Feeding

[jason604]

I have 2 clowns, bi-coloured blenny, sifter fish, psy, yellow tang. I started off this hobby feeding my fishes frozen mysis but I'm so lazy to prep it and been just feeding my fishes flake food. Is that enough for them? I tried feeding mysis but they don't seem to remember eating them no more and don't go after it. Maybe too small? I only feed my LPS mysis shrimp now but each Time I do my 3 shrimps that I have goes nuts and goes right into the mouths of my LPS and rips the mysis right out n munches them( damn cannibals lol).

[jason604]

So does any1 know if just feed flake food enough for my fishes? =)

[Aquattro]

So does any1 know if just feed flake food enough for my fishes? =)

Enough to keep them alive? Probably. Enough to keep them happy and healthy, probably not.
A better, more varied diet will make them stronger and better able to deal with stress and warding off disease. For the 118 seconds it takes to prepare some mysis, it's likely a worthwhile investment.

[Magickiwi]

Enough to keep them alive? Probably. Enough to keep them happy and healthy, probably not.
A better, more varied diet will make them stronger and better able to deal with stress and warding off disease. For the 118 seconds it takes to prepare some mysis, it's likely a worthwhile investment.

If you read the side of the Spectrum marine flakes it specifically says there isn't enough food value to keep large or adult fish happy and healthy.

Does anyone else follow their own mood when they feed their fish? For example when I want to see them go bats*it crazy I feed cyclopeze or brine shrimp. When I want to see my shrimp and crabs go nuts I feed sinking pellets or mysis. If I just want to give the fish a chance to eat without cluttering my sand bed I feed some floating pellets. Or if I want to show off my yellow tang Maui I'll clip some red macro algae to the side of the tank.

[jason604]

Enough to keep them alive? Probably. Enough to keep them happy and healthy, probably not.
A better, more varied diet will make them stronger and better able to deal with stress and warding off disease. For the 118 seconds it takes to prepare some mysis, it's likely a worthwhile investment.

Hey aquattro. What would u advise me to feed my fishes? They don't seem to bother going for the mysis no more. Should I alternate flake with pellets?

[Aquattro]

Hey aquattro. What would u advise me to feed my fishes? They don't seem to bother going for the mysis no more. Should I alternate flake with pellets?

I would try other forms of plankton, bits of raw fish, etc. Once, my fish stopped eating mysis. I realized the pack was quite old, so bought a fresh one, they went back to it :)
If it's fresh, add it at the same time as flake, they'll pick it back up in no time.

[Starry]

Soaking it in Selcon or Garlic can also make it more appealing to the fishies.

[jason604]

I would try other forms of plankton, bits of raw fish, etc. Once, my fish stopped eating mysis. I realized the pack was quite old, so bought a fresh one, they went back to it :)
If it's fresh, add it at the same time as flake, they'll pick it back up in no time.

Thx I will try mixing the two to see how it is. I mix reef roids with phytoplankton for my sps and add mysis for my LPS. But I've heard that I'm supposed to use zooplankton instead of phyto. Is this true?

Soaking it in Selcon or Garlic can also make it more appealing to the fishies.

Yes I always soak my mysis in garlic solution. Only my shrimps seems to go completely nuts over it lol.

[Aquattro]

I mix reef roids with phytoplankton for my sps and add mysis for my LPS. But I've heard that I'm supposed to use zooplankton instead of phyto. Is this true?


No idea, I've never fed corals.

[asylumdown]

zooplankton is a pretty broad spectrum term that covers everything in size from rotifers (barely visible to the naked eye) to cyclopeeze and tigger pods (large enough to make out anatomical structures), to potentially even larger animals. The term plankton just means that the organism is small and does not have the ability to intentionally swim (i.e., even if they can move at the micro scale, they're still completely at the mercy of ocean currents). SPS corals do not all have the same sized polyps, and not all consume the same size of food. Some zooplankton will be too large, some zooplankton might be too small.

Really the terms zoo and phyto plankton only mean that the thing is either a planktonic plant or animal. Saying you should feed corals one or the other is on oversimplified way to look at it. That's like saying they should either eat meat or plant, when in fact they are likely opportunistic omnivores adapted to a specific particle size.

[DumpTruck]

i am very new to this hobby but i just feed my clowns and my gobbey mysis and my corals amenio acids. everything is happy and full of colour. i have a friend that uses the garlic with his mysis and the fish love it.

[Madreefer]

No idea, I've never fed corals.

I don't understand why people waste their money feeding corals yet target feeding them. Waste of money IMO. Fish poop is good enough.

[Dearth]

I feed my fish a mixture of flake and pellet food every day and when I remember to do it I will dump half a cube of defrosted shrimp/phytoplankton or a mixture of both.

As to feeding coral I have never fed or target fed my coral and they all grow like crazy.

[Aquattro]

I don't understand why people waste their money feeding corals yet target feeding them. Waste of money IMO. Fish poop is good enough.

Agreed. I think I've target fed my frogspawn twice to show someone that they actually can eat meat, but other than that, fish poop is the only thing on the menu :)

[Madreefer]

I feed my fish a mixture of flake and pellet food every day and when I remember to do it I will dump half a cube of defrosted shrimp/phytoplankton or a mixture of both.

As to feeding coral I have never fed or target fed my coral and they all grow like crazy.

Crazy you say? Let's see some pics

[The Guy]

Enough to keep them alive? Probably. Enough to keep them happy and healthy, probably not.
A better, more varied diet will make them stronger and better able to deal with stress and warding off disease. For the 118 seconds it takes to prepare some mysis, it's likely a worthwhile investment.
Agree with you Brad, I feed both tanks a variety of foods, pellets, frozen Mysis, cyclopees, garlic enhanced Omega One flake food and of course Nori usually once a day. I have coral foods as well, but don't notice much difference in their appearance using it or not. Heck some days I forget to feed at all. To me that's more like life in the real ocean and keeps the fish hunting for their food and not fussy eaters.

[jason604]

for those of u that dont feed corals.. do u have a high nutrient system? Are shrimp pellets good for LPS? the guy at the LFS was trying to sell me the LPS pellets and they were 6x the price so i just bought the shrimp pellets... my plate and scoly seems to eat it but my hammer and frogspawn spits it out.

[Aquattro]

No, I have a very low nutrient system, mostly SPS, but the LPS I have grow like crazy. All they really need is light.