Feed the little frockers....
...without ending up on welfare.
Let me start this shindig off with a disclaimer: I am not a marine biologist, zoologist, nutritionist, horticulturist, numerologist, scientologist nor a card carrying member of the Mensa Society. What I am is a smart alleck, ball busting, spouse, father and part time marine aquarist who read a lot, guessed a bit and had the luck of the marine gods shine upon him a time or two. None of this should be taken as the gospel according to Mike, but just a anecdotal ramblings of a mad marineist.....
Before I start on my own drivel I implore you to read up on the following two master pieces done by leedca on fish and dietary needs:
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15720
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15719
Now for the informal do's don'ts and might be illegal in your jurisdiction of residencey.
What: Since
who, is not necessary in this discussion, I'll skip it and get with the substance. What you should feed to our free swimming creatures? I've lamented before, most fish suitable for the nano reef are either carnivores or omnivores. For anyone not up on their dead languages it's kinda like the difference between the menu of an Irish pub or a French bistro. Yet, since our little boxes o' glass cannot provide the fishes the variety in their diet they can obtain in the wild we must vary what we offer. I've had success with the various foods for my two metrovorous fishes: mysis, spirulina brine, ocean plankton, oceans nutrition formulas 1 and 2, reef formula, daphina, rotifers, and cyclopeeze. The only flake offered once a week would be O N formula 2 flake, and Marine S pellets, once a week both stored in the freezer, thanks Steve S.
Where in the tank, dummie!!!!
When This is like talking politics in a tavern. A very touchy subject, amongst the salts but like I've learned after forteen years on the job, every one tells a smidgen of the truth it's our job to extract, interpret, and summarize in a intelligible manner. I'm in the twice a day camp myself. Going with a very light feeding of the tiny pod-sized food after the lights have been on at least 30 minutes. My clown is very brutal when the lights come on, so the wait gives him/her a chance to work out the crabbiness. A third of a cube or two scissor shavings of cyclo for the 1st feeding. The second or before I go off to work heavier feeding is the larger frozen food stuffs that have been soaking in a supplement since the first feeding.
How....much? I gave you a guide for the two small fish and cleaner shrimp I have once it came to the pod-like meal. The larger meal, I use a whole mysis shrimp as the standard: my clown can eat 4-6 at a sitting, my watchman goby 2-4. The cleaner will eat till it bursts, so he don't count. With the gelled frozen meals, I slice small portions from the cube, into a small bowl, I then start mincing the portions into bite sized pieces and let thaw for a minute. Then slowly putting two-three pieces into the tank a time, giving the fish time to work the food into their stomachs. I've found this helps keep food off the bottom, trust me my nass's have plenty to scavenge.
Why why not? Whats the fun of shelling out all that cash for these colorful ocean dwellers just to starve them to death, thinking, falsely I might add, that the live rock and sand will sustain their nutritional needs. FEED THEM.
There are many strategies for feeding when and how much. Go with the one that will keep your fish vibrant in color, active and healthy. The other important area to address is, over feeding will cause algae outbreaks and a possible nitrogen cycle, both are not good. Strive for the somewhat perfect balance and the beauty that is returned will be your reward. See Yaaaa, Mike.
