feeding question
 

I took over my wife's two reef/fish tanks because she lost a couple of grand
on coral.

Turned out it was the nitrates and I pretty much fixed that problem by
cutting way down on feeding and removing the bio balls. Now I'm changing a
lot less but I'd like for the changes to get down as low as possible.

Aqua1 & 2 has about 9 fish and assorted coral. I took large pictures so you
can basically see what's going on. Aqua2 has a shrimp and an anemone that
are, of course, are hidden.

http://www.safaricabs.com/aqua1.jpg (45 gal)

http://www.safaricabs.com/aqua2.jpg (29 gal)

My question is. How would you guys feed these tanks? I'm running out of the
food that we started with.

Any suggestion is appreciated.

Please ask any questions you need to ask.

Thanks

Jim
Austin TX

feeding question
 

Ocean Nutrition formula 2 flake has worked well for me, and i added a
mix of that and Formula 1 together and use only that now. with the
fish i see there in the image of tank2, they will be very happy with
that food. i used to use brine shrimp, and mysis, but its not really
necessary except an occasional feeding of that a few times a month to
supplement their diet. this will be your cheapest method, which is
always my goal.

as far as the corals, i have alot of similar, and they really dont
need feeding much if at all as they eat what gets stirred up in the
tank, and by photosynthesis. However i wouldn't let them go unfed
myself, i use Kent Phytoplankton at 1ml/10gal once a week and that
will keep a good stock of living zoo plankton alive in your tank that
will keep those zoos and shrooms fed. if your not comfortable with
this solution then maybe add some rotifers every other day.

feeding question
 

i just noticed a couple of fish that i didnt see before, after looking
at your images again. be sure all your fish will eat flake food,
otherwise you will need to feed some kind of mysis or mix daily for
the fish. also be sure your DSB looks healthy so it can help keep the
corals fed

feeding question
 

"wolfdogg" wrote in message
ups.com...
i just noticed a couple of fish that i didnt see before, after looking
at your images again. be sure all your fish will eat flake food,
otherwise you will need to feed some kind of mysis or mix daily for
the fish. also be sure your DSB looks healthy so it can help keep the
corals fed

what does DSB stand for and how can i tell?? i think it means the sand but
i'm not sure

feeding question
 

On Nov 1, 1:00 pm, "jthread" wrote:
"wolfdogg" wrote in message

ups.com...i just noticed a couple of fish that i didnt see before, after looking
at your images again. be sure all your fish will eat flake food,
otherwise you will need to feed some kind of mysis or mix daily for
the fish. also be sure your DSB looks healthy so it can help keep the
corals fed

what does DSB stand for and how can i tell?? i think it means the sand but
i'm not sure

yes, Deep Sand Bed, you should see bubbles in it indicating that its
thriving, but i couldnt see any from the looks of your picture. you
should also see worm brrows, and cultures of cyanobacteria, i did see
this in yours. This DSB keeps bacteria, plankton, and other animals
reproducing which enter teh water column as food source for your
corals. you could add a small layer of some good live sand every
couple weeks on this bed, to restock it, which will help your tank
feed your corals itself. the animals int eh DSB need feeding too, so
i use phytoplankton, or similar as the base nutrient for tank
inhabitants on the very bottom of the food chain to keep them alive,
then the chain grows form there into critters big enough to feed even
predator type protien eating fish such as scooter blennys, mandarin
goby's etc.. but it will take almost 6 months ATLEAST before you
want to introduce these types of fish or they will reduce the numbers
greatly. also be careful and avoid heavy sand stirrers if you want
the DSB to be healty and thrive. most snails and all hermits are ok,
but there are some fish and other snails and animals that stir the
heck out the bed which upsets the aerobic/anerobic layers.

feeding question
 

"wolfdogg" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Nov 1, 1:00 pm, "jthread" wrote:
"wolfdogg" wrote in message

ups.com...i just
noticed a couple of fish that i didnt see before, after looking
at your images again. be sure all your fish will eat flake food,
otherwise you will need to feed some kind of mysis or mix daily for
the fish. also be sure your DSB looks healthy so it can help keep the
corals fed

what does DSB stand for and how can i tell?? i think it means the sand
but
i'm not sure

yes, Deep Sand Bed, you should see bubbles in it indicating that its
thriving, but i couldnt see any from the looks of your picture. you
should also see worm brrows, and cultures of cyanobacteria, i did see
this in yours. This DSB keeps bacteria, plankton, and other animals
reproducing which enter teh water column as food source for your
corals. you could add a small layer of some good live sand every
couple weeks on this bed, to restock it, which will help your tank
feed your corals itself. the animals int eh DSB need feeding too, so
i use phytoplankton, or similar as the base nutrient for tank
inhabitants on the very bottom of the food chain to keep them alive,
then the chain grows form there into critters big enough to feed even
predator type protien eating fish such as scooter blennys, mandarin
goby's etc.. but it will take almost 6 months ATLEAST before you
want to introduce these types of fish or they will reduce the numbers
greatly. also be careful and avoid heavy sand stirrers if you want
the DSB to be healty and thrive. most snails and all hermits are ok,
but there are some fish and other snails and animals that stir the
heck out the bed which upsets the aerobic/anerobic layers.

yeah i read the article in the post above. my lfs warned me but i didn't
understand what they were talking about. i don't think they carry live sand
but i'll ask.

feeding question
 

"jthread" wrote in message ...
my lfs warned me but i didn't understand what they were talking about.

What exactly they were warning you about?

i don't think they carry live sand but i'll ask.

If they do, it will be dead wet sand in the plastic bag
stored for a year without oxygen :-) Some people call
this live sand because it is written like this on the bag.

Real live sand should come from the ocean and be
transported air-mail like live rock is damp not sealed.

If you do not have live sand (most of us don't unless
we live close to the tropical ocean) than use regular
playsand (dry, from HomeDepot etc) and algae/crustaceans
will crawl down from the live rock and settle the sand.
It is not as good as getting real sand dwelling animals
from the ocean, but better than nothing...
And certainly cheaper than dead wet sand from the bag :-)

feeding question
 

Yea, a lot of stores sell live sand, but it's
usually not as alive as it should be. When I had the
store, I never sold that live sand prepackaged in a
bag. I took dead sand, and placed them in open bags,
and put them in the system to become live, and then
sold it. Then it was full of all kinds of bacteria
and critters.

Don't spend all your money on all live sand. Get dry
sand, and then put some live sand on top to
establish it.

Wayne Sallee



jthread wrote on 11/1/2007 4:25 PM:
yeah i read the article in the post above. my lfs warned me but i didn't
understand what they were talking about. i don't think they carry live sand
but i'll ask.

feeding question
 

ok guys, i have a question about live sand now, jumping to the DSB
topic to continue this so i dont bash jthread's topic :-)

feeding question
 

jthread wrote:

My question is. How would you guys feed these tanks? I'm running out of the
food that we started with.

The rabbitfish in tank 2 is a herbivore. I would feed it chopped kelp, but many
people buy varieties of seaweed at oriental grocery stores. Most of the other
fish will do well on a diet of mysis shrimp. Brine shrimp is also ok, but is not
as nutritious. The clownfish eat a mix of foods, so mysis shrimp and kelp should
do very well for them. Formula B is a frozen food that will also probably do
well in this tank. I would buy a small quantity first and see how they like it.
In any case, there is no single food that will feed everybody in there.

There are a few fish in tank 1 that I don't recognize right off the bat, but I
do see a fair size trigger fish in there. That one is a carnivore and will love
a diet of mixed shellfish. They also love it when the shellfish are alive, so
don't add invertebrates to this tank as long as the trigger is there. If you can
buy seafood locally, you can chop up some scallops, clams, and shrimp, and the
trigger will love you for it. The other guys may do well on mysis, but it might
be wise to prowl around on Marine Depot (http://www.marinedepotlive.com). Just
click on the different varieties of fish and try to find out what you have. Once
you find their web page for your fish, the page will tell you what they eat.

George Patterson
If you torture the data long enough, eventually it will confess
to anything.