How do you feed your fish?

[hummer]

I have a typical setup consisting of a main display with overflow and sump. When I feed my fish I turn off the pump so the food doesn't escape through the overflow. Since my system syphons back a few gallons, I also have to adjust the airflow to the skimmer because the increase in water volume in the sump will cause it to overfill.

Just wondering if anyone has any tips/tricks that they use when they feed their fish without turning off the pumps?
The reason I'm asking is that I want to improve my process and make it easy for someone to take care of my system while I'm on vacation for extended time.

One way I thought of was to drill some holes in the return pipe in the tank to stop the water from syphoning back down.
But any other sugguestions would be great!

Thanks

[Jyman]

why not try one of those feeding rings that sticks to the side of the tank so that it does not move.

[hummer]

Originally Posted by Jyman

why not try one of those feeding rings that sticks to the side of the tank so that it does not move.

Interesting. I've never seen one. Closes thing I use is a nori clip. Do you have a link or a suggestion of an effective one?
Thanks for the suggestion.

[Jyman]

there is this one.

http://www.cdaquatics.co.uk/catalog/...ng-p-1424.html

I have never used it my self.

[kien]

I assume your overflow is at the top of the tank, you could try injecting food into the tank towards the bottom of the tank with a turkey baster. It would take a little while for the food to float up and sucked into the overflow. This is of course you feed with food that sinks, like pellets :-)

Second, ya, reducing the amount of siphon into the sump is probably a good idea. This is what I do.. a couple of holes drilled in the back of my return outlets (just below the normal operating water line; important because if it is above the water line you'll inject air in).



I personally do not turn off my return while feeding. Just my two main powerheads. My fish are quite voracious eaters and very little gets into the overflow by the time they are done eating. Instead of dumping all their food in at once I feed in two small intervals though. Dump in half their food, wait a little bit(let them polish it off mostly), dump in second half of their portion. I suppose that might be a pain for a tank sitter though.

[hummer]

Thanks for the picture. I'll try drilling the holes tonight and see how that works. This would also become useful when the power goes out.