Dendronephthya feeding confusion

[aussiedan]

I've had this Denron for just under 5 months now and have been giving it daily feedings of newly hatched live brine and also occasional feedings of reef roids (powdered marine planktons) and in my ignorance/lack of knowledge have been thinking I've been catering for its needs. Through further research I am finding that the majority of sources claim that in fact Dendronephthya feed primarily on phytoplanktons and that their polyps are incapable of capturing and ingesting larger foods such as zooplanktons and/or newly hatched brine. Needless to say it is now getting fed phyto as well :thumbsup:

There is a few photos below which I have taken at feeding times and from photos and observation it looks like the brine are able to be not only captured but also ingested. What are your thoughts?

 

[slapshot]

As long as it is expanding and not getting smaller your doing good.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Five months isn't bad, though Dendronephthya have been known to go longer and still die unexpectedly.

As far as I know, the jury is still out on what food they eat in the wild and what food they will truly thrive on in captivity. Possibilities run the gamut from tiny zooplankton, phytoplankton, bacterioplankton, floating detritus, and even coral slime. The pics you've provided demonstrate that the polyps will capture tiny zooplankton (baby brine in this case). Whether they are getting substantive nutrition from the brine shrimp that the polyps are capturing is debatable. Personally, I have a hard time believing that their polyps would expend the energy to capture and ingest prey that cannot be digested.

 

[MarineSniper]

You seem to be doing the right thing, by feeding it both. I would agree that the coral likely wouldn't ingest the brine if there was no nutritional benefit but I believe you're correct in also feeding the suggested foods. I personally feed all my nps a very wide selection of food in the attempt to be sure I'm meeting any nutritional requirements they may have (much to the chagrin of my wife, until I purchased a small refrigerator/freezer strictly for those items). I believe that variety contributes greatly to their health. Good luck with that beautiful coral!

 

[aussiedan]

Thanks for the reply's. I would agree with the belief that a coral would not exert energy in capture and ingestion if it was unable to utilize the food plus once ingested where would it go if it were unable to process it :hmm2:

I've only in the last week started also offering phyto and it seems to be inflating for longer periods which is a good sign. Over the 5 months it certainly hasn't shrunk (visually anyway) but also hasn't increased in size so I guess I was 'getting away with it' but not allowing it to really thrive.

Hopefully the automatic feeding system will be in within the next 2 weeks which should help.

I also have a book on its way directly from the author so that will also help; Soft Corals and Sea Fans A Comprehensive Guide to the Tropical Shallow-Water Genera of the Central-West Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea (I just hope the information contained isn't outdated by now??)

 

[slapshot]

That's a great book and worth a small fortune now that they are out of print. I love mine! I have seen them go for $125

The infomation is good for Iding and learning about locations. Short on care info though.

 

[aussiedan]

That's a great book and worth a small fortune now that they are out of print. I love mine! I have seen them go for $125

The infomation is good for Iding and learning about locations. Short on care info though.

The book came in the mail today :bounce3:

 

[GreshamH]

That's a great book and worth a small fortune now that they are out of print. I love mine! I have seen them go for $125

The infomation is good for Iding and learning about locations. Short on care info though.

If you email the author, they still have some (Pedro got his that way)

 

[GreshamH]

Thanks for the reply's. I would agree with the belief that a coral would not exert energy in capture and ingestion if it was unable to utilize the food plus once ingested where would it go if it were unable to process it :hmm2:

There is a term for it, pseudo-feces and yes, pseudo-feces does indeed create a net negative in the corals energy budget (meaning it takes more energy from the coral than gives it). Lots of filter feeders use this mechanism to sort out what drifts into their mouth.

 

[slapshot]

There is a term for it, pseudo-feces and yes, pseudo-feces does indeed create a net negative in the corals energy budget (meaning it takes more energy from the coral than gives it). Lots of filter feeders use this mechanism to sort out what drifts into their mouth.

+1 Yep, that is what makes it so darn difficult!!

 

[teemee]

If you email the author, they still have some (Pedro got his that way)

I got mine this way, too. If you want the author's email, send me a pm.