I'll put some RO/DI in a cup and add a cube of frozen (I use a half-dozen different varieties in rotation) along with a bit of either Rod's or LRS. Swirl that around 'til it's thawed, and dump into the outflow of the HOB refugium, sending everyone on a merry chase. If I want to target feed, I can turn the powerheads to "feed mode" and slurp the stuff up in a turkey baster - that's good for my rock-flowers, LPS and pistol shrimp, but not as good for the maxi-mini carpets. Those guys seem to like their snacks in bigger, more coherent chunks.

~Bruce

 

[Paul B]

awesome! you rinse commercially available food in a net and rinse with RO/DI water?

Yes. But I don't use much commercially available food

 

[Thor2j]

I get a little anal, defrost frozen in ro/Di water. Strain through net and re rinse with more ro/Di water. Don't want all that phosphate mess in my tank. Only put main pump in feed mode. Leave both gyres on, fish love chasing food all over the place. All gone in less then a minute.

 

[dmh41532]

I just thaw it in some tank water and put it in. Nothing prepared, like flakes and pellets though.