Fish Feeding: Slow and Steady Wins the RACE or does it matter?

[revhtree]

So lately I've been intentionally feeding my fish slowly and with less flow in the tank. There are some good reasons for it and some of you may or may not agree with it. You may or may not agree that it matters based on your own experience so that's what I would like to talk about today. One way I accomplish slow feeding is pumps off so the food isn't blown around and the use of a turkey baster to feed feed directly to the fish a little bit at a time.

Do you feed slowly, what's your method and what are some good reasons for slowly and methodically feeding your fish?

Here is a couple I have.

1. ALGAE control! If the fish consume most of the food then the less you have fouling up the water as it breaks down.

2. Fish health. The slower you feed the more food the fish get to consume and the healthier they are in theory.

feeding video via @C-Reefer

 

[SeaDweller]

aint nobody got time for that especially when I feed them 6 times a day!

 

[Mical]

I voted "other" because I really don't feed fast or slow & methodically. My fish get fed pellets twice a day via feeders. I use Hikari Marine S & Seaweed Extreme with a splash of Reefroids. (Seaweed Extreme for Fox & Rabbitfish) Then on weekends they get Sunday brunch when I feed my nems - they get either cut up frozen shrimp or littleneck clams (Thanks Paul B!) & fox & rabbitfish get nori on a clip. The fish get some of the excess "meaty stuff". Anything more than that I get an algae problem. Corals get daily Reefroids broadcast fed by feeders, CoralAmino via ATOs and I'm currently trying dosing EasySPS from CoralVue for my SPS.I've been only dosing EasySPS for a couple of days and it's too early to tell the results, but CoralAmino in the ATOs has greatly improved my LPS & softies.

 

[Magellan]

I don’t know how well it would translate to a larger tank, but I have a nano. Any excess is a LOT of excess. I feed twice a day, very slowly with the flow turned off. As soon as the fish stop eating, I make sure some food hits the sand for the hermits, and then stop feeding and turn the flow back on. Most of the extra gets sucked right into the overflow.

 

[Jcagle09]

I don’t know how well it would translate to a larger tank, but I have a nano. Any excess is a LOT of excess. I feed twice a day, very slowly with the flow turned off. As soon as the fish stop eating, I make sure some food hits the sand for the hermits, and then stop feeding and turn the flow back on. Most of the extra gets sucked right into the overflow.

+1 same

 

[madweazl]

I leave the pumps on full bore (two MP40s at 100% on a 75g) and toss the food in all at once. There is food whizzing around for minutes.

 

[Brew12]

So lately I've been intentionally feeding my fish slowly and with less flow in the tank. There are some good reasons for it and some of you may or may not agree with it. You may or may not agree that it matters based on your own experience so that's what I would like to talk about today. One way I accomplish slow feeding is pumps off so the food isn't blown around and the use of a turkey baster to feed feed directly to the fish a little bit at a time.

Do you feed slowly, what's your method and what are some good reasons for slowly and methodically feeding your fish?

Here is a couple I have.

1. ALGAE control! If the fish consume most of the food then the less you have fouling up the water as it breaks down.

2. Fish health. The slower you feed the more food the fish get to consume and the healthier they are in theory.

feeding video via @C-Reefer

I slow my flow down prior to adding food. I do this to mimic a natural reef where the waves stop several times a day to allow the fish to feed. ;Troll

Ok, maybe I just dump it in... I personally feel the motion helps trigger a positive feeding response. Now, there are some fish that are going to have different requirements, so slowing flow and spot feeding may be necessary. I just don't have those species.

 

[Mical]

At feeding time, both of my tanks via Apex go into low speed lagoon mode for 30 minutes. This way all food including Reefroids gets distributed around the tank.

 

[tgionet]

I just chuck a chunk of frozen in 4-5 times a day. It gets obliterated by the powerheads and pretty much everything gets fed.

 

[raylinds]

I turn off my power heads and dump the food in several spots in the tank. I turn the power heads back on before the food reaches the bottom (I have a very tall tank).

 

[Joe Rice]

"Flood feeding" for me. I chop up frozen foods into tiny bits, put it into a cup of tank water and pour it into a high flow area of the tank so that the food quickly disperses all through the tank. That way my shyer fish get plenty of opportunity to eat without having to compete with my more aggressive fish like the Royal Tang that just vacuums up the food if it's all clustered together.

 

[DSEKULA]

I think this depends on the fish. Some fish are slow eaters and seem to do better when some food is added slowly and reserved for them (my Mandarins have a feeder for this reason) some others will eat in a frenzy as soon as food is added, for more aggressive stock there probably won't be anything going down the overflow no matter how fast you add. So I personally do a mix by doing a bulk tank feeding but also filling the dragon feeder so smaller slow eaters can have a chance

 

[Peace River]

Interesting topic! I know that a lot of people use "feed mode" on their controller that turns off the pumps, but lately I've been wondering if feed mode should be turning on a pump that is pointed in front of the overflow to push the food away while still having all of the other pumps continue to run and keep the food in motion.

 

[mfinn]

I just dump in it, right in front of a MP40.

 

[tmynice]

Timing on this one is funny, I just switched how I feed. I have a 300G heavy sps w/ a dozen + fish. Recently I switched feeding method, but am switching back due to poor fish health. So my preferred method is to defrost frozen food in tank water, and dump it in all at once. This is how I had fed since I started my tank good results. Recently for about the last 3 months I started putting the frozen cubes directly on one of my power heads. The water flow from the power heads slowly desolved the food and it was fun to watch. However I did not realize my less agressive fish (moslty jaw fish) did not partake in the feeding frenzy from the power head. Ultimatly I had one that just stopped eating and died before I realized what the issue was. AndI have two Bella goby's that started down the same path...... I reverted back to a large dump, and now they are eating again. I deduced it down to they just did not want to compete for slow released food like the tangs and cromes did.

 

[revhtree]

For those of you who just "chuck it in" do you ever experience algae issues pertaining to it?

 

[Surfzone]

Since I work from home I'm able to feed small amounts through out the day. I melt a cube in the morning and put a little in the tank three times a day. I have a 30 gallon and don't want to raise nitrates and phosphates too much from feeding.

 

[Peace River]

For those of you who just "chuck it in" do you ever experience algae issues pertaining to it?

I thought that is why you add a #IceCap Turf Scrubber or a #reefoctopus Light Reactor?!? ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[Brew12]

For those of you who just "chuck it in" do you ever experience algae issues pertaining to it?

I can grow algae quite well, so no, no issues.

 

[Joe Rice]

For those of you who just "chuck it in" do you ever experience algae issues pertaining to it?

I've had some algae issues but I don't attribute it to my style of feeding. Whether the food is eaten and converted to waste or not eaten and "rots", I would expect to have the same effect on the nutrient levels in the tank.

And, I think almost all the food is eaten by either the fish, the corals, or the cleanup crew, anyway.