Feeding question

[d2mini]

How do you feed?
When i drop food in it goes straight to the overflow!
So I've have to pull the pump plug and then turn all my ball valves shut so my tank doesn't drain into my sump. This is kind of a pain. I was going to try maybe defrosting the food in water and then sucking it up into a turkey baster and then squirting it out down in the middle of the tank.
What do you do?

 

[messiah023]

Turkey baster is a good idea, however, you will usually have to turn off your pumps for feeding. Most auto-timing systems have a 1-button "feed" setting for 15mins of shutoff.

Also, the TB is good for spot feeding your corals (if needed).

Have fun!

 

[dustin_P74]

when you turn your pumps off you should have to turn the ball valve closed because once the water line is below the cuts in the overflow the water will stop going into the sump

 

[Piggy]

I defrost the food and put it in with a TB. My fish eat it so fast it doesn't have time to get to the overflows.

 

[reeffreak]

Your sump should be able to hold enough water without overflowing when the power is shut off.I hit a switch to turn the return pumps off and two of the four powerheads.All frozen foods are thawed first.All pumps are off when I target feed corals with a turkey baster like device.

 

[Bifferwine]

I don't turn any of my pumps off, but everyone should thaw their frozen food first.

I use a turkey baster to squirt the food all over the tank. Like others, my fish eat it before it even has a chance to get lost everywhere. They know when feeding time is, and when it looks like they're going to be fed, they all come to the front of the tank and wait.

 

[d2mini]

Ok, thanks for the tips.
Looks like what worked best for me was main system pump off but K2's on to help circulate the food through the tank.

The reason i have to turn the main pump off is to stop the water from flowing into the overflow. The defrosted food, even if squirted into the bottom of the tank, floats straight to the water's surface. And then into the overflow if it's draining. So with the pump off, the water surface stays still. Any food that makes it to the top stays put, And the K2's help circulate the rest around the tank. Right now I only have one firefish and one cleaner shrimp trying to get food.

I was able to put my main system pump and protein skimmer on a separate switch. My coralife timer doesn't have a feed button.

Thanks! :)

 

[meshman10]

I do the some thing as piggy. food isn't around long enough to make it to overflow or protein skimmer for that matter..