Are You Killing Your Fish With Love?

We know it's important to maintain high water quality which is essential to the health of our beloved livestock.  One thing many hobbyists fail to realize is that even though you may be religious with water changes it’s very easy to “kill our fish with love”.  Meaning… “overfeeding” = “pollution”.  Who can resist those cute little faces & tails wagging as we walk by the tank?!  I have a hard time with that myself!  :0)  But honestly folks, overfeeding is the #1 cause of less-than water quality due to uneaten foods rotting as well as “what goes in…must come out”…of the fish!.  Overfeeding is like making your fish swim in a cesspool!

Feed only once a day & only as much as can be consumed in a minute or two.  A good habit to start is to shut off the system or at least the internal powerheads.  Quieting the water in the tank helps the food not to blow around and allows the fish to get it before it gets trapped in & under your rocks.  My final tip for this week is to actually skip feeding a day here & there.  Trust me, conditioned fish will not starve to death in 24 hours!  ;)  This will also force your fish to revert to his natural behavior of picking at the rocks.  Something that is very good for your rocks too!

For information on what & how often to feed your fish see Self Help Topic:
Feeding Reef Fish - What & How Often