Question about feeding LPS

[cmc0814]

Hey guys,
I have recently aquired beautiful candy canes, blasto merletti, and acans from a certain kpk. They are doing great. But I have a problem with giving them food anytime the tentacles are out. I'm feeding them 1-2 thawed brine shrimp pieces per head. Usually that means I give them food once a day. Is this too much? I've also been feeding my brain around every other day. Thanks!!!

-Chris

 

[keckles]

That is fine.

 

[Sk8r]

That's not too much, imho. They'll divide their heads if encouraged with food: they'll reject what they don't want and the inverts will get it. I feed mine with cyclopeeze when I feed the fish.

 

[cmc0814]

Thanks guys. I have cyclopeeze and I have given it to them. I'm just not sure about it yet. I thaw it in aquarium water, and then use a turkey baster to squirt it on the dif. corals. But it seems just to go everywhere. I'm afraid I'm polluting the water. I'm just scared to use it too much still. Thanks!

- Chris

 

[keckles]

I find that frozen Cyclop-eeze significantly decreases the amount of plankton lost. But, here's the problem:

"There is no frozen Cyclop-eeze"

When contacting Argent, the company responsible the production of Cyclop-eeze, we were informed that they produced only the freeze-dried and flake types. A seperate company was purchasing the freeze-dried, adding a little water, and selling it for the big bucks. (Ever wonder why frozen is so much harder to find? )

So, what can you do?

Take some cyclop-eeze, mix it with water, and freeze it in a zip-loc bag. When you want to feed, break a piece off and shake it directly on and around your desired coral. The dense, frozen clump of Cyclop-eeze will produce a much smaller "plankton storm" than the loose, scattering powder you are feeding now.

 

[kpk]

Hey Chris glad all is well with the frags. On the acan and candycane feeding will increase their growth tremendously. If you get a chance get something a little beefier like some small silversides, krill etc. They have alot more nutritional value and the the acans and candy should easily eat about half a kril or a slice of silverside. With the merletti stick with just the brine and cyclops. I didn't feed them very often, but when I used to they would grow much faster.

Later,
Kyle

 

[captbunzo]

Right on, Kyle. I was about to add the same sentiment myself. To quote Anthony Calfo, "Brine shrimp are nothing more then shrimp shaped sacs of water".

You CAN get good brine. However, they have to be enriched/gut-loaded/etc. This means that they were fed something really nutritious (cyclopeeze, selcon, etc) and then immediately frozen. Yeah, it's mean.

So if you are getting brine, make sure that they are enriched (or some such nonsense ).

Now, on to the rest of my suggestion.

I actually suggest you mix up the foods you feed it quite a bit. In the wild, our corals are going to get a much more diverse range of plankton then we can ever hope to provide. But, we can come a lot closer then just picking one food.

As suggested by Kyle, silversides and krill are great. Another item you should add is large quantities of mysid shrimp. I'd replace that in for much of the brine that you are doing currently. You can also buy something known as ocean plankton, that is great.

My two cents, for whatever it's worth...