target feeding

[philip mendes]

ok ppl have a serious question, does any one have opinion on target feeding lps? or do u just allow them to feed out of water column? im talking about frogspawn,hammer,trachphylia brain,maze brain????long term affects either way??

 

[ReeferBatman]

They have a mouth for a reason...

Feed Them!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHquHxkx-Yw

 

[ReeferBatman]

im talking about frogspawn,hammer,trachphylia brain,maze brain????long term affects either way??

Trachi's = Absolutely
Brains (favites + others) = Absolutely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opC_kSRbFX0

Hammers and Frogspawns I don't target feed / I let them feed from the water column. They tend to grow faster than other LPS, and I'd rather have those sweet acans and Favia's then a giant Frogspawn...

Funny my Frogspawn matched growth with my slow growing Favia even though I power-feed the favia and never target feed the frogspawn...

Take into account their growth rate with your desired tank 'growth space'.

 

[marvelousone]

feed them

 

[HBPat]

I feed my brains every couple days. Fauna Marin Pellets

 

[Terrance]

I would feed frags for them to grow faster. Once they get to a good size, I'd slow it down and then eventually stop feeding. No or less feeding if algae starts appearing or water quality suffers.

 

[bredler]

I haven't had a tank set up for a while, but I would feed small mysis to my acans. Just match the shrimp offered to the size of the head you offer it to. Before you feed them, squirt a little bit of the water they thawed from into the tank near the coral to get it's feeder tentacles out.

Mine grew about twice as fast when I fed. They were in a 6gal nano cube with 70w MH Viper.

The first half of that album is my old setup after it grew in for a while.

http://s223.beta.photobucket.com/user/bredler/media/Nano Cube 6/GoodoneII.jpg.html?sort=6&o=0

 

[philip mendes]

seems to me most ppl feed corals,as i do...was wondering what the health of coral would b if u didnt feed??? in the wild do they get shrimp brought to them daily? or do they just feed out of water column??

 

[Quaday]

I think target feeding may not always be necessary but that extra nutrition equates to faster growth. Its not practical to compare water column feeding in the aquarium to water column feeding out in the ocean in my opinion. Even with a refugium, one cant hope to match what nature can provide.

 

[Reef Frog]

n the wild do they get shrimp brought to them daily? or do they just feed out of water column??

In the wild they take advantage of mass spawning events, eating clouds of swarming eggs, larvae, hatchling fish, krill, plankton...you name it. They catch it the current & some stuff swims right into the polyps. Amazing to see. Like a bunch of pigs at the all you can eat pancake breakfast.

 

[coral_addict]

All corals, even soft corals, prey on plankton in the wild. LPS tend to eat larger zooplankton type prey, while soft corals tend to feed on bacterioplankton or zooplankton. I feed all my LPS New Life Spectrum pellets and small mysis/brine shrimps. Some of my coral loves the NLS pellets and some don't, I don't know why but my torch goes nuts for the pellets, I feed each head two or three pellets every couples days. Really improved growth rates when I feed them regularly. I actually read that coral only gets about three quarters of its nutrition from photosynthesis, and that it can only get nitrogen from prey capture. So for long-term success, I say feed.

 

[philip mendes]

great info guys,i guess trying to compare the ocean to my tank water column is not practacle..seems to me that target feeding every couple of days help for long healty live of the corals...is usually feed brine shrimp,and i just got the brs "reef chili" so ill see how that works.

 

[IdahoCindy]

I read this post last night and fed my corals this AM. I COULD NOT BELIEVE how much they wrapped themselves around the food! They were not even the same animal! I feel badly that I hadn't fed them larger food sooner. Thanks for the information. The "they have a mouth for a reason" seemed harsh but so TRUE! Thanks.

 

[philip mendes]

anybody use the brs "reefchili'?? what has been ur opinion on it?

 

[Terrance]

anybody use the brs "reefchili'?? what has been ur opinion on it?

Everything in my tank loves it. I will continue to use it 1-2 times weekly along with Coral Frenzy 1-2 times weekly (altogether 2-4 times week between both). I only target feed those items. Mysis shrimp once weekly.

 

[simplepso]

Guys, do you feed (Phytoplankton and Zooplankton liquids) along with the weekely coral feeds.

I only have LPS.

 

[Surgical]

All corals, even soft corals, prey on plankton in the wild. LPS tend to eat larger zooplankton type prey, while soft corals tend to feed on bacterioplankton or zooplankton. I feed all my LPS New Life Spectrum pellets and small mysis/brine shrimps. Some of my coral loves the NLS pellets and some don't, I don't know why but my torch goes nuts for the pellets, I feed each head two or three pellets every couples days. Really improved growth rates when I feed them regularly. I actually read that coral only gets about three quarters of its nutrition from photosynthesis, and that it can only get nitrogen from prey capture. So for long-term success, I say feed.

Where did you read this? Just curious. I would like to know for myself as well.

 

[HBPat]

I read this post last night and fed my corals this AM. I COULD NOT BELIEVE how much they wrapped themselves around the food! They were not even the same animal! I feel badly that I hadn't fed them larger food sooner. Thanks for the information. The "they have a mouth for a reason" seemed harsh but so TRUE! Thanks.

I know. I love target feeding all of my LPS. I even just started with the fauna marin zoa food and could not believe how big the mouth on my blue agave's got as they gobbled up the stuff. It was Incredible!!

 

[Magical Reef]

Trachi's = Absolutely
Brains (favites + others) = Absolutely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opC_kSRbFX0

Hammers and Frogspawns I don't target feed / I let them feed from the water column. They tend to grow faster than other LPS, and I'd rather have those sweet acans and Favia's then a giant Frogspawn...

Funny my Frogspawn matched growth with my slow growing Favia even though I power-feed the favia and never target feed the frogspawn...

Take into account their growth rate with your desired tank 'growth space'.

I completely agree. My Hammer grows fast enough......I don't need the growth to surge any more if I started to spot feed it

 

[ReeferBatman]

seems to me most ppl feed corals,as i do...was wondering what the health of coral would b if u didnt feed??? in the wild do they get shrimp brought to them daily? or do they just feed out of water column??

They developed a 2ndary sustenance with photosynthesis...

So even when there is little left to eat...

They can still produce photosynthetic food...

In the wild they might not be able to eat well given other factors...

But in the tank - we can feed them at will and gain the benifit of growth...

Just keep up on those water changes!

:beer: