how often to feed?

[amored]

hey all,

 

so i have recently (about a month ago) set up a nuvo 4g. the tank cycled very quickly due to cured rock and sand and after 2 weeks i added some ricordea, macroalgaes, 4 sexy shrimp, and a trio of teensy (under 1") greenbanded gobies. i have been feeding some (~1 cube) frozen mysis with a drop of garlic guard and some aqua vitro reef fuel every 2 days. is this enough? i am nervous about overloading such a small system.

 

i also run purigen and chemi-pure elite if that helps.

 

feedback is much appreciated! first time with a pico.

[cju84]

I'm not sure how big a cube is, but let's see some pics of the tank!! Every other day feeding doesn't seem abnormal.

[Livewreck]

I'm very interested to see what others have to say. I just started a 4 gallon aquarium so I have no experience with picos; but extrapolating from my experience with a 37G and a 90G, it seems that you are both over feeding and over stocking a 4 gallon system. It's not the frequency of feeding that concerns me, but the amount... that is, if you are referring to the blister packs of frozen mysis that has cubes a little over 1/2" on a side. If that's what you are using, I'd opt to feed 1/4 cube every day rather than a whole cube every other day. But that's just a guess.

[amored]

I'm very interested to see what others have to say. I just started a 4 gallon aquarium so I have no experience with picos; but extrapolating from my experience with a 37G and a 90G, it seems that you are both over feeding and over stocking a 4 gallon system. It's not the frequency of feeding that concerns me, but the amount... that is, if you are referring to the blister packs of frozen mysis that has cubes a little over 1/2" on a side. If that's what you are using, I'd opt to feed 1/4 cube every day rather than a whole cube every other day. But that's just a guess.

 

the little fish make very little waste and the sexy shrimps are also tiny and contribute little, plus i was hoping to cancel out the waste from the livestock with the macroalgaes. i also have some great ulva growing on the rocks very quickly that seems to be absorbing nutrients. but it has been hard to get good enough flow from even an upgraded pump and there's no in-tank powerhead small enough to add flow that way which is why i'm concerned about feedings. i do think you're right about the amount of mysis though. it does seem a bit much.

[jedimasterben]

the little fish make very little waste and the sexy shrimps are also tiny and contribute little, plus i was hoping to cancel out the waste from the livestock with the macroalgaes.

Forget what you know about fish waste adding to nutrient levels. It doesn't matter if you have no fish or 100 fish in your tank, all of the food you put in is what adds to your nutrient levels, regardless of whether or not it gets eaten by anything. Nutrients in must equal nutrients out or you will have an excess which will lead to issues.

 

In addition, while macroalgaes do take up nitrogen and phosphorus (among other things) from the water, you would need a significant volume of them to make a tangible impact.