Is spot feeding coral worth it?

[mpderksen]

I got Julian's thing, some phyto feast and oyster feast. Last night, but a hour before lights out, I mixed the food with some tank water. Then, shut down the flow and skimmer. I "basted" over all my corals with the mix. I've got Acans, Montis, blasto, zoas, ricordia, torch, hammer, bird nest etc. and they all got a bath of the stuff.
I didn't see any obvious reaction. Wrong food? Snake oil? How can I tell if this was really worth doing? Or maybe I should have just turned off the main pump and let the MP40 circulate the food throughout the tank for 15 minutes?
The local club is having a grow-out contest on the Blasto, so I am thinking of everything I can to improve the growth of that one coral. But also, just general tank health. Maybe Reef Chili is a better option? Broadcast vs. spot feeding? Or maybe this was really an awesome meal for them, and I just don't know it?


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[mcgyvr]

In general most corals get all the food they need from the algea inside them...some havesaid that they believe feeding has helped...others dont notice a difference

 

[Ghost25]

I'm of the opinion that LPS need bigger food than dried plankton. I feed my LPS frozen LRS reef frenzy and occasionally sinking pellets. I do feed Reef Chili but mostly for the benefit of my coco worm, porcelain crab, and gorgonian.

 

[djbon]

Most coral feeds after lights out. An hour after darkness, entice them to feeding mode with a few drop of the prepared food into the water and wait. Once you are seeing feeding tentacles, stop your pump and target feed.

 

[Lsufan]

I notice a different with most lps but I havnt noticed any difference when feeding sps. Most lps like euphylia, acans, favias, brains all eat just about any coral food, but they love meatier foods like mysis. I feed mine when the lights are on & they eat just fine. They will adapt to whatever time u feed them

 

[karimwassef]

Feeding is absolutely key to accelerated growth.

Spot feeding works better if you're stingy with your food, have weak loop flow, don't like to see particulates, or have a weak filtration system that can't keep up.

I broadcast feed and keep my flow high enough so the particulates constantly suspended. Just my 0.02

 

[CoralReeferGal]

We don't and our corals are thriving. It was just a matter of lack of time and we were afraid the tank would crash. Absolute opposite. Seems like the less we take care of it, the better it does! Trying to get back in the habit of feeding though, now that we have a scallop in there too. But in the past year or so, our leathers, hammer and frogspawn almost tripled in size. Ive never seen a coral grow so fast!

 

[gogo7]

yes....that nonsense about their symbiotic algae being enough is b.s.
feed your lps with meaty foods..spot feeding them... they're freaking animals and need to be fed..you can enrich it with supplements if you feel the need..and feed
as often as your tank can handle...you will increase your corals size and polyp count...i dont have a lot of experience with sps burt i can imagine its tthe same only smaller....gorgonians fed live rotifers and bbs will increase in girth and polyp count as well... leathers kept in murkey waters get big...
feed your animals....

 

[karimwassef]

Photosynthetic corals don't "need" food but they get bigger faster with it. Like us and chocolate cake... I don't need it but I grow bigger much faster with it

SPS are the same but you need fine particulate food- or fish poop.

 

[djbon]

Well, some tanks are so diversed with live foods, they don't have to feed their corals. As karimwassef said, even fish poops and detritus are good for corals. But there is nothing wrong with extra foods (spot feed or broadcast) for better growth.

 

[Newms118]

yes....that nonsense about their symbiotic algae being enough is b.s.
feed your lps with meaty foods..spot feeding them... they're freaking animals and need to be fed..you can enrich it with supplements if you feel the need..and feed
as often as your tank can handle...you will increase your corals size and polyp count...i dont have a lot of experience with sps burt i can imagine its tthe same only smaller....gorgonians fed live rotifers and bbs will increase in girth and polyp count as well... leathers kept in murkey waters get big...
feed your animals....

What do you feed your LPS? I can give mine mysis but it takes like 3 hours for them to get it in the mouth, and often is just kind of falls off of them, like its too much or something.

Also, my LPS CONSTANTLY barely have their tentacles extended. Doesnt matter what my water parameters are. How do people get full extension for the LSP like a torch coral?

 

[karimwassef]

They smell food. In a pristine polished tank with no food, they'll go full photosynthetic with inflated flesh to catch more light.

But put a drop of selcon around them and they should release their feeding tentacles. A drop of solid skimmer waste in water works too.

 

[hogfanreefer]

I feed my duncan, plates and acans mysis. They have a very marked feeding response and I usually don't have to worry about fish or shrimp stealing from them. Don't feed my euphyllia, SPS or zoas.

I feed the tank LRS and the fine particulate part of that food seems to do well for the coral I don't spot feed.

 

[manfrog]

I've tried it both ways with many types of coral and some have experienced impressive growth with regular feeding. Even the corals that show little to no increase in growth are not harmed by spot feeding and whatever they don't get ends up as pod food in the fuge. Acans and Hammer Coral, in particular, love meaty foods like minced Silversides. Most of the other corals in me LPS tank get a rotating blend of smaller particle foods like Oyster Feast, Reef Roids and things like Coral Exponential. Spot feeding may reduce the chances of overfeeding but once you get an idea of what your system can handle you may decide to broadcast.

 

[gogo7]

What do you feed your LPS? I can give mine mysis but it takes like 3 hours for them to get it in the mouth, and often is just kind of falls off of them, like its too much or something.

Also, my LPS CONSTANTLY barely have their tentacles extended. Doesnt matter what my water parameters are. How do people get full extension for the LSP like a torch coral?

i feed all sorts of stuff.....i feed them scallop pieces, shrimp pieces.culls from my freshwater breeds..even blood worms....my acans get really green when i feed blood worms.....the turbinara polyps even eat pellets.
i feed at all times of the day and rarely at night.. the only polyps that dont leave their tentacles out during daytime is my scolly..i dont feed that monster as much as the others...

i always get that lttle shop of horrors feeling after feeding culls...lol
keep feeding during lights on and youll see lots of tentacles...all the best

 

[jda]

Most of what is available for you to feed them in not effective (the filter will get most of the stuff, not the corals), not nutritional and does nothing for them. Add in that you are just really contributing to the backside of the N cycle with more N and P that is harmful and you can come to the conclusion not to target feed anything that is photosynthetic. If you want to feed them fresh, young rotifers, then that might help some, but probably over 95% of what you put in the tank will never make it to a coral. Live phyto can help some pods grow, but not much coral.

It is pretty normal for folks to feed their corals early in their hobbyist adventure, the the vast majority stop after a while when they notice no difference. I might suggest that you lean more towards the been-there-done-that crowd instead of the folks who think that our tanks and the food that we have available is the same as the ocean.

 

[karimwassef]

Interesting point. I feed and see great growth but I have no mechanical filtration at all. No socks, no sponges, no skimmer. I also have a lot of flow so the food stays suspended until eaten.

As far as growth rate- it absolutely matters. It can double growth rate compared to lights alone for me.

I use four basic foods - selcon + reef roids + cyclopese + reef chili

I also add phytoplex and mysis dipped in garlic X

For new corals, I give a dose of Restor

 

[karimwassef]

Disclaimer- yes, I have a Xenia problem

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Also- lotso sponges

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Broadcast feeding + no filters + high circulation and flow = +++

 

[mpderksen]

so, in summary: no unanimous feelings on the matter. LOL. :headwallblue:
Since every tank is different, I think I'll try broadcasting with the skimmer off, just after lights out, twice/week, and watch my nitrate and PO4 levels....

 

[djbon]

so, in summary: no unanimous feelings on the matter. LOL. :headwallblue:
Since every tank is different, I think I'll try broadcasting with the skimmer off, just after lights out, twice/week, and watch my nitrate and PO4 levels....

Go ahead buddy!. I broadcast feed my tank twice a week. No problem. I don't have skimmer, GFO or whatever fancy equipment and my nutrients are just fine. My bio filtration is more than capable to handle all nutrient input.