Feeding Zooa's

[mndfreeze]

So I know no one really does, but I know they CAN eat. when I spot feeding some other corals I let some food fall on mine to see if any of them attempted to grab anything to no avail. The food was a mixture of itty bitty particles up to as large as mysis.

So my question to everyone is, do you feed yours and what do you feed yours.

This is more out of curiousity then necessity for obvious photosynthetic reasons..

 

[jbell370]

Not so true that they are only photosynthetic. I feed mine almost every day, at least 5 days a week and watch them close around the food, very true with my polyps. I feed cyclopeeze to them, I have seen them expel waste on a couple occasions, normally I just turn off the return pump and broadcast the food, figure whatever wants it can have it. In doing this, mine grow like weeds.

 

[Friday Night]

Feed your fish or live stock thier waste will feed the zoas.

 

[63vette427]

I feed my zoa's cyclopeeze as well.

 

[itzgtd]

+1 for fish poop

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

If you dose rotifers corals should sting and eat them. :spin1:

 

[tate1]

I've noticed mine eating some smaller pieces of frozen food when I feed the fish.

 

[mndfreeze]

I never said they were only photosynthetic. I know all coral has the capabilities to eat and usually does so in the wild.

My question was more so about people purposely feeding their zooa's. Mine dont close around any food I broadcast all over them of any size it seems. I use tons of tiny phyto and micro plankton mixed up into a massive variety dish to feed fishies, shrimp, etc and squirt it on purpose on anything with small polyps like my SPS. Then use a mostly similar mixture but with mysis and brine for my LPS (acans, trumpets, dendrophyllia, etc) so regardless of what larger things im feeding there is tons of other tiny food to fall and blow all over other things. I just never see my zooa's actually TAKE nything. Only seems they close when something steps on them or the sudden water gush from the turkey baster, i.e. being annoyed.

I just figured I wasn't using the right food source, or they go after stuff much smaller then their skirt stingers actually look like it can take. I do have rotifiers in the mix though so maybe ill try pure rotifiers and cyclopeeze on just them and see if I get a response.

 

[badger126]

I've found that it depends on the species. I have a nuclear green paly along with some who dahs catseye zoas that love to eat large things like brine shrimp . I've not had such luck with any others though. I think many species of zoas as well as mushrooms spend the day absorbing sun along with any phyto, etc that gets stuck on them and then consume it whenever they happen to close up.