Slow eaters and extremely fat fish in the same tank

[lba4590]

I have a conundrum and I’m not exactly sure which is more of an issue - skinnier slow eaters or morbidly obese fish lol, leaning towards the former.

I have a yellow wrasse, appropriately named Chunk, that eats pods all day long. Then at feeding time, he’s probably my most aggressive eater. After feeding the tank, he is alarmingly fat. My clowns are too fat as well..

But in the meantime, I’m trying to fatten up my copperband who is a slower eater, as well as a flasher wrasse that’s a little on the skinny side, and my anthias will only eat little tiny pieces of frozen food. My firefish and yasha goby won’t venture far from their holes and so I have to feed heavily to get some near them.

So do I just ignore my extremely fat fish? Feed less?

 

[TriggerFinger]

For the copperband, maybe try some food stuck in the rocks or on the glass, maybe throw in a clam for it to nibble on. Or vice versa; if the tubby fish goes for the clam, try to get the slower fish some food too. You could also try to distract the wrasse with a mirror at feeding time?

 

[Tono]

I used a turkey baster to feed my watchman and pistol shrimp when they were a little more shy. I also feed chunky, rich, high protein foods (like mysis) mixed with brine shrimp or fish eggs (mostly water) so there's a lot going on to distract the fat ones and the slower ones get some too.

 

[Kal93]

Clams and foods like Nutrimar are great to entice skinny fish to eat more. You could also try feeding smaller foods (which may appeal more to your anthias and copperband than your yellow coris). Also, you could feed small amounts multiple times a day

 

[Reef.]

I would carry on the way you are doing it, maybe just feed the tank in a few different areas at the same time, keep the fatties busy, then drop food in another area.

 

[sp1187]

this

 

[DrMMI]

I have multiple tangs who wouldn't otherwise let any other fish get to the food. So I have two auto feeders set at opposite sides of my tank that go off at the exact same time. This way, while the tangs are busy with one, the slower eaters can get some food from the other. Also, when I feed shrimp, I dump it near a wavemaker so it flies all over the tank and everyone has a chance.