How much is enough food?

[reefgal]

In an attempt to keep dissolved organics in my 90 gal reef to a minimum, I feed rather sparingly. I feed a variety of frozen foods, flakes and various live foods, but just enough that each fish gets his/her share. I give my anemones, elegant, bubble coral, etc...(anything that will accept it) small bits of mysid, brine or other frozen and live foods once (sometimes twice) weekly. I add one cup of phytoplankton twice weekly.

All the animals look healthy. (My anemones and elegant have doubled in size since I got them in April.)

I've read several threads on this board about feeding and my question is: How do I know if I'm feeding enough?

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Now, how do you pronounce that again?

Reefgal in the desert

 

[Joez]

Hi,

Sounds like you're doing a perfect job! Your animals are eating and growing, you give a variety of foods, and your phosphates are low. That's about all there is, congrats.

 

[reefgal]

ctenophore,

I agree with your comments. However, how do I know what a "normal" growth rate is? I have a whole library of books, none of which give specific growth rates for animals such as anemones and LPS corals. And, while I would consider reproduction as a good sign, food supply is not the only factor and my tank is still "young". (I set the original 30 gal tank up in March of 1999. I moved the occupants to a 90 gal tank in November of 1999.)

There seems to be as many differences in feeding regiments as there is in lighting styles. Once a day, twice a day, supplement soakers, etc.... I get the idea that some fish won't breed unless they are getting adequate to abundant food. I'm just wondering if there's any measurable way to tell if what you're feeding is enough. (It's easy enough to tell if it's too much!)

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Now, how do you pronounce that again?

Reefgal in the desert

 

[Joez]

Most of the creatures we keep do not reproduce in captivity. Reproduction should not be a measure of success. When reef animals reproduce in our tanks, it is a mark of excellent conditions, but the lack of that reproduction does not mean something is wrong.

Your anemones (that's plural) and elegans have doubled in size in 8 months. Most anemones in peoples' tanks shrivel up and die in eight months.

You're doing some things right. I think most people do not provide the kind of variety you're providing. By far the more common problem is people feeding way too much.

 

[Kirbster]

By "wrong", you mean "short of perfect", Ctenophore. Correct?

And you would agree that a lack of perfect seuccess (sexual repro of various animals) is by no means failure...

I agree that are a few more major steps we need to overcome to reach "the next level." I think some of it will boil down to dietary needs. And I think the solution will be to maintain natural systems with higher energy food webs. Not an original idea at all (Adey and Loveland in 1991, Shimek and cohorts more recently), but something I'm wrapping up in a semi-coherant article. If it makes any sense, I'll try get some sucker....er I mean editor.....to publish it.

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"You must unlearn what you have learned."
-Yoda

 

[Joez]

I understand your point ctenophore, and don't disagree with you. I've read a lot of your posts and know you to be very knowledgeable and tenacious about doing things right.
Reproduction would be the gold standard for ultimate success in a reef aquarium; your striving for it is like a pianist trying to play the most difficult piece perfectly, or a high jumper never being satisfied until they set a record.

Laudable goals indeed. In the present case, I think reefgal shouldn't be worried.

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Member of vast right wing conspiracy.

 

[Kirbster]

There are groups of people. One group is bad, the other two are just a matter of how much time/effort/money you have to dedicate to your tanks.

The first group wants a pretty tank with minimal maintenance to the exclusion of all factors including the animals' long-term health. Those people don't tend to post here. Unfortunately I feel a lot of reefers inadvertantly enter this group by adhering to 1980's wisdom that the nutrient import should be the absolute minimum to keep everyone alive. I think that was a misguided goal from the beginning. Because of technological advances, it met a fair degree of success (particularly in Europe), but it was never going to achieve the success we need to create a self-sustaining hobby.
The second group wants a tank full of healthy animals that will live their normal lifespan or longer. These folks might not have the time to study invertebrate biology as a hobby, but they make every effort to ensure that their responsibility to the animals is met. I think Reefgal probably fits here. Anyone pouring phytoplankton in their tank would be considered insane by group 1. A lot of these group 2 people will accidentally slip into the next group...
The last group are the people who are single or on the verge of having their spouse walk out on them. Unfortunately they probably won't notice for 3 days that their spouse is missing because they will be monitoring an expected spawning event in their reef. These people won't be fully satisfied until they reproduce everything that crosses their path...especially the animals considered impossible to keep. (Reproducing Dendronepthea, aren't you Ctenophore? ) A lot of these people are scientists of some fashion, and scientists wouldn't be happy if they were ever satisfied. They actually are stimulated by the idea that ultimate success will always be unobtainable.

I'm one of the last group...just ask my wife. I know she's around here somewhere. I saw her last Friday right before I doscovered the Euphllia divisa were reproducing!

KA

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"You must unlearn what you have learned."
-Yoda

 

[reefgal]

Kirbster,

Right now I'm strattling the line between groups two and three! I still notice when my hubby is missing, but I do drive him crazy with "Honey, you gotta come and see this...", or explanations of some exciting new fact of marine biology I learned today...

Okay, so I did some additional reading....

My reef has a six inch sandbed (mixed grain sizes, etc). I also grow (and harvest) at least five different varieties of macro algae (including caulerpa, halimeda & "maiden's hair".) Although I don't know the density of critters in the sandbed, I frequently see bristle worms of all sizes, copeopods and white brittle stars. I also have a pair of lysmata (cleaner shrimp) that are constantly reproducing. According to R. Shimek's 9/6/98 article on "The Why's and How's of Sand Beds", he supports considerably more food than I am providing.

My reef contains mostly soft corals, LPS and a few fish. I have xenia, catalaphylia, sinularia, turbinaria, favia, favites, euphyllia, caulastra, clavalaria, zooanthids, capnella, (2) bubble-tip anemones, mushrooms, briarium, some small porites colonies (hitchhikers), sponges and a photosynthetic gorgonian. As I said earlier, my anemones, elegan and mushroom colony have doubled in size since April. The xenia is going crazy. A small piece of a zooanthid colony I got in May (started as 6 polyps) now completely covers a rock the size of my fist. Everything seems to be going well and I am afraid that I may be trying to fix something that isn't broken.

If I increase the food, what is the best early warning sign that more is too much???




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Now, how do you pronounce that again?

Reefgal in the desert

 

[FOX]

Reefgal,

I think you are trying to fix something that aint broke. However, I do also think that it's difficult to overfeed a reef. If you want to increase the feeding a little, I would either start adding a little more phytoplankton(by more I mean more time per week) and/or start getting the cryopaste from www.brineshrimpdirect.com and feeding that. Either way, slowly increase the feeding. Don't just start dumping more food in or you may overload your biological filtration. BTW, you are having far more success, it seems, than most do in their first year of reefkeeping. You must have done your homework before jumping in. Good job.

FOX

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