Is it the food or is it the nitrate/phos?

[tmz]

Thanks Tom. I read the article you linked. So corals may need some inorganic nutrients. I got that.

Now... Specifically in SPS corals and where "consumption" of organic nutrients is not sufficient, can the required inorganic N & P be derived from transient levels that might not show up in a test?

You are welcome, glad you found it helpful( it's a bit tedious to read through). There are several others on coral feeding ; this was the most recent I could find( 12/2013). I think understanding how corals feed and grow helps one make decisions on the type of aquarium one chooses to have. For me it's heavy feeding, lots of POM including bacteria and low end but detectable PO4 and NO3.



Yes, I think so . Tests are limited in accuracy and only test what's in the sample water not what's being taken out along the way.
Some folks run very nice fed tanks with undetectable PO4 and NO3 for example. Some even have nuisance algae with those test readings.

 

[reefgeezer]

Thanks Tom. I read the article you linked. So corals may need some inorganic nutrients. I got that.

Now... Specifically in SPS corals and where "consumption" of organic nutrients is not sufficient, can the required inorganic N & P be derived from transient levels that might not show up in a test?

You are welcome, glad you found it helpful( it's a bit tedious to read through). There are several others on coral feeding ; this was the most recent I could find( 12/2013). I think understanding how corals feed and grow helps one make decisions on the type of aquarium one chooses to have. For me it's heavy feeding, lots of POM including bacteria and low end but detectable PO4 and NO3.



Yes, I think so . Tests are limited in accuracy and only test what's in the sample water not what's being taken out along the way.
Some folks run very nice fed tanks with undetectable PO4 and NO3 for example. Some even have nuisance algae with those test readings.

Thanks for all the info Tom. I even learned a new word... "paucity".

 

[tmz]

maybe i was being a little garrulous. however, you right it's old info, here's some, "Just to put some numbers on things, as aquarists tend to resist tooth and nail the idea that these corals eat things and need to be fed, Bythell (1988) found that Acropora palmata (the ultimate "SPS" coral) gets 70% of the nitrogen it needs for health, growth and reproduction from eating things such as zooplankton and particulates."

Not garrulous at all,IMO. How they obtain N is important. I was talking about carbon and curious about any new findings. Not sure 70% of N is from capture or not ,seems high, but I'll read it if there is a link. May have read it before. Nonetheless , I think we can all agree feeding is important for both organics and non organic nutrients as well as some major, minor and trace elements provided as foods degrade via digestion by bacteria or higher organisms. I think some inorganic N and P is also useful.