best food for my gobie

Proud2B · 10-07-2003, 09:30 AM

hello all, I recently added a purple firefish to my nano and he acclimated well. the lfs I got him from said he wouldn't eat for 3 or 4 days till he got used to his new home but he ate almost immediately. I have been feeding him twice a day alternating between about 10 live brine shrimp and half a cube of frozen formula one which is what was reccomended as a good food for him. to ease his adjustment I have been target feeding with a pipette so that the food stays concentrated near him and not all over the tank. this seems to be working well but I was wondering if I should just use frozen brine shrimp cubes or is live better and also is twice a day ok or is it too much? he seems to like the twice a day regimen and the variety. any suggestions as to what would be the best food for him. the lfs said I could feed him flake food (prime reef or Formula one)which would be best since it will break down faster n help with keeping the water quality good? I hesitate to use flake bucause I'm affraid he might not like it or take to eating it right away.I'm pretty sure he was wild caught. he is the only fish in the tank. as a side note my arrow crab loves the fact he is in there as he gets to grab the occasional brine shrimp

I'm worried a little bit about the live brine shrimp because I'm affraid if it gets sucked into the filter system it will rot and drive up nitrites and nitrates. what the best way to go here?

bdelaney · 10-07-2003, 03:12 PM

Brine shrimp (live or frozen) really don't have the nutrition that your fish needs. Formula one would be a better diet for your fish.

Proud2B · 10-07-2003, 03:23 PM

Thanks for the info, i'll switch to formula one asap although is that frozen formula one ot flake that is best? i have the frozen but will get the flake if i need to

thanks again for your reply

bdelaney · 10-07-2003, 03:38 PM

The occaisonal brine shrimp feeding is fine, just don't feed that all the time. Frozen is generally better than flake. Twice a day is OK, but be careful not to overfeed. Live, frozen, or flake will all polute the tank equally. Once a day should be plenty, but if two small feedings make you happy then do it.

Proud2B · 10-07-2003, 05:55 PM

bdelaney thank you for the help and info

it is greatly appreciated as i was getting somewhat differring answers to my inquiries at the LFS. Is half a cube of formula one frozen too much for him? Should i keep it at that and split it into two feedings or should I lessen it? I prefer the two smaller feedings( makes me feel better) I really want to make sure i am feeding him correctly so he is healthy and happy

mpls_gazer · 10-09-2003, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Proud2B
Is half a cube of formula one frozen too much for him?

One cube of frozen formula one last me about 4 feedings for my 2 zebra gobies and pearly jawfish.

I generally let each fish eat about 3-4 chunks of food.

What does everyone else think?

MPLS_Gazer

Ray1214 · 10-09-2003, 02:00 PM

Well I do the Blender mush thing. but I buy formula one and formula two to supplement my mush. However one cube per feeding seems like an awful lot since I feed my whole tank with less than that. (About 1/2 a tsp of blender mush.)

Ray

Proud2B · 10-09-2003, 06:50 PM

Ray1214 I only feed him half a cube per day of the formula one frozen he gets about 1/4 cube per feeding. I was wondering if i should decrease it or just keep it at that , the hermists nassarius snails and arrow crab all help themselves to whatever my gobie misses

ckreef · 10-09-2003, 11:36 PM

As long as the leftovers are being eaten up by your cleaning crew then it's probably allright --- Keep a close eye on this and if any food is being left to rot and decay then you would need to cut back on amount of food you use per feeding.

Just remmeber most fish have you trained to feed them more food then they really need (I know they can look so pitifull). If it was me I would cut that in half and then skip a day every two or three days (or maybe skip every Sat and Sun). Over feeding is a much bigger problem in a Nano then in a bigger tank.

Proud2B · 10-10-2003, 03:17 AM

Thanks everyone for the info

I think I'm going to cut my feeding in half and see how he does. Yes ckreef he is trying to train me to overfeed him LOL he comes out of his cave when he sees me and looks at me and sits there looking like he is absolutely Starved!!! but so far I have been able to resist his attempts at training me

ckreef · 10-10-2003, 06:43 PM

Proud2B --- If you can recognize his attempts to train you and can resist those attempts then you are a far better reef keeper than most hobbiest --- I highly commend you

Proud2B · 10-11-2003, 04:09 AM

All i will say in response is ... I repeat so far i have been able to resist

LOL

ckreef · 10-12-2003, 10:58 AM

See my reply in your other mistake thread

I'll repeat one statement ---- Never let the "Man" (I mean "fish") win.

Cookie_Monster · 10-14-2003, 03:51 PM

hmmmmmm...................................

best food for my gobie

RE

My Feeding sched.