Is spot feeding coral worth it?

I didn't stopped spot feeding my LPS because of failure. I stopped because I don't want them to grow faster than growing under the lights. I still do broadcast feeding by the way.
 
karimwassef said:
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.
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What does this mean, my torch tentacles maybe extend an inch out, when maybe 2 years ago id have 3 to 4 inch outreach. And when I go to fish stores or other tanks, the torches are always swaying all over the place. Mine just stay like this, despite feeding, despite adjusting alk and ca, despite phosphate reduction and even having to add nitrate back in. So frustrating.
 
jda said:
Nearly everybody who posted on here that they used to feed and have stopped once had those same thoughts about how necessary it was and then figured out over the years that it was all for naught.
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I think saying "it was all for naught" or even "how necessary it was" is painting with a broad brush. Corals are highly adaptive, they can live and look totally healthy in a variety of conditions. There are lots of "right" answers in terms of methods of taking care of them. People have different definitions of success, and many of us like to change things just to experiment over time, not because any particular technique was "wrong" or unsuccessful.

In terms of my own experiences feeding, yes - there have been times when I stopped doing it, and nothing went wrong. You can clearly keep a thriving and successful tank with zero effort into specifically feeding corals. However, that would not cause me to say feeding corals was all for naught.

There have been other times when I did feed, and for some corals, there was absolutely a very clear difference. In some corals it was a difference in behavior (LPS like blastos or acans that got "trained" to eat would extend feeder tentacles more often). In other cases, there was a definite change in growth rate or even growth form. For instance, I have had duncan and frogspawn that sprouted new heads in totally different patterns when they were being fed regularly versus not at all (not to mention that the growth was A LOT faster when they were being fed).
 
So far I have been feeding a diy mixture of frozen mysis, some flake food, clam and scallop. I thought is might be beneficial to try some coral foods. My corals are all frags spread all over the tank so I don't think spot feeding would be much different than broadcast feeding. Maybe a dyi of one of the following: Reef Chili, Reef Roids, Coral Frenzy or Rods mixed with mysis, clam, scallop and little flake for good measure. Thoughts?
 
I tried something new this weekend. I froze clam meat and then put it with water in my "bullet" liquidizer. It turned it into a fine soup - passed through my fine mesh net.

I added it to the tank and the SPS gobbled it up.
 
Did you spot feed or just broadcast? How about adding some Reef Chili or some such product? Could throw in some mysis and some pellet or flake after the "bullet" and have an all around coral/fish food. We have a Vitamix which is a very large blender but will give that a try. The other thing we have done is freeze the end diy product in small cube ice trays and thaw when needed.
 
Those are already fine. The processor just converts large solids into liquids.

Why add fish oils when you can just process some raw tuna and salmon?
 
Is spot feeding coral worth it?

I took the collective input and just fed my tank. I removed both MP40s for a much needed vinegar soak. I used a turkey baster to add PE mysis to my BTA, 2 Acan colonies, Duncan and the Blastomussa. Then used Julian's thing to hit my various SPS with my Phyto/Oyster Feast mix. Other than the obvious heads closing on the Duncan and BTA, the best response was actually seeing the feeding tentacles on the Acans. Never seen that before.
Nothing obvious happened with the Blasto or the SPS.
Is the Phyto and Oyster Feast products appropriate for my Acroporia? I have 2 small frags and the look awesome. But I'm not sure what they might like.


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Seems worth it to spot feed to me!
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jda said:
"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."

"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"
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By your way of thinking should we assume that since plants are photosynthetic organisms that they do not need food. No N nor P up the "backside"? Sure... just give 'em water and light and see how that turns out.

You are totally missing the point and not all corals are the same in their nutrient, food nor light demands. You can't stuff a silverside down an Acro's mouth but sure as sh*t a Euphyilla or Acan will take a piece.

My journey toward feeding was the exact opposite of what you so 'expertly' outlined.
I WAS NOT one to feed "early in their hobbyist adventure". I only started feeding relativly recently in my "adventure" but would never go back.
I am sure others have experienced the same after starting to feed.
Even most of my SPS tank gets fed. A tank that shoots for zero N or P is foolish.

Balance is the key.

Control

Add only what your system needs and no more.

People get the wrong idea and start doing anything they can to hit zero then wonder why their coral bleached.

Understanding how, when and what to feed go hand in hand with coral health and, likewise, managing N and P.
 
My scolly loves bananas :)

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/4FF878A5-E780-4C66-A211-B742F2A708D5_zpskx84qv2e.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/4FF878A5-E780-4C66-A211-B742F2A708D5_zpskx84qv2e.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 4FF878A5-E780-4C66-A211-B742F2A708D5_zpskx84qv2e.jpg"></a>
 
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