Am I feeding my corals enough?

[abacabb]

Below is a screen shot of my setup. To the left is a big combo rock with soft corals on it. To the right of that is an acropora. And to the right of that is an SPS coral I have. In the top-middle is a blue clam. I also have another smaller clam that isn't in this picture. There is also a rock about the size of a child's fist with some soft corals that you're not seeing in this picture. It's behind the big combo rock.

Currently I am feeding them every morning the following:

20 drops of Roti-Feast (made by Reef Nutrition)
10 Drops of Phyto-Feast (made by Reef Nutrition)

I am pretty much winging the dosage here. Is it correct? Or is it too much or too little?

 

[ehren78]

I just bought some new food called Reef-Roids. It's fine enough to target feed using a syringe, other than that I use a mixture of Cyclopeeze, Coral Frenzy and Mysid Shrimp for LPS. There is much debate on this topic. I feed my tank 1-2 times a week if that helps

 

[stingythingy45]

Just me,but I would say that's WAY too much.
For what you have I wouldn't even feed the Phyto.
And the roti,well maybe twice a week at night.Honestly I never purposely fed my corals.
Just good lighting and clean water with parameters correct(alk,ca,mg.).
I have a Favia now so I sometimes feed some reef chili evey other week at night.

 

[RVANANO]

Just curious why you have macro algae in your display tank?

 

[abacabb]

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Just me,but I would say that's WAY too much.
For what you have I wouldn't even feed the Phyto.
And the roti,well maybe twice a week at night.Honestly I never purposely fed my corals.
Just good lighting and clean water with parameters correct(alk,ca,mg.).
I have a Favia now so I sometimes feed some reef chili evey other week at night.

Wow, really? I would never have thought that since the corals appear to react every single time I poured their food in the tank. They always opened right up instantly.

But my acropora is doing pretty bad so maybe my tank is being poluted by the food.

I guess I have to cut back some.

 

[stingythingy45]

Wow, really? I would never have thought that since the corals appear to react every single time I poured their food in the tank. They always opened right up instantly.

But my acropora is doing pretty bad so maybe my tank is being poluted by the food.

I guess I have to cut back some.

I'm surprised you don't have a major algae or bacteria bloom.
I just use a very little bit of cyclopeeze and.......bam.....I have a cyano outbreak on the sand in some areas.
What's your lighting and flow?Acros need tons of lighting and flow.

 

[abacabb]

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I'm surprised you don't have a major algae or bacteria bloom.
I just use a very little bit of cyclopeeze and.......bam.....I have a cyano outbreak on the sand in some areas.
What's your lighting and flow?Acros need tons of lighting and flow.

It's weird because on Reef Nutrition's website, it says to feed daily:

http://www.reefnutrition.com/roti_feast.html

As for your question on the acropora, I moved it to the rock on the top (the plate-like one) right in front of the water Jet (just below the flow so that the flow isn't too strong). So right now it's maybe 10-12 inches away from the light.

For lighting I'm using a 150 Watt 20k Radium Metal Halide bulb.

I don't think I have any bacteria or horrible algae issue due to the fact that I have so many plants and biofilter material in the back of the tank which should be processing any excess junk. I could be wrong.

 

[stingythingy45]

It looks like you might have some bryopsis in the picture.
Growing sps is a fine line when it comes to feeding.Too much will make PO4 and NO3 go up reducing growth.

 

[RVANANO]

Hmm.. Are you talking about the stuff to the lower right of the clam? That does look like a huge chunk of Bryopsis but I have never seen it so pronounced. Almost looks like something else. I am also confused as to why there is macro in the display tank.

 

[abacabb]

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It looks like you might have some bryopsis in the picture.
Growing sps is a fine line when it comes to feeding.Too much will make PO4 and NO3 go up reducing growth.

I just googled bryopsis and saw that you were referring to some of the algae growth.

That stuff has disappeared on it's own. Is it bad for the tank if they are growing? I'm mostly concerned with keeping a balanced eco-system more so than keeping it "pretty".

 

[stingythingy45]

Bryopsis can take over rock if it's left unchecked.
I had some in my first reef tank and it took a while to get rid of it.
Just keep in mind that the tank will tell you what's happening,good or bad.
Excess nutrients in the system will cause colors to fade and growth to slow way down.
A good skimmer and water change regiment will help keep that in check.

*also noticed the chaetomorphea in the tank.That's fine,but it does break up and make a mess.
It might be better in a refugium or sump.

 

[fishysteve]

Why is it confusing that there is macro in the display tank? Some people like the way it looks.

 

[RVANANO]

Bryopsis can take over rock if it's left unchecked.

*also noticed the chaetomorphea in the tank.That's fine,but it does break up and make a mess.
It might be better in a refugium or sump.

THESE^

IMO, you do not want any type of algae in your display tank (even the good kind).

 

[abacabb]

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Hey guys,


I want to make sure I am making an intelligent decision if I do any sort of water changes or treatments, because I have a feeling that any excess is being picked up by my plants and bio-filtration.


If my over-feeding is indeed polluting the tank, is there a way to test for that in order to be certain?

 

[stingythingy45]

Check phosphates and nitrates.
Most titration(color changing)test for phos. are not very accurate.
Any color change often means too much phosphates.
Just seeing bryopsis in the tank is a sure sign.
You DO NOT want any hair algae to form.

 

[djkms]

THESE^

IMO, you do not want any type of algae in your display tank (even the good kind).

Please elaborate, what is wrong with having macro algae in your display? You really dont want to see my tank then, you might have a heart attack!!:fun4:

 

[RVANANO]

I said IMO, you don't want any. The macro groes really fast and will take root in crevices in the rock. As stated, it breaks apart and will make a mess with pieces getting trapped in your overflow, powerheads etc. Why wouldn't you want it in the fuge instead of the DT?

To the OP, here is a great thread on beating bryopsis.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1113109

I used tech M about a year ago and haven't seen it since.

 

[MattAndKim]

If you are more concerned with a balanced ecosystem, get some CUC and a small number of fish. Feed the fish sparingly, and their waste will feed the rest of the tank. You are overfeeding as is evident by the bryopsis, algae, and pods visible.

 

[travis32]

I had cheato start curling around the fingers of my huge leather. It actually constricted enough to cut off a finger or two of my soft leather coral. Talk about coral eating MACRO!!!! Well, o.k. it didn't eat it, just cut off around 3 or 4 segments of my leather..

I pulled the chaeto I could find, but every now and then I still find a strand that makes it from the sump into the display and takes root somewhere...

I also have sea lettuce growing from my powerheads. They're kinda like a mini ATS... I am running an ATS as well in my sump. But it's amazing to see the growth of the sea lettuce. I harvest it every week and by the end of the week it's 8 inches long again!

Anyways, I agree, overfeeding is a key issue. You get a response from the corals because corals can be conditioned. Just like dogs salivate when a bell is rung at dinner time.. A coral opens when food is introduced! If fed at the same time everyday.

 

[abacabb]

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If you are more concerned with a balanced ecosystem, get some CUC and a small number of fish. Feed the fish sparingly, and their waste will feed the rest of the tank. You are overfeeding as is evident by the bryopsis, algae, and pods visible.

I would do fish except that they might eat my cuttlefish :-\

So right now I only have invertebrates and corals with my cuttlefish.