Feeding coral/ fish

[Kilo]

Hey guys, with so many different options I feel a few of you experienced guys could help make feeding a well balanced diet a bit easier for both coral and fish.

My tank is a 20 gallon with a 5 gallon sump /refugium

• Salinity 1.026
• PH 8.3
• Alkalinity, 8.3
• Nitrates 15
• Phosphates .1
• Calcium 400
• Magnesium 1410

Residents:

• Hector goby, two clowns, cardinal, royal gramma, firefish, assorted cuc
• 3 nems (might replace with a single rock nem (i heard they move less)
• 19 coral, duncan, zoanthids, hammer, frogspawn, torches, blasto, mushrooms, candy cane, bubble, one acro, favia and chalice

This is my current feeding

• Phyto feast (reef nutrition)once a day in refugium on my chaeto/ twice a week chaeto gro one cap
• Coral- once a day reef energy plus red sea ab+ 2ml and for the fish i put arcti pods (reef nutrition) Once a day
• A quarter cut of frozen mysis once a day
• Tetra marine flakes small pinch once a day
• Also adding a pellet coming in mail i do these at different times a day totaling three sometimes two feedings daily

I have copepods in the sump reproducing as well.
Currently im not directly feeding coral but i would if needed.

Also side note my nitrates are OK as of right now, but sometimes can run a bit low 3-5. This increased to 15 after I started feeding daily instead of twice a week. ( I heard Royals like to eat three times a day.) Is there a suggested product for increasing nitrates/phosphates? Am i feeding too much?

I guess what im really asking is if what im currently doing is enough or if you would suggest i do anything more (or less) to ensure a well balanced diet for all/ really maintain and improve coloring and growth long term.
Oh and i have an extra conch if someone wants it or an anemone for free.
Thanks, Kilo

 

[drexel]

Small meals throughout the day is always best and a mix of food is great. I would transition to LRS (there's a nano version) over just mysis. It's a much cleaner food and there's no rinsing involved. The little bits are great food for corals, etc. TDO pellets are one of the best pellets out there and I like Cool Green and Cool Mysis flake food from Brine Shrimp Direct. It's a hand packed flake food that's really good (and cheap). Don't get hung up on NO3 levels, as long as you get a measure, you have enough. This whole notion that they need to be 5-15 or 100:1 N is ridiculous. Most people don't understand that nitrate is almost useless to corals, as corals really have a hard time incorporating it as a nitrogen source. A better strategy would be to dose ammonium chloride as a nitrogen source or simply feeding your fish more throughout the day.

 

[bakbay]

Fish poop - the best nutrition/diet for your corals! 😁 Looks like you can’t have tangs since they’ll outgrow the tank, but you can go for some anthias and reef-safe angels. Agreed with @drexel, bottom line - get more fish or dose ammonia chloride or amino acid. That’s what I do on my nem/frag tanks.

 

[JojosReef]

I'm not sure about anthias and angels in a 20gal tank, but agree with feeding the fish to feed the coral. I don't even bother with coral food. Target feed a few TDO pellets to the LPS occasionally. Otherwise, varied high quality food multiple times per day. I like Reef Nutrition liquid foods.

 

[bakbay]

I'm not sure about anthias and angels in a 20gal tank, but agree with feeding the fish to feed the coral. I don't even bother with coral food. Target feed a few TDO pellets to the LPS occasionally. Otherwise, varied high quality food multiple times per day. I like Reef Nutrition liquid foods.

Miniature angels (e.g. Swallowtail and Watanabei) - I have 2 in my tank and they don’t get big, totally reef safe and eat like pigs.

 

[drexel]

Miniature angels (e.g. Swallowtail and Watanabei) - I have 2 in my tank and they don’t get big, totally reef safe and eat like pigs.

Genicanthus get big, 7” minimum, so nothing short of a 100g and that’s pushing it. Centropyge are the only genus for smaller tanks and they’re definitely not reef safe.


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[bakbay]

Genicanthus get big, 7” minimum, so nothing short of a 100g and that’s pushing it. Centropyge are the only genus for smaller tanks and they’re definitely not reef safe.


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That’s interesting. I was told by our distributor that this Japanese variant won’t get big - I’ve had it for almost 8mos and it hasn’t changed.
Watanabei Angelfish — I have the female one
https://reefbuilders.com/2014/10/13/awesome-fish-spotlight-genicanthus-watanabei-notes-genus/

The Swallowtail one is this - still tiny and hasn’t grown in 8mos as well, also female
https://reefbuilders.com/2019/12/03/biota-swallowtail-angelfish-is-growing-up-into-a-beauty/

 

[drexel]

That’s interesting. I was told by our distributor that this Japanese variant won’t get big - I’ve had it for almost 8mos and it hasn’t changed.
Watanabei Angelfish — I have the female one
https://reefbuilders.com/2014/10/13/awesome-fish-spotlight-genicanthus-watanabei-notes-genus/

The Swallowtail one is this - still tiny and hasn’t grown in 8mos as well, also female
https://reefbuilders.com/2019/12/03/biota-swallowtail-angelfish-is-growing-up-into-a-beauty/

Those will probably be 6" fully grown, if not more? But you still need space for them, at least 4' for just one. These are open water species that are usually found pretty deep, so trying to cram one in a small tank will only stress them out. If you have a pair, then you'll need even more room. They're awesome fish though.

 

[bakbay]

Those will probably be 6" fully grown, if not more? But you still need space for them, at least 4' for just one. These are open water species that are usually found pretty deep, so trying to cram one in a small tank will only stress them out. If you have a pair, then you'll need even more room. They're awesome fish though.

Thanks. I’m ok — they are in my 175g 6 footer. This is for the OP looking for something smaller - and I thought these guys are small from my research. Thanks for correcting.

 

[JavaJacketOC]

I've always had luck with a cherub angel in smaller tanks. I have one in my 25 and it's a model citizen.

 

[Jimbo327]

I think you are feeding a nice mix of food. Just be careful of too much nutrients/organics in the water if you feed too much. If you have sandbed, it's good to have some nassarius snails or stomatella snails to eat any leftovers.