Not feeding tank makes SPS grow faster?

[DopeCantWin]

It seems when I don't feed my tank, and I mean at all, I can see a good SPS growth response. My phosphates are 0 and Nitrates were at 5 last time I checked. Has anybody else come across this? I don't feed much, I have a 90 with very few fish. There is quite a bit of Xenia in the tank if that matters. A while ago someone said they went on vacation, and saw a lot of growth when they came back.

 

[Froggy]

I actually find the opposite. The more I feed the better my corals respond, as long as my skimmer keeps up. It is common to notice growth while on vacation. This growth is always there but goes unnoticed with daily tank observation. This is why taking pictures is great to document growth you didn't notice was there!

 

[SpinyReef]

phosphate inhibits calcification of stony corals, so I assume you have low exports for your nutrients, hence the better growth when not feeding

 

[DopeCantWin]

phosphate inhibits calcification of stony corals, so I assume you have low exports for your nutrients, hence the better growth when not feeding

The phosphates are always 0, including on a Hanna meter. I have cheato in the sump and Xenia in the main tank. Biopellets being fed directly into a skimmer. But I've been considering getting a GFO reactor. Would you in my situation?

 

[Piper27]

Why would you put gfo online if your using pellets, and have cheato at that have phosphates reading 0 all the time on a hanna?

 

[DopeCantWin]

Why would you put gfo online if your using pellets, and have cheato at that have phosphates reading 0 all the time on a hanna?

That's why I haven't done it yet, but it still begs the question, why are my corals growing faster when I don't feed?

 

[bryman]

Be careful, your SPS do need some PO4 in the water to grow. GFO in addition to your BPs could be too much. A good indicator of how many nutrients are in your water are Xenia and Cheato. If they are receding, you don't have enough. If they are staying about the same or growing slowly, then you are probably at ideal levels. If they are growing quickly, you have too much.

It could be what you are feeding is too large for the SPS to eat. Then, the food just dirties the water but the SPS don't benefit. So they do better when you don't feed the food they can't eat. However, I'd bet if you feed coral food like Reef Chili, AZOX, or Oyster Feast you'll see better growth and coloration in your SPS.

 

[DopeCantWin]

Be careful, your SPS do need some PO4 in the water to grow. GFO in addition to your BPs could be too much. A good indicator of how many nutrients are in your water are Xenia and Cheato. If they are receding, you don't have enough. If they are staying about the same or growing slowly, then you are probably at ideal levels. If they are growing quickly, you have too much.

It could be what you are feeding is too large for the SPS to eat. Then, the food just dirties the water but the SPS don't benefit. So they do better when you don't feed the food they can't eat. However, I'd bet if you feed coral food like Reef Chili, AZOX, or Oyster Feast you'll see better growth and coloration in your SPS.

I got rid of all my big fish, and tried feeding just a spoon of Reef Chili daily. SPS weren't showing much improvement. Went without feeding for a few days, saw good changes. When I stopped feeding, my Alk dropped lick a rock, I assume from the growth, it was noticeable. Xenia and Cheato are staying about the same. Haven't tried AZOX or Oyster Feast. How's your tank doing?

 

[bryman]

I just posted an update tonight in my build thread. I had some major issues caused by nutrient stripping of the biopellets and lost a few colonies. Also had some Alk swings. But the tank is coming back and doing pretty decent right now.

When you say you are feeding a spoon of reef chili, are you mixing it up in a bottle first?

 

[DopeCantWin]

I just posted an update tonight in my build thread. I had some major issues caused by nutrient stripping of the biopellets and lost a few colonies. Also had some Alk swings. But the tank is coming back and doing pretty decent right now.

When you say you are feeding a spoon of reef chili, are you mixing it up in a bottle first?

Yup shaking it up. 30 secs to a minute. Weird my subscription for that thread wasn't there. Looking nice as always. Have you tried mixing that Leng Si and the red Cap together? I'm going to try that next, try to graft them. I was taking out some fish and a bunch of pieces broke off both. Nice job on the Enchinata.

 

[bryman]

Thanks. My tank is coming back but it's going to take some time.

Hmm, that's weird regarding your Reef Chili experience. I swear the Reef Chili works better than anything else IME. Haven't tried mixing the caps but that would be a cool experiment. They grow so fast for me though I have to keep hacking them back and don't have any more room to try Need to get my frag tank online!

 

[DopeCantWin]

Thanks. My tank is coming back but it's going to take some time.

Hmm, that's weird regarding your Reef Chili experience. I swear the Reef Chili works better than anything else IME. Haven't tried mixing the caps but that would be a cool experiment. They grow so fast for me though I have to keep hacking them back and don't have any more room to try Need to get my frag tank online!

I was going to give it a shot by gluing a bunch of pieces together on the overflow. But I might end up getting a 180 instead. I'll then stick to only SPS.