Better foods and feeding methods?

Aloha,

Some here may have heard me say this before but...feel free to chime in on this discussion. I'll start out by giving my opinions on the matter:

It's not necessary to feed more frequently than 1x/day. <edit> I have found this to be true for most fish in my systems where I seem to grow more live natural food than in the average hobbyist tank.
Fish have stomachs that expand so they can take in as much as possible when the food is available. In nature food sometimes comes in "waves". (no pun intended) Weather conditions may prevent fish from eating for days while they hide during the storm. Their bodies are built to handle feast and famine.

Fish should also be picking on food that is growing in the tank. Tangs grazing on algae growing on rocks and surfaces is an obvious example of this. Bugs on the rocks, in the sand and in the water column at dawn, dusk and through the night are a good source of food in a reef aquarium, just as they are on the wild reef. Creating the tank conditions which provide this food is very important in my opinion.
Here are some of the techniques I use for creating these conditions:
- feeding microfoods (Frozen Cyclops and Golden Pearls) after lights out and/or occasionally in the middle of the night (not every night )
- choosing *natural foods (95%) over dry processed foods
- growing macroalgae (Caulerpa) in the display
- feeding phytoplankton (algae paste, because growing my own is a hassle)
- overfeeding often (light and then heavy at different times)
- fasting occasionally

*Regarding natural/raw foods vs processed dry foods: Natural foods last longer in the water, not losing flavor and nutrients like dry foods. Natural foods feed all sizes of animals all day long. Natural foods have more complete nutrients and bulk. I once visited a plant where dry foods are made -> YUK. That experience strengthened my preference to feed frozen and fresh foods.

I'm open for discussion.

Mahalo,
Mark

Edited by Mark Peterson - February 04 2014 at 3:41pm

I somewhat disagree. The prevalence of internal parasites in captive fish is much higher than in wild fish. I would argue that this would cause some fish to require more frequent feedings.

Even though all my fish were treated for internal parasites, I still break up my feedings over the course of a day when I remember.

Feeding requirements in general all depends on how populated and what kind of species your tank has. There is no single rule to follow. I had a 30 gallon nano that I almost never fed (I would go several months between feeding). That said I had only 2 fish- a clownfish and a watchmen goby. The food the tank provided was enough to sustain them indefinitely, however if I were to add a fish someone would inevitably die unless I offset with feeding.

I personally, have gone away from dry foods in the last few months (besides nori) and stuck with frozen and all the ROE refrigerated stuff.  Every once in awhile I'll throw in some flakes and pellets cause sometime you don't have the time and you are in a hurry.  

I meant to say "How do you know dry foods digest faster" sorry lol 

Aloha,

If all it takes is water for that dry food to break down, just imagine how fast it breaks down in the fish digestive system. I have learned a lot about nutrition from my wife. This principle of natural/raw foods vs processed foods is old news to people like her that are nutritionally informed. Whatever may be said about new dry pellet fish food being superior, it is still the same dry processed food. It is popular because it is easy, but being popular to hobbyists does not make it better for fish.

Moving on...
Many of the fish we keep are Carnivores. Wrasse are the largest group of carnivores most hobbyists keep. Many of us have seen bug populations diminish or even disappear after adding a Wrasse or Mandarin to our systems.
So how do we grow those bugs to give our fish that natural meaty food?
There are several keys to keeping robust bug populations some of which was mentioned in the OP.
1. One key is to feed microfoods. I feed frozen Cyclops and 50-100 Micron size Golden Pearls at night and about once/week the system gets some phytoplankton(in the form of Tahitian Blend Algae Paste). 2. Another key is to feed the fish mostly on frozen meaty foods. Feed the entire cube, including the liquid and small particles that come in that frozen cube.
3. Last but not least, a third key is explained in the article Herbivores vs. Carnivores found here: http://www.utahreefs.com/SeaStar/SeaStarJunePrint.pdf

Why just this morning I emptied and replaced a bag of Activated Alumina PO4 remover and a bunch of Amphipods rolled out. Others were clinging to the sides of the bag. This bag is a fine mesh, yet there were at least a dozen Amphipods inside the bag with the media. The only way this could be is that they went inside as larvae ~3 weeks ago and grew up inside. What this also means is that there were hundreds of Copepods inside the bag. Copepods are nearly microscopic. I couldn't see them with my naked eye as I emptied the bag, but I am certain they are there. Why? Because using a magnifying glass, I see many kinds of bugs all the time where the sand meets the glass.

This idea that larvae are being moved along in the current and landing on a bag of filtration media can be seen as a clue as to what might be going on in our tank, especially at night. Bugs can avoid predation by being nocturnal. That is why it's good to feed micro sized foods at night. It's not so hard. Just before we hit the sack, drop in some frozen Cyclops, Oyster Eggs and/or Golden Pearls. Yes, I know. Golden Pearls are simply dry pelletized food. What can I say. My pillow is calling to me.

Mark secretly feeds his fish granola at night when no one is looking 

Edited by BobC63 - February 04 2014 at 7:07pm

personally I think anyone feeding ONE type of food only is really doing their fish a disservice.  UNLESS you are a weirdo and have ONE type of fish only, all the same size.  Even then I would argue with you.

Bob has seen my fish, and I have some very healthy, fat, and very bright colored fish.  I feed my fish, like Bob said, with all kinds of stuff.  I used spectrum pellets at least a couple of times a week, or maybe more if the wife is feeding.  I use some home made fish food that is kinda like the two done at the meeting, but mine isn't as precise.  I went to the asian market and bought a bunch of different types of seaweed, a variety of seafood, shrimp, baby squids, clams, mussels, silversides, etc.  Ran them all through a food processor and added a ton of garlic and a bunch of the brine shrimp I get from the GSL.

 I think the variety is what helps to keep everything healthy.  Arguing over which one is better based ONLY on the format of it (frozen vs pellets vs flakes vs liquid vs?????) is an inaccurate argument from the start.  What you SHOULD be looking at is the ingredients.  I don't care what form the food is in, I have seen JUNK in all of them.    I also keep a leaf of romaine lettuce and two clips with nori seaweed from the Chinese market in my tank at all times.

Feeding is all about getting ALL the vitamins and minerals and nutrition the fish need.  A lot depends on what fish you have, and how you can get them to eat.  NOT about some strange arguement of what won't digest, etc.  The pellets if you are using a good brand has the same ingredients in them most of our home made stuff does.  It just isn't as fresh.

Interesting observation.

1stupidpunk wrote: What is best for our fish and what is found naturally in their environment are not always the same thing. I have yet to see a reef with garlic oil or brine shrimp.

I brought this quote from another thread, hoping it might inspire some good discussion.

I agree with the statement and I'll go further to say that what we have available to feed our aquariums is probably a long way from the amazing variety of natural live and recently dead foods they eat in the wild. I also believe that Ich may actually be an insignificant problem in the wild, but in our enclosed boxes of water it becomes a major pest. We have to take extraordinary measures to eliminate and/or control the pests and to feed foods that are as close as we can get to our pet's natural foods. The hobby has come a long, long way over the years, but there is a long way we can still go toward providing better foods.