Overfeeding...Is it a common issue in this hobby?

[smcnally]

So after commenting about feeding in a thread, I thought I would start this thread. A lot of people think I underfeed my tank. But, I actually think most people overfeed. Here's what I feed, why I do this, and why I think it is better than overfeeding.

I feed one sheet of nori daily and one small cube of shimp or any other meaty food, at most, once a week (sometimes go 2 weeks). The nori feeds primarily my tangs who devour it pretty quickly. My theory is that the tangs poop is also food for the tank, and I do see my other fish feed on it, so why keep adding more food daily to foul my tank. My fish have always done well and been healthy. What I've noticed is that my fish hunt for food now and eat off rock & sand like I assume they would in their natural environment. They don't just sit there, swimming around, waiting to be fed. The only fish that has ever had an issue is my hippo tang who has HLLE, but she had that when I got her 2 years ago. I've had one death since I started this which was an Anthias, but they do require frequent feedings and it wouldn't let me target feed it. Everything else is fat and happy.

I'm just posting this because I see what people toss in their tanks thinking their fish "NEED" it, when in most cases they don't. I'm hoping to help people save a little money and frustration with trying to keep nitrates and such down. This obviously doesn't go for all fish, but I have a fair amount and they all do great, I'll put a list of what I have at the bottom of this to give you an idea. I have had more fish over the years that either died or jumped before I started feeding less.

My fish (I've had all of these for at least 1.5 years (except the Foxface Lo)
Powder Blue Tang
Hippo Tang
Yellow Watchman Goby
Banggai Cardinal
Pajama Cardinal
Green Chromis
2 False Percs

So what do you all think? Am I on to something? Am I stupid? Am I cruel?

 

[stnmasn]

Steve
I think you are right on the money. There is alot of natural food in a healthy reef tank for the fish to pick at. Is a fat fish slowly swimming waiting for food a natural activity, Or is a fish working to find it's next meal more natural? I think the latter.
I am sure you are on to something, you are not cruel. These are fish that come from a very competitive world, where food isn't that easy to come by.
I've found that less is more in tank feeding.
Just my thoughts FWIW

 

[smithcreek]

How do you define overfeeding? I would say that it's feeding the animals to the point that it has a negative effect on the overall health of the tank and it's inhabitants. With that definition there can be a huge difference between overfeeding in one tank and another. I feed a lot, and have zero algae, nitrates .25 and still dropping. Without algae growing in the main tank I don't have that primary food source, and I don't have a large pod population that seems to thrive when it's able to hide in a bit of algea. So there isn't much natural food happening in my tank.

 

[naturebatslast]

I read somewhere, I think it was a Shimek article, and the article was stating, typically, saltwater aquarium fish are drastically underfed when compared to wild fish. The crux of the article was stating the sheer volume of food available over the course of the entire day, more or less, anytime is suppertime. I kinda of agree with the theory, especially when the amount of energy expended by a wild fish is astronomical when compared to aquarium fish. But, I cant bring myself to feed my fish more than they can eat in about a minute, once a day.
Seeing Terry Siegal feed his tank, holy crap! I literally saw a fistfull of stinky flake. He was of the school of feeding kind of heavily, but skimming extra hard (2 huge skimmers) and having a decent size phosphate reactor.
Do I think your underfeeding? I think your underfeeding the smaller fish. Particularly looking at it metabolically, smaller animals generally have higher metabolisms, and expend more energy when compared to larger ones. Although a animal may apper to tolerate very light feeding or fasting, prolonged hunger is usually interpreted a form of stress to the hungry animal.
The bottom line, your fish are healthy, and no losses in 1.5 years is excellent.

 

[Jim Tansey]

I can't imagine only feeding once every two weeks or so, I would have a revolt on my hands. I can see herbivores getting by but carnivores? If you feed that little why feed at all? I do understand the points your making but I think it's carried to an extreem. Many would say I overfeed (cube AM & PM) my 90 with 8 fish and maybe so but I am very careful and feed slowly so its all consumed, and regularly check my Nitrates which are always zero.

Jim

 

[MichaelJ]

I'm under the impression that the ocean is full of unkonwns, and how are we to know how much fish consume or whether they are in a position to constantly fight for food/survival such as a say a shark? First impression I believe is when there is a school of fish is that it's harder to find food, but not as hard to find for smaller fish than bigger fish. I always thought fish constantly ate as much as they could from the time they are hatched to the time they die? What about fish that top feed (bugs)? They (grayling, river fish) eat all day. (I'm probably wrong , but that's my 2 cents, I feed a little more than Steve )

 

[mr.gaboozlebag]

I usually only feed 3-4 days a week, but I always feed a lot. I have 5 damsels, and a skunk cleaner, and I have had them a little less than a year (except for the shrimp which I got about a month ago) and everything is happy.

 

[smcnally]

Just in case people didn't really understand what I meant...I don't mean my fish don't eat, I meant that I just rarely add meaty foods. I see all my fish eating all the time. My Chromis, for instance, is always picking stuff out of the water column and so do my Cardinals. That's why I wonder if a lot of people over feed.

 

[RayD]

I probably am guilty of overfeeding. Not to mention the amount of fish I have in my reef is obscene. But like Steve all of the fish in my tank have been with me a minimum of 1.5 years. My Yellow and Hippo tangs have been with me almsot three years.

I feed nori once daily, and meaty food every other day. But on meaty day I hit the system pretty hard with shrimp and Cyclopeze for the corals. I also add Phyto Pheast or something similar once a week.

I maintain decent water quality consistently and I attribute that to a lage clean up crew which I think is key to a sucessful reef.

My fish see me even walk by the tank and they're clammering to be fed. Spoiled brats!

I think sometimes we think of our fishy friends the same way we think of our other pets (dogs, cats, etc) and feed them daily.

 

[MichaelJ]

I know you feed your fish.... But how are people suppose to distinguish how much to feed since everyone has different fish size/make/model....When you buy fish they say to feed 2-3 times a day.... but they say until the food is all gone.. some fish like the Tangs and even the Chromis eat like pigs a cube can go super fast. I myself don't want to overfeed but compared to some reefers..... I overfeed. So I constantly watch to see how fat these guys are getting.. and so far no obese fish....

 

[Glass Ocean]

“I'm just posting this because I see what people toss in their tanks thinking their fish "NEED" it, when in most cases they don't. I'm hoping to help people save a little money and frustration with trying to keep nitrates and such down.”

JMO. If your fish all look happy and healthy then you are not being cruel. An emaciated fish is fairly obvious. On the nitrate discussion, I had tried to reduce nitrates a few years back by reducing food. My fish actually became noticeably thinner, with little change in nitrates. Refugium, deep sand bed and a better skimmer and the nitrates are now immeasurable. I could probably save some money, but I like making my own food and feeding my little friends.

You are probably doing what we should all be doing. I would guess that less frequent water changes would be a benefit. I don’t like un-polluting as much as polluting.

 

[TomD]

fwiw, I feed meaty foods once every 7 days. I would probably do less but I feed the tank when I feed my Dendro. I feed a combo of mega one pellets, flakes, cyclopeeze, etc maybe every other day or a tad when I come home. The Tang/algae blenny/midas blenny/ all get a square of Nori daily.

My fish are all healthy and not skinny, and I have 0 nuisance algae in my tank. I do not change as much water as I should I will admit but with the light feeding my tank stays clean.

I have a total of 120 gallon water volume and here is my stock. (probably overstocked but am yet to have an issue) I use an NW-150 Octo skimmer and half my sump is a fuge.

2 Clowns
1 Algae Blenny
1 Midas Blenny
1 Yellow Tang
1 Royal Gramma
2 Firefish (Mated)
1 Scooter blenny
1 Manadrin

 

[MichaelJ]

When ya say square of Nori... how much is a square? I usually put a 3x3 peice in....

Michael

 

[TomD]

When ya say square of Nori... how much is a square? I usually put a 3x3 peice in....

Michael

Probably about the same Mike but sometimes I put a little more because now my algae blenny, and midas blenny all want some every night.

 

[MichaelJ]

I don't know about how much to feed.. I have alot of fish... 3 that really don't add to the bioload... but when I put food in, it's gone within 1 minute. I do have alot of shrimps and cleanup crew is pretty descent. I probably feed 2 cubes a day... mix and match ya know.. but I don't do it at the same time everyday and I feed in different spots (don't know if that means anything) or at least I try to.

Michael

 

[TomD]

I don't know about how much to feed.. I have alot of fish... 3 that really don't add to the bioload... but when I put food in, it's gone within 1 minute. I do have alot of shrimps and cleanup crew is pretty descent. I probably feed 2 cubes a day... mix and match ya know.. but I don't do it at the same time everyday and I feed in different spots (don't know if that means anything) or at least I try to.

Michael

Everybody does things different Mike, and some like to feed more but if you have any hair algae, cyano, etc. I would not feed that much. I feed that in a week for meaty food but I guess it is whatever works for you...

 

[JayM]

I feed meaty foods 4 a week (mysis, brine, cyclop-eeze), and Nori daily. Formula One once in a while, live brine if the LFS I shop at happens to have it.

I do have a little bit of nitrate <5PPM, but I also have a high bioload, even skimming hard, and havibg a 50Gal refugium and ~120Gal sump that is filled with LR.

Other than the nori, food is rarely in the tank for more than 1 minute.....

My fish pick at the rocks constantly, but still swarm to the top when someone gets close.....brats.

 

[sdesi2005]

When you say you only feed meaty foods, what are your non-meaty foods other than Nori?

I feed my 65Gal, 2-3 times daily, and always a mixture of mysis, brine, cyclopese & Arctic Pods. And about 2x weekly w/ Nori.

I think the idea of 'Overfeeding' is really reef specific. How much food can your system handle/control? I think the idea of overfeeding is really something that too many people worry about the actual quantity of food being fed to the tank. Currently I'm experimenting with a BB tank. With proper flow I can feed all day long and any uneaten food is quickly exported out of the main system and picked up by the oversized skimmer.

I've got a 65Gal, a Tomini Tang, Perc Clown, chromis, orange lined cardinals & a trio of Dispars. Haven't had problems w/algae or Nitrates.

 

[smcnally]

what are your non-meaty foods other than Nori?

Nothing...I just feed Nori when I don't feed cubed food. When I do feed "meaty" foods, I usually feed a homemade fish goo that has cyclopeez, mysis, brine, garlic, squid, and bloodworms.

 

[RichConley]

I feed my 65Gal, 2-3 times daily, and always a mixture of mysis, brine, cyclopese & Arctic Pods. And about 2x weekly w/ Nori.

I think the idea of 'Overfeeding' is really reef specific. How much food can your system handle/control?

I agree. You're only overfeeding if you're tank doesnt have enough nutrient export to handle it. I've got a 58g with 9 fish. I put about 2 sheets of nori in a week, and feed 2+ times a day, usually a cube or two at each feeding. Sometimes I feed much more.


You can feed as much as you can take out.