Is coral feeding worth it?
- Thread starter Cubman777
- Start date
Snarkys
.Registered Member
Re: Is coral feeding worth it?
IMHO the main reason to feed isn't to increase growth rates but to insure that the coral is getting the nutrition that it needs for long term health. corals are unable to produce many of nutrients that they need from the sun alone and need to capture pray to get these nutrients in small quantities. The zooxanthellae use the sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into a simple sugar and oxygen. the corals get their energy/food to survive from the simple sugar.
i would equate this to someone who ate rice or plain pasta every day verses someone who had a balanced diet. The person who ate the rice everyday would prolly live a surprisingly long time but most certainly would be more susceptible to illness or other ailments and lifespan would accordingly be shorter. This could be a year shorter or 30 years shorter, depends on when the organisms encounters these traumatic events or illness/parasites. you could also equate this to a kid that takes a multivitamin every day. you don't witness them grow any faster and visually they prolly don't look much healthier but they certainly are. well over the long run they may very well visually look healthier than if they didn't take the vitamin.
The extra feedings also provide excess energy. like most creatures, corals use energy in three ways, first for tissue repair and metabolic function , then growth and then reproduction. With the extra energy the coral gets from the feedings it theoretically should grow faster but more importantly the healthy coral will have excess energy it can use when the coral does get damaged or needs to fend off a parasite. This might seem silly but I've heard it equated to living from paycheck to paycheck or making sure you maintain a healthy savings account. If you live paycheck to paycheck , missing one or two checks can start a downward spiral to hopelessness as you take resources from other important areas to provide for the essential ones. when you run out of those resources the essentials also get neglected.
personally i think you know its working when you see nothing , meaning you see your normal continued growth and no deaths : ) To be honest , even if my corals grew 20-30% faster I'm not even sure id really notice. i mean what is that . if coral_001 grew an inch in a few months and with feedings we would have achieved 25% extra growth that's still only an inch and a quarter. while that will have an exponential effect in the long run you wont be blown away as they grow like weeds before your eyes. well some soft corals you might be .
Far as the water quality goes i wouldn't worry about it . the amount that you use on most of these products is extremely small and you only need to use them a couple times a week. I bet if you added the total weight of all actual organisms (not the water they come in) it would be substantially less than one fish cube. would you worry about feeding one extra fish cube a month ? You just need to use restraint and don't go crazy with it, just like the fish food i guess. the only ones "i personally" worry about are the live products because they also have food in the liquid they come in to feed the organisms so they can stay alive for long periods of time in the bottle. This food is the same food that algae in our tanks utilize for growth.
anyways if you feed your corals you should have reasonable expectations and not expect to use some miracle elixir that will give you 300% extra growth. There are many products out there. I'd find one that you personally find easy to use and affordable. In my personal opinion the live products are not worth the money and have shelf live issues. I like the frozen products the best if you can find them locally and your LFS doesn't charge a fortune. dry products if you need to do mail order or you really don't feel like spending a lot of money.
IMHO the main reason to feed isn't to increase growth rates but to insure that the coral is getting the nutrition that it needs for long term health. corals are unable to produce many of nutrients that they need from the sun alone and need to capture pray to get these nutrients in small quantities. The zooxanthellae use the sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into a simple sugar and oxygen. the corals get their energy/food to survive from the simple sugar.
i would equate this to someone who ate rice or plain pasta every day verses someone who had a balanced diet. The person who ate the rice everyday would prolly live a surprisingly long time but most certainly would be more susceptible to illness or other ailments and lifespan would accordingly be shorter. This could be a year shorter or 30 years shorter, depends on when the organisms encounters these traumatic events or illness/parasites. you could also equate this to a kid that takes a multivitamin every day. you don't witness them grow any faster and visually they prolly don't look much healthier but they certainly are. well over the long run they may very well visually look healthier than if they didn't take the vitamin.
The extra feedings also provide excess energy. like most creatures, corals use energy in three ways, first for tissue repair and metabolic function , then growth and then reproduction. With the extra energy the coral gets from the feedings it theoretically should grow faster but more importantly the healthy coral will have excess energy it can use when the coral does get damaged or needs to fend off a parasite. This might seem silly but I've heard it equated to living from paycheck to paycheck or making sure you maintain a healthy savings account. If you live paycheck to paycheck , missing one or two checks can start a downward spiral to hopelessness as you take resources from other important areas to provide for the essential ones. when you run out of those resources the essentials also get neglected.
personally i think you know its working when you see nothing , meaning you see your normal continued growth and no deaths : ) To be honest , even if my corals grew 20-30% faster I'm not even sure id really notice. i mean what is that . if coral_001 grew an inch in a few months and with feedings we would have achieved 25% extra growth that's still only an inch and a quarter. while that will have an exponential effect in the long run you wont be blown away as they grow like weeds before your eyes. well some soft corals you might be .
Far as the water quality goes i wouldn't worry about it . the amount that you use on most of these products is extremely small and you only need to use them a couple times a week. I bet if you added the total weight of all actual organisms (not the water they come in) it would be substantially less than one fish cube. would you worry about feeding one extra fish cube a month ? You just need to use restraint and don't go crazy with it, just like the fish food i guess. the only ones "i personally" worry about are the live products because they also have food in the liquid they come in to feed the organisms so they can stay alive for long periods of time in the bottle. This food is the same food that algae in our tanks utilize for growth.
anyways if you feed your corals you should have reasonable expectations and not expect to use some miracle elixir that will give you 300% extra growth. There are many products out there. I'd find one that you personally find easy to use and affordable. In my personal opinion the live products are not worth the money and have shelf live issues. I like the frozen products the best if you can find them locally and your LFS doesn't charge a fortune. dry products if you need to do mail order or you really don't feel like spending a lot of money.
Last edited:
Circulation during feedings
Circulation during feedings
Do you recommend turning power heads off during feeding?
Also another question is if my water parameters are good, I mean 0,0,0 and good ca and ph. Can I avaoid weekly water changes and do monthly assuming my refugium is doing its job.
Circulation during feedings
Do you recommend turning power heads off during feeding?
Also another question is if my water parameters are good, I mean 0,0,0 and good ca and ph. Can I avaoid weekly water changes and do monthly assuming my refugium is doing its job.
ReefMonger
New member
Yea Ill take some Coral Frenzy and mix it up in a cup of water and target feed if Im in the mood other wise I dump it into my sump and let the return pump shoot it all over the tank. Corals open up and start feeding pretty quickly.
blange3
Brewer and Reefer
When I feed my fish, the pumps stay on and the corals snatch the leftovers.
When I target feed, I turn the pumps off. When they come back on the fish get the leftovers. I don't feed the fish the day after a target feeding. I just stir up the tank for leftovers.
I do water changes once a month on my 75. My parameters 0/0/.1 at worst.
When I target feed, I turn the pumps off. When they come back on the fish get the leftovers. I don't feed the fish the day after a target feeding. I just stir up the tank for leftovers.
I do water changes once a month on my 75. My parameters 0/0/.1 at worst.
