"Heavy in - Heavy out". How heavy is heavy? :-)

[gbru316]

8 grams of frozen (mostly mysis) and 0.5 gram of flakes/pellets per day,

Running the aquaforest probiotic method, I feed almost that much in my 2 month old 40 breeder, and lately I've had to start dosing phosphate to keep it from bottoming out.

Nutrient export is bacteria, skimmer, and 10% weekly water change.

 

[Dan_P]

Feeding is extremely important to supply food to both corals, fish and inverts. But we don't often post how much we feed. With my current export capacity, I can only feed 8 grams of frozen (mostly mysis) and 0.5 gram of flakes/pellets per day, or my NO3 will rise. I have a 170 gallon Acropora tank with 14 fish, half of which are tangs. I have a 2-3" sandbed, skimmer, fleece and small 10 L refugium with chaeto, 10% weekly water change. The tank is 1,5 years old. I don't dose anything but kalk and 2-part.

How much can you feed without sending PO4/NO3 through the roof? How large is your tank? Somehow, I feel my export could be higher. Particularly interested in the acroholics among you. @jda @Big E @therman @TUSI @tenurepro @bubbaque @SBB Corals ?

Just chiming in and did not read the entire thread, sorry for any info repeat.

When comparing nutrient inputs, % protein content times mass of food and % phosphorous times mass of food would provide a more consistent set of metrics to define and compare nutrient input. Roughly 16% of protein is nitrogen and for a first approximation, mostly goes to nitrate production.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I give phosphate calculations for a variety of different foods and amounts fed here:

Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both

Foods are by far the most important source of phosphate in most aquariums. In considering whether sources of phosphate other than foods are important, one must carefully look to the actual amounts involved to determine whether other sources are even worth trying to minimize.

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