Nano Tank Owners: How much do you feed?

[Sneak]

I have a 20g nano reef. I feed a mixture of around 5-10 pellets and 1/4 of a cube of frozen mysis once per day.

To other Nano reef owners: What is the size of your tank, how much are you guys feeding, and how often?

When running larger tanks, its easier to feed more. But these nano tanks are tricky to feed because we have to cut our frozen cubes in halves or fourths.

 

[AquaDoodle]

I feed about a similar amount. Dry in the morning and frozen in the evening. The frozen food I melt with rodi water and use a small dropper to feed. My fish are trained to eat from the dropper and I don't necessarily need to broadcast the food. I can just dispense mysis as they are able to eat them. I refrigerate the left overs until the next day. I do however do some broadcast feeding for the CuC.

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

I feed twice a day, dry in the morning alternating flakes one day and pellets the next day, and frozen mysis in the evening. I feed as much as my fish can finish in a few minutes.

 

[afboundguy]

Depends on how many fish and LPS/NPS corals. I have had a 25 and 35 cube setup and fed at least a cube a day plus pellets. Now that I've plumbed in an 8 and 10 gallon tank I feed about two cubes a day but have a total of 13 fish between the three tanks.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I feed 3-4 times per day, I keep nano tanks (5-10-15-32-40 gallons). I like to feed the fish and they like to eat. I thaw out a cube of frozen mysis, and I use a turkey baster to squirt a little into each tank. Even if i cut the cube into half or quarter, I still thaw in a glass (I rinse all my frozen food) and I use turkey baster to squirt a little at a time., I never pour it all at once.

 

[Tahoe61]

The 25 gallon and the 14 get 3 to 4 small feedings per day. One half cube of frozen and a mix of pellet and flake.
The 6 gallon at the most twice, and only pellet or flake.

 

[The_Bro]

I used to feed my fish to the point they were not interested in the food anymore, thinking OK they are now full.
More food = more poop. More poop more organic waste in the tank = rise in PO4 and Nitrates.
I quickly learned to not feed as much, just have to find your sweet spot.
I bought a plastic squirt ketchup bottle. Fill it about halfway with RODI and throw in a few cubes to thaw. I just keep it in the fridge ready to go for feedings. I found this about as easy as it gets.

 

[X-37B]

4-5 times a day in my 15 with 2 fish.
I mix cubes and Larrys together for all systems.
Only export is floss, carbon, and 20% 2× a month WC.
System is 9 months.

 

[exnisstech]

I don't even bother to keep track. I feed a few types of frozen along with 2 types of flake and several different pellets. In the summer I also toss earth worms that I find around the house for The larger fish. I'm home all day and my fish are superb beggers so they get fed a lot. If I were to guess maybe 5-10 small meals a day. I've never been one to try and control nutrients with food.

EDIT. Sorry I just re-read the title and see nano tanks are the subject. I have a couple of those as well and don't feed as much as my larger tanks only because they have fewer smaller fish but I still don't keep track and they get multiple small feedings.

 

[Tahoe61]

I used to feed my fish to the point they were not interested in the food anymore, thinking OK they are now full.
More food = more poop. More poop more organic waste in the tank = rise in PO4 and Nitrates.
I quickly learned to not feed as much, just have to find your sweet spot.
I bought a plastic squirt ketchup bottle. Fill it about halfway with RODI and throw in a few cubes to thaw. I just keep it in the fridge ready to go for feedings. I found this about as easy as it gets.

Brilliant!!!!

 

[TheNative192]

The 25 gallon and the 14 get 3 to 4 small feedings per day. One half cube of frozen and a mix of pellet and flake.
The 6 gallon at the most twice, and only pellet or flake.

Do you do a half cube total for the two tanks or just half a cube between the two tanks?

I have changed up my feedings a lot between my tanks. I really struggle to cut the cubes so I usually melt them & try and use them in a day or two in RODI water or freshly mixed saltwater and I have struggled with Phosphate levels.

My Red Sea cube tank, which has a high Bioload, I feed about 1/3 to 1/2 cube of mysis or brine per day. I have some pellets too that I feed on occasion to mix it up (around a pinch full maybe 20-30 of New Life Spectrum Thera A Regular). I only do one feeding per day and use pipette to slowly feed the fish.

My 25 Gallon Lagoon (I have 5 total fish) I have been able to keep phosphates pretty stable now around 0.1 which I am happy with. I feed around 1/3 of a frozen cube but I feed bloodworms, frozen Cyclopods, Brine, & Mysis (not 1/3 of each but a small chunk of 2 of the bunch). I usually choose two and then do four feedings per day totaling a 3rd. I also mix in some TDO B2 pellets as my Mandarin eats bloodworms & cyclopods for sure. But he definitely eats TDO B2 pellets.

I plan to order the Plank auto feeder and completely shift over to TDO B2 Pellets & I will probably feed 7-8 times per day in small bursts. If anyone uses a Plank currently I would be curious how long you feed & what you feed out of it!

 

[NC AL]

Just enough for them to eat in 2 minutes, once a day. This is in my 8 gallon.

It has more to do with your filtration and willingness to do water changes.

 

[dvgyfresh]

I have been feeding 1-2 cubes a day/ pinch of pellets and some zoo plankton / oyster feast. This could explain my massive GHA outbreak (20G)lol looks like I’ll cut back a bit

 

[Tahoe61]

Do you do a half cube total for the two tanks or just half a cube between the two tanks?

I have changed up my feedings a lot between my tanks. I really struggle to cut the cubes so I usually melt them & try and use them in a day or two in RODI water or freshly mixed saltwater and I have struggled with Phosphate levels.

My Red Sea cube tank, which has a high Bioload, I feed about 1/3 to 1/2 cube of mysis or brine per day. I have some pellets too that I feed on occasion to mix it up (around a pinch full maybe 20-30 of New Life Spectrum Thera A Regular). I only do one feeding per day and use pipette to slowly feed the fish.

My 25 Gallon Lagoon (I have 5 total fish) I have been able to keep phosphates pretty stable now around 0.1 which I am happy with. I feed around 1/3 of a frozen cube but I feed bloodworms, frozen Cyclopods, Brine, & Mysis (not 1/3 of each but a small chunk of 2 of the bunch). I usually choose two and then do four feedings per day totaling a 3rd. I also mix in some TDO B2 pellets as my Mandarin eats bloodworms & cyclopods for sure. But he definitely eats TDO B2 pellets.

I plan to order the Plank auto feeder and completely shift over to TDO B2 Pellets & I will probably feed 7-8 times per day in small bursts. If anyone uses a Plank currently I would be curious how long you feed & what you feed out of it!

Yes I break it it up to 1/2 cube. I refrigerate the other half. I have 5 fish as well in my 25 lagoon. Three Yellow Tail Damsels, one Clown and a small Flame Angel. All very active fish and tend to be more aggressive when not fed as often.

 

[MC Blowfish]

I feed once a day. I usually feed frozen (a little over half a cube) as my jawfish really only goes for the frozen. I do feed flakes and pellets twice a week.

I do have a nice assortment for a cleanup crew, so I don't worry too much about overfeeding. Plus, I always do a once a week water change.

 

[Project1004]

I feed twice a day manually for two tank (48G&24G).

I’ll mix 4 -5 varieties of frozen food including least 2 cubes of mysis, clams, cyclops and something with algae/greens in them.

I mix about 7-8cubes raw without RODI in a small air vent sealing container and keep em in the refrigerator. I use those tiny white scoops that comes in a test kit and give two big scoops for 48G and 1 small scoop for 24G twice a day. They last about 5-6days. I use them before they get funky smell but most of the time, I want them bit smelly. Never put the same spoon you used in the food container. Every scoop is clean scoop.

 

[gregrock68]

I have a 20g nano reef. I feed a mixture of around 5-10 pellets and 1/4 of a cube of frozen mysis once per day.

To other Nano reef owners: What is the size of your tank, how much are you guys feeding, and how often?

When running larger tanks, its easier to feed more. But these nano tanks are tricky to feed because we have to cut our frozen cubes in halves or fourths.

About 10 mysis shrimp from a single cube, or the equivalent of probably a quarter of a cube. That's for a sea Bay clownfish and a yellow bumblebee goby