Oldude's Little Reef on the Prairie

Oldude said:
Fish are fed with an auto-feeder 3 times daily. Corals are mostly fed by the fish but I usually dose sponge power once or twice a week. I also on occasion stir up the detritus in my sump after lights out which is carried back to the display via the return pump and I find the corals respond pretty well to it.
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What kind of food goes in the autofeeder?

Interesting about stirring up the sump detrius at night, never thought about doing that.
 
A_CoupleClowns said:
What kind of food goes in the autofeeder?

Interesting about stirring up the sump detrius at night, never thought about doing that.
Click to expand...

The auto-feeder is loaded mainly with 1 mm spectrum "cichlid" pellets - I buy it in a bulk 1 gallon(ish) bucket and load it up as needed. It seems to give a pretty balanced diet and the few fish that won't eat the pellets hunt for their food (mandarins & pipefish)

The sump detritus seems to work ok as an occassional food source in my opinion and since it's already in the system it's one less thing I have to add.
I'm sure there will be some who disagree with my methods but to that I would ask how many detritus deposits are found in the wild? My guess would be pretty few as it all gets swept together with the plankton - so since it's there already I make use of it once in a while. There are others who keep a powerhead running in the sump which prevents the detritus from settling and basically keeps it in solution so it is continually returned back to the reef and/or skimmed out.
 
Oldude said:
The auto-feeder is loaded mainly with 1 mm spectrum "cichlid" pellets - I buy it in a bulk 1 gallon(ish) bucket and load it up as needed. It seems to give a pretty balanced diet and the few fish that won't eat the pellets hunt for their food (mandarins & pipefish)

The sump detritus seems to work ok as an occassional food source in my opinion and since it's already in the system it's one less thing I have to add.
I'm sure there will be some who disagree with my methods but to that I would ask how many detritus deposits are found in the wild? My guess would be pretty few as it all gets swept together with the plankton - so since it's there already I make use of it once in a while. There are others who keep a powerhead running in the sump which prevents the detritus from settling and basically keeps it in solution so it is continually returned back to the reef and/or skimmed out.
Click to expand...

Cool. I will have to look into those bulk buckets of pellets. Our fish eat the hiakari seaweed extreme pellets like they are going out of style.

I like the idea of feeding the reef some sump dwelling detritus. Your corals sure seem to like it. Worth a shot for sure. :D
 
Oldude said:
The auto-feeder is loaded mainly with 1 mm spectrum "cichlid" pellets - I buy it in a bulk 1 gallon(ish) bucket and load it up as needed. It seems to give a pretty balanced diet and the few fish that won't eat the pellets hunt for their food (mandarins & pipefish)

The sump detritus seems to work ok as an occassional food source in my opinion and since it's already in the system it's one less thing I have to add.
I'm sure there will be some who disagree with my methods but to that I would ask how many detritus deposits are found in the wild? My guess would be pretty few as it all gets swept together with the plankton - so since it's there already I make use of it once in a while. There are others who keep a powerhead running in the sump which prevents the detritus from settling and basically keeps it in solution so it is continually returned back to the reef and/or skimmed out.
Click to expand...

Double post, sorry!
 
It seems to me that in another forum you had said that you had been using using Acro Power for a few months. Are you still using it and if so, do you think that it makes a difference?

Thanks
 
A_CoupleClowns said:
Cool. I will have to look into those bulk buckets of pellets. Our fish eat the hiakari seaweed extreme pellets like they are going out of style.

I like the idea of feeding the reef some sump dwelling detritus. Your corals sure seem to like it. Worth a shot for sure. :D
Click to expand...

There are so many pellet food available, I try to use brands with a fairly low flour content as I heard fish have a hard time digesting it.
 
Rybren said:
It seems to me that in another forum you had said that you had been using using Acro Power for a few months. Are you still using it and if so, do you think that it makes a difference?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I've never tried Acro-power, I think you must be thinking of my dosing extra trace elements in the form of "Color Elements" by Fauna Marin which I still do and yes I think it makes a difference. I've heard mixed reviews about acro power and I haven't used it because for a system my size it would take quite a bit and I don't run ULNS which is what believe it's recommended for.
Thanks for your question.
 
Thanks Greg,

I was having (yet another) senior moment.

I went back and found the thread that I was thinking of - I actually had your setup confused with o2manyfish. He is dosing 10ml daily on a system volume of 1100G and seems to be very pleased with the results. His tank looks great. (as does yours! :beer:)

Cheers,

Jerry
 
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Oldude, your tank is a marvelous masterpiece!

how long did it take you to grow that tricolor to that size? Mine keeps having dead spots :(
 
tajaba said:
Oldude, your tank is a marvelous masterpiece!

how long did it take you to grow that tricolor to that size? Mine keeps having dead spots :(
Click to expand...

Thanks very much. I am no sure exactly which coral you are referring to sorry. Can you give me a post number?
 
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