feeding my inverts

[dreams]

Hi all!

First, what is the best way to go about feeding a cup coral & anemones? The person helpng me said to spot feed. I did this by using a plunger type thing w/ the phytoplankton & slowly releasing the phytoplankton around the inverts. Is that the correct method?

Secondly, the coral banded shrimp has hidden & won't come out. I put a pc of dried shrimp on a skewer & tried that. He jsut got ticked off. Is the correct food & method?

Thanks for all your help. you guys have been great!

Oh, one more thing. I have the shrimp, a blennie & a hitch-hiking snail. What exactly do I need for a clean-up crew?

 

[REEFKEEPA]

What Size is your tank?

 

[dreams]

40

 

[bertoni]

Anemones need larger food than phytoplankton. I feed my Entacmaea quadricolor whole krill and whole silversides. What kind of anemone do you have?

For cup corals, I would use the basic coral food from this recipe:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=176530

I do substitute frozen food for the flake food for the most part.

Phytoplankton like DT's is a fine for for various filter feeders, including some soft corals, and it will also help increase the population of small crustaceans like amphipods, copepods, and mysid shrimp.

For a cleanup crew, you could add some herbivorous snails as you see the need. I like Trochus, cerith, and Stomatella, but they are often hard to find locally and must be ordered.

 

[dreams]

oh heck...just your basic anemone, long tentacles w/ pink tips

 

[bertoni]

Hmm, I would go for the whole marine silversides (Pro-Salt is a good brand) and whole krill. You can chop up the food if the anemone is small, but you want to feed all of the animal, not just the muscle tissue.

Some silversides that are sold are freshwater fish. You want to feed lancefish, which are marine animals. Pro-Salt sells lancefish but labels them silversides. Welcome to the world of reefkeeping, where product names are a challenge by themselves.

 

[dreams]

Thank you much bertoni!

Do you have any tips on feeding the shrimp?

 

[bertoni]

Shrimps haven't been particularly picky eaters for me. The animal might be getting plenty of food from other sources, so I wouldn't worry too much just yet. Any ideas about why it's hiding?

 

[dreams]

When we got him, he had just finished moulting & was hiding there, as well.

 

[bertoni]

Well, that might be the animal's normal behavior, so I wouldn't worry. If it gets hungry enough, it should start taking food.