Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think John is just trying to point out that different corals consume different size particles from the water column. Look at the side of the bottle on Phyto's and other planktonic foods and you'll usually see somewhere listed the particle size of the algae/plankton/microorganisms contained in there in microns. PhytoPlankton by Kent is 5-15 microns in size so it's very small and good for some corals but almost useless for others. ZooPlankton by Kent is 800 microns, much larger and the particles are easy to be filtered out of the water column by other corals. So some corals eat up Phytoplankton and some don't and some eat Zooplankton and some don't. Phytoplankton alone cannot satisfy all types of corals, neither can Zooplankton. That's why in a mixed reef it's recommended to feed several different sizes to satisfy all the corals but if you have a lps only tank or something like that then you can use a specific particle size that will benefit the coral the most.
My Mushrooms won't grow...
- Thread starter rdb1357
- Start date
Malum Argenteum
Member
MMM33732, sorry if I came off like I was trying to pick a fight. I get itchy when people (and me myself) use words like 'most' because they can end up meaning whatever a person wants to sometimes...not that I think you intend to do this.
To back up my claims: a favorite reference of mine is Borneman's "Aquarium Corals", since he cites many peer-reviewed articles like this one from Sorokin's (1995) text published by Springer-Verlag, a respected academic publisher; Sorokin claims that "corals are possibly "the most-selective heterotrophic feeders in the animal kingdom"" (Borneman, p. 59).
On p. 58, Borneman writes "corals...are largely carnivorous, mostly (ha,ha) feeding on zooplankton" and in a discussion of phytoplankton "Stony corals almost always reject plant material as food, although a few have been found to ingest it in relatively small amounts."
Aside from such printed references, look at some corals -- a Turbinaria (pagoda), for instance. Judging by the polyp size, that animal eating 5ml of phyto wafting by in 100g of water is like me eating a teaspoon of sugar grains scattered throughout my house. Animals eat roughly mouth-sized things, so "LPS" eat things like mysis and I eat things like cheeseburgers.
Thanks, too, to Lance M. for helping me clarify.
To back up my claims: a favorite reference of mine is Borneman's "Aquarium Corals", since he cites many peer-reviewed articles like this one from Sorokin's (1995) text published by Springer-Verlag, a respected academic publisher; Sorokin claims that "corals are possibly "the most-selective heterotrophic feeders in the animal kingdom"" (Borneman, p. 59).
On p. 58, Borneman writes "corals...are largely carnivorous, mostly (ha,ha) feeding on zooplankton" and in a discussion of phytoplankton "Stony corals almost always reject plant material as food, although a few have been found to ingest it in relatively small amounts."
Aside from such printed references, look at some corals -- a Turbinaria (pagoda), for instance. Judging by the polyp size, that animal eating 5ml of phyto wafting by in 100g of water is like me eating a teaspoon of sugar grains scattered throughout my house. Animals eat roughly mouth-sized things, so "LPS" eat things like mysis and I eat things like cheeseburgers.
Thanks, too, to Lance M. for helping me clarify.
Malum Argenteum
Member
Leathers (Sarcophyton especially comes to mind here, though that might just be because it is my favorite), and softies such as Cladiella (Colt), Lemnalia, and aposymbiotic Dendronephthea & Scleronepthea. garf.org's research into keeping these corals backs up the thought that the latter two genera are primarily phyto eaters.
MMM33732- I think you would be best feeding something like Marine Snow that has several different particle sizes. Or a combination of Micro-Vert, Zoo + Phyto but make sure not to overdose. What corals do you have? That would help you decide what to feed.
I think some or most (lol vague) pods eat phytoplankton.
I think some or most (lol vague) pods eat phytoplankton.
There isn't really a specific answer for that. Lots of people will say all you need is the proper amount of light and low, to let them do their thing and they'll spread. That works but feeding them can help them grow faster depending on how much of the mushroom's nutrition relies on stuff floating around in the water column. I would say that for mushrooms that clearly have tentacles (Ricordea yuma, florida and Rhodatis, some others) they will benifit the most from Zooplankton, up to some small meaty pieces of food (squid, mysis, etc.) and the regular smooth Discosomas probably just some phyto. Mushrooms also tend to thrive in tanks with a high nutrient content in the water and ime tanks where the owner never does a water change (maybe like once every two or three months). That's just my observations. HTH
