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]

Originally Posted by jason604

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]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

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]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

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]

Originally Posted by jason604

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]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

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?

Originally Posted by Starry

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]

Originally Posted by jason604

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.