What do you use to feed your corals?

[MiaCoral]

Been using DTs Phyto and so far so good. Havent noticed any algea blooms from this and corals are responding very well.

What does every one else suggest or use? Always looking for new ideas.

 

[tropills]

I'm very "old school" good lighting (solar tubes), constant water changes and spot feed with marine snow and mysis shrimp... but mostly just lighting and good water do the bulk of the work for me..

 

[Henryz]

Very new to the hobby but I use product from brs....reef chili

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I don't feed my corals anything- I feed my fishes and corals MIGHT catch some scraps of fish food. Or they might not

JMO but IME more than enough "marine snow" occurs in a reef aquarium and I've never witnessed corals or anemones eat plant based matter (ie: phytoplankton or algae)

If I were to dose phytoplankton and/or marine snow it would go against the environmental conditions I'm trying to create in my aquarium.

I do believe a drip of planktonic matter that's animal based in origin would benefit my reef aquarium (ie: rotifers, etc. BRS 'Reef Chili' would be included here) and I had great results back when I used to feed my aquarium corals some baby clownfish foods.

 

[MiaCoral]

I'm very "old school" good lighting (solar tubes), constant water changes and spot feed with marine snow and mysis shrimp... but mostly just lighting and good water do the bulk of the work for me..

I don't feed my corals anything- I feed my fishes and corals MIGHT catch some scraps of fish food. Or they might not

JMO but IME more than enough "marine snow" occurs in a reef aquarium and I've never witnessed corals or anemones eat plant based matter (ie: phytoplankton or algae)

If I were to dose phytoplankton and/or marine snow it would go against the environmental conditions I'm trying to create in my aquarium.

I do believe a drip of planktonic matter that's animal based in origin would benefit my reef aquarium (ie: rotifers, etc. BRS 'Reef Chili' would be included here) and I had great results back when I used to feed my aquarium corals some baby clownfish foods.

Thanks for the insight guys!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Isochrysus and Nannochloropsis= phyto species used to feed rotifers

 

[tmz]

I don't think autotrophic corals( sps and lps ) eat much phyto if any.
I do broadcast feed over 40 fish;so corals get some of that. I dose organic carbon(vodka and vinegar ) ,so bacteria plankton is available . Once in a while I toss in some baby brine shrimp left over from sea horse fry feedings and/or some Coral Frenzy( a small micron food). I started dosing very tiny amounts of aspartic acid, an ammino acid a month ago. They seem to like that.
Mostly, leftovers from fish and fish waste should be adequate to meet ther corals heterotrophic needs . They rely on photosynthesis ,dissolve inorganic nitrogen and a little phosphae for the majority of their needs but not all. Feeding is probably unnecessary in a tank with fish.

 

[Henry Colf]

Fish poo, feeds my corals. My hippo tang crop dusts the corals all the time. Funny to see it

 

[saltyscotsman]

glad I am not a coral henry

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

it's my own belief that corals don't eat fish poo. Unless there is a significant amount of undigested animal based matter... coral polyps reject fish poo. Ditto with anemones.

it's also my belief that Hippo Tangs are evil

 

[Foody]

I originally bought Coral Frenzy to feed a clam. The clam got pecked to death by my butthole yellow tang. Nonetheless, I feed Coral Frenzy about once per month. Hard to say if it helps or how much but my coral growth is exceptional considering my lighting is on the low side.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Phytoplankton is good to feed Tridacniids

 

[downbeach]

I use a cocktail of: Oyster Feast, Cyclop-eeze, Reef Roids, Reef Chili, and Marine Snow, once a week.

 

[MiaCoral]

Thanks everyone!

 

[RandyO]

IMO, it depends on the type of corals and the age/health of the reef tank. An aged reef has tons of planktonic and bacterial foods for corals, and additional supplements are not needed as much as a newer system.
Some LPS have big appetites and fair better with regular feeding. Corals like Acanthastrea in particular do better with feedings. I feed my Acan tank a nice mixture of plankton including live baby brine, live Rotifers, cyclopeeze, mysis shrimp, amminos and vitamins, as well as oyster feast. Just started experimenting with Fauna Marine products as well.

 

[DCBB]

Ocean's Blend -- coral vibrance , feeds both hard and sot corals, ... I have had great results

 

[tmz]

IMO, it depends on the type of corals and the age/health of the reef tank. An aged reef has tons of planktonic and bacterial foods for corals, and additional supplements are not needed as much as a newer system.
Some LPS have big appetites and fair better with regular feeding. Corals like Acanthastrea in particular do better with feedings. I feed my Acan tank a nice mixture of plankton including live baby brine, live Rotifers, cyclopeeze, mysis shrimp, amminos and vitamins, as well as oyster feast. Just started experimenting with Fauna Marine products as well.

I agree. Well put.

Corals a are mixotrophic, ie, they need organic carbon sources via foods to supplement photosynthesis . How much depends on the species. Some " photosynthetic/autotrophic species may need 20% of their need for carbon ,nitrogen and phosphorous met by foods or absorbed organics ;some only 2%or less. NPS closer to 100%.

A mature tank with lot's of micro fauna and degrading animal waste will not require as much. I think it's a good idea to feed well and manage your system to process out the excess Phosphorous , orgnanic carbon and dissolved nitrogen.