How Often Should Fish Be Fed?

Susan Bates · Dec 5, 2016

Well i feel like a bad mother, i only feed once a day, as i struggle with high nitrates, i have 16 fish in my tank including 3 tangs, how much should i feed, i give them nori every day

patent · Dec 5, 2016

LOL. Is the question how often you "should" feed your fish or how often people do feed them. Folks on this thread are just stating what they do, which may be what OP really wants to know.

How often you "should" feed them depends on the fish's dietary needs, and what you want them to do. I have a pair of occelaris clowns I feed 2-3 time per week. They are in a nanno, and I'd rather if they stayed smaller. They are perfectly healthy, no disease, and have been that way for some time. I feed that smaller occy pair some highly nutritious pellets, they get more than enough.

I also have a pair of occelaris clowns I feed 5x daily. That is a breeding pair, and to lay healthy eggs they need the food. JMHO, but most of us overfeed our fish, and there's nothing wrong with that if you have sufficient nutrient export in the tank too. That said, no need to feel guilty if you don't feed them often.

Some fish though, do require repeated, smaller feedings. The dragonet, in particular, but he might not even eat your prepared food. If your tank isn't big enough to provide him the food he wants, you need to supplement. Are these all in your 20gallon? If so, I'd watch them carefully to see how they are eating, and that tang will need some veggies on a clip.

jimo12 · Dec 5, 2016

If I ask what fresh food do you feed your fish will i be messing with the thread? I also feed 3 times a day mostly flakes once or twice a week frozen

DanP-SD · Dec 5, 2016

Just checked with my fish and they vote for 10-15 times a day. They don't like my routine of an auto-feeder dropping pellets (New Life Spectrum) 1x a day and me manually feeding a mix of frozen foods 1x a day, but they're fat and healthy. For frozen, I rotate between mysis, reef frenzy and bloodworms (all fortified with Angelixr) or a homemade mix I make up about once a month.

For the homemade, I use 1-2 fresh shrimp and scallops and a couple sheets of nori. I chop all of it very fine, mix it with Selcon, garlic and Angelixr, put it in a ziplock bag and press it thin and flat. Freeze it for an hour or two, then remove from the bag, dice and put the loose pieces in a ziplock bag. Then, for each feeding, just thaw a few pieces and add to whatever else you're feeding.

The key with feeding is avoiding uneaten food. At each feeding, I drop in enough that the fish eat it before it gets to the sand bed and then repeat a few times. You also need filtration to match the amount you feed. If you have robust enough filtration, you can afford to overfeed. If not, overfeeding will spike nutrient levels with all the problems that creates.

In addition to feeding the fish, I feed the corals 2x a week, and the fish eat some of that.

Good luck

Travous · Dec 5, 2016

I feed once a day only have thee fish lol

LDH · Dec 5, 2016

JMacedo said:
No less than 3 times a day. In real life reefs fish are constantly looking for food and eating it.

Wow!! Beautiful and healthy fish ! Thanks for sharing!

Leslie Tabor · Dec 5, 2016

My anthias and midas blenny think they should eat anytime I go near my tank! They are essentially labradors! ;) I feed small pellet meals a few times a day, nori 1-2/week, and a mix of frozen every other day. I do keep several NPS which means more feeding...

JMacedo · Dec 5, 2016

revhtree said:
Can you also include how much you feed, what you feed and what type of nitrate and phosphate reducing reactors or maintenance you perform? The reason I ask is that it seems you feed very well but you have a beautiful algae free tank!

Nutrients reduction starts with the salt we choose that's why I use a salt mix that provides near to NSW parameters. Salts "on steroids" are not balanced and some cause issues with algae, diatoms and so. We should never forget that the salinity we want for the water is made of the near perfect balance of all the elements in the mix.

Flow and rock work are very important, no dead spots! Keep everything in suspension until the water hits mechanical filtration!

Mechanical filtration IMHO is a must! Not using mechanical filtration makes any sump dirty in a matter of days, also some of that dirt does past the skimmer and goes back into the tank. I use Nylon filter socks and have many but only use one per 24h, keep the dirty ones in a bag and wash them all in the washing machine. I don't like felt filter socks, they don't last as long, harder to wash and occupy too much space.

Skimmer... I use a Tunze9430 and empty a full skimmer's cup every 24h! The idea is to remove most of the ammonia before become Nitrites and Nitrates.

Sand... Coarse sand keeps the detritus in, finer sand keeps the detritus out and is best for the nitrification process, IMHO.

CUC - I use sand sifter starfish and Gobies.

Keep panels and pumps clean, do not let algae or bacteria to take over!

There are different suitable methods of nutrient reduction and most would do the job. I use Nopox mainly and the above.

I make the food. A blend of shrimp, clams, salmon fish, nori sheets and occasionally black or blood worms, or sometimes eggs of fish or shrimp. I never use octopus, squid nor the skin of the fish, these are just too hard for our relatively small fish, hard on the blender and usually gets stuck on the pumps. These foods already contain some elements and many of the amino acids needed. So, one must be careful about dosing mainly more amino-acids into the tank. Also this food feeds my few LPS. I don't target feed corals.

I have undetectable levels of NO3 and PO4 per Salifert test kits. No GFO , no refugium, just a little carbon during the first week of the month an then removed.

At least one "cube" 3x a day! I cannot imagine my fish surviving years with less feedings and less food. I love my fish and I do everything I can to keep them healthy and happy... without having to release them back in a real reef! :)

JMacedo · Dec 5, 2016

LDH said:
Wow!! Beautiful and healthy fish ! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you very much!

jassimps · Dec 5, 2016

I feed twice a day on workdays. One frozen cube... each in the morning and another one at night prior to lights off. On weekends or prior to water change, I'll feed the sun, plate, and Duncan corals directly. This schedule helps reduce Nitrate & phosphate spikes. I feed NLS finicky pellets, Reef Roids and San Francisco Bay Brand frozen Mysis & Brine Shrimp plus Emerald Entree. I do my best to run a K.I.S.S. method. lol

I found feeding frozen cubes instead of pellets prevents me from over feeding my mixed reef.

Susan Edwards · Dec 5, 2016

JMacedo said:
No less than 3 times a day. In real life reefs fish are constantly looking for food and eating it.

That is an awesome tank!

JMacedo · Dec 5, 2016

Susan Edwards said:
That is an awesome tank!

Thank you very much, Susan.

Bingo · Dec 5, 2016

2x a day max if im home. i dont know if my wife is randomly feeding the fish. =) but sometimes i tend not to over feed them and also sometimes i skip a day or 2 so that tangs could graze algae films in the scape/glass and the other fish will hunt for food on their own. i notice that if i feed them alot they dont roam the tank and search for food only stay upright front glass. so im suggesting everyone not to over feed ur fishes and give them time to starve and search for their own food as theri natural instinct of survival.

juanrmattos · Dec 6, 2016

Fish population in my reef still very low, but I'm feeding a combination of foods twice a day (Right after the lights ramp up into daylight and before the ramp down into Sundown), I time the feed to last no more than 2 minutes with powerheads off.

My current reef is ULN so I try to be as careful as possible to avoid over feeding.

Feeding two sizes of pellets of the same brand mixed in the same container via feed tube by hand and also a blend of frozen Hikari mysis and bryne shrimp. All fish are now familiar and they come over when the tube drops down (Once I make sure all fish have gotten a few bites, I raise back the feeding tube).

renato120 · Dec 6, 2016

Am I the only one here feeding frozen every other day?
I do feed seaweed everyday.

timfountain · Dec 6, 2016

Wow, I am a terrible parent! I feed Rods complete frozen 4 times a week in the evening, sheets of nori on the alternate days with a small smattering of pellets. NO3, NO2, NH3 are all 0, PO4 is <4. Overall the fish are healthy and I receive the proper amount of nutrients. Tank is Red Sea 92 gallons with a 25 gallon sump stocked with 6 small fish and 4 medium sized fish

Susan Bates · Dec 6, 2016

patent said:
LOL. Is the question how often you "should" feed your fish or how often people do feed them. Folks on this thread are just stating what they do, which may be what OP really wants to know.

How often you "should" feed them depends on the fish's dietary needs, and what you want them to do. I have a pair of occelaris clowns I feed 2-3 time per week. They are in a nanno, and I'd rather if they stayed smaller. They are perfectly healthy, no disease, and have been that way for some time. I feed that smaller occy pair some highly nutritious pellets, they get more than enough.

I also have a pair of occelaris clowns I feed 5x daily. That is a breeding pair, and to lay healthy eggs they need the food. JMHO, but most of us overfeed our fish, and there's nothing wrong with that if you have sufficient nutrient export in the tank too. That said, no need to feel guilty if you don't feed them often.

Some fish though, do require repeated, smaller feedings. The dragonet, in particular, but he might not even eat your prepared food. If your tank isn't big enough to provide him the food he wants, you need to supplement. Are these all in your 20gallon? If so, I'd watch them carefully to see how they are eating, and that tang will need some veggies on a clip.

100 gallon, they are all healthy and do give tangs veggie clip every day

patent · Dec 6, 2016

I had a pair of tangs and a foxface in an 180 (along with clowns, chromis, etc.). Gave them a veggie clip weekly, and usually fed once a day. Lived for 8 years, fat and healthy. Sold them off when I took the tank down, so no idea how long they went after that.

If you are feeding quality food, daily is sufficient. Even less than that should be fine. I have no problem with feeding more, so if you want to feed more go for it. Varied diets are always good.