What is the the best coral food u ever used for sps?

[T Diddy]

I mix oyster feast, rotifeast, phytofeast, brine shrimp, and cyclops...and soon will add reef chili. I turn off the return pump and let the powerheads broadcast the mixture around for 30minutes or so. Virtually everything shows immediate feeding response. Usually feed about 4 times per week

This concoction feeds everything in the tank...fish may get pellets here and there.

 

[marke]

Live rotifers

 

[sjfishguy]

I never believed in feeding SPS until a friend of mine gave me a half jar of coral frenzy when he was breaking down his tank. So I was like, what the heck, I will give it a try. This stuff has definitely made my corals grow faster and look better. Especially my poccillopora. There have been controlled studies that show poccillopora grow considerably faster when feed though, so this was not a surprise.

 

[pimp2daizzo]

I personally would not feed blood worms to any marine fish or corals. It is not a part of their diet. There are many many other great foods out there for marine fish and inverts. Blood worms are good for carnivorous fresh water fish though. Plus one on the vinegar dosing.

i know when i fed blood worms to my discus they kept getting worms and i was having problems so i went to black worms (not live). after that i dont feed any frozen but pe mysis.

 

[pimp2daizzo]

hmmm !

is this through experience ?

did you know the nori we feed to our tangs is a cold water species ? no tang we keep ever eats that in nature.

PE mysis is freshwater species.

I have been feeding blood worms to my fish, and they love it.

only problem which might have made u think this way used to be parasites on blood worms, those can be easily washed off, and breeding them in clean environment can prevent it even further

butterflies go crazy over blood worms specially.

isnt pe mysis a saltwater shrimp, but they swim in to freshwater at some point in the year and thats when they go and get them? i believe this is why they are so high in protein.

 

[brob22]

KZ coral vitelizer.
KZ Xtra.

for me..

it is important to experiment, and study your tank, to see what is missing in YOUR tank ! based on what u do.

feed different foods, watch the responce of corals.

for me, Xtra helps darken tissue, CV helps with growth. interestingly, I dose CV 2 weeks, and stop for 1 week and go again ... this seems to help corals grow at a most constant rate ! I have no IDea why.

i dose the same. how much u add a day and wuts ur tank size if u dont mind me asking

 

[pusanpa]

I heard prodibio reefbooster is really good.
Obe of the best Totm Zsymon use it.

 

[Allmost]

i dose the same. how much u add a day and wuts ur tank size if u dont mind me asking

150+ g net water
6 drops of cv 3 times a week.
6 ml of xtra twice a week.
If browning or slime algae occurs, reduce xtra, it contains amino acids.

Stopped dosing amino acids after using xtra.

 

[Allmost]

isnt pe mysis a saltwater shrimp, but they swim in to freshwater at some point in the year and thats when they go and get them? i believe this is why they are so high in protein.

http://www.mysis.com/pemysis.html

Mysida family is mostly marine, but some varieties exist in freshwater and brackish water as well. Mysis usually refers to freshwater, and mysid shrimp refers to marine ones found in Our tanks.

Also:
3] PE MYSIS is 100% Mysis relicta. A true freshwater specimen, unlike other products on the market which are coastal, estuarine or marine cousins falling in to the Mysidae family "“ PE MYSIS are sodium free. The lack of salt intake for fish especially marine animals makes PE MYSIS a most desirable food since these fish are constantly struggling to expel salt from their bodies.
From
http://www.mysis.com/whypemysis.html

 

[my2girls]

KZ coral vitalizer hands down is the best. Red Sea Reef Energy gets honorable mention.

 

[blakers82]

It depends i dont like my yellow tangs poop but the kole tang's are good

Lol

 

[pimp2daizzo]

http://www.mysis.com/pemysis.html

Mysida family is mostly marine, but some varieties exist in freshwater and brackish water as well. Mysis usually refers to freshwater, and mysid shrimp refers to marine ones found in Our tanks.

Also:
3] PE MYSIS is 100% Mysis relicta. A true freshwater specimen, unlike other products on the market which are coastal, estuarine or marine cousins falling in to the Mysidae family – PE MYSIS are sodium free. The lack of salt intake for fish especially marine animals makes PE MYSIS a most desirable food since these fish are constantly struggling to expel salt from their bodies.
From
http://www.mysis.com/whypemysis.html

lol thats funny i work part time at a fish shop while in school and the rep said its from saltwater but they swim in to fresh at some point in the year and that is when they gather them. he prob just wanted it to sound cool

 

[Garage1217]

Reef Stew. Not sure how available it is nationally, but locally it is the cats meow.

 

[Achilles18]

Everyone has a special food for corals here, I gues mine just bio-cal 1scoop every day & 5ml of coral-vite every week & Cyclopes , mysis, brine one last thing for my lps small pellets 2x a week

 

[tmz]

I personally would not feed blood worms to any marine fish or corals. It is not a part of their diet. There are many many other great foods out there for marine fish and inverts. Blood worms are good for carnivorous fresh water fish though. Plus one on the vinegar dosing.

Bloodworms( midge fly larvae) are a fine part of a mixed diet for marine fish. They have a high protein content and contain helpful ammino acids . Even finicky eaters like my seahorses eagerly consume them. My marine fish thrive with a diverse mix of foods including some bloodworms and have for over 8 years with good color health and growth. The breakdown products of a mixed feeding regime and micro fauna growth from the fish feeding meet the corals needs without supplements.


What do you think is in bloodworms that is not benefical to marine fish to a point where you would proscribe them and criticize using them ? They are certainly not a necesary part of the mix but a good one,imo.

If natural diet is the criterion for excluding them ,which it shouldn't be, then food containing cyclopeeze like Liquid Life which you recommend and others like PE mysis and other things should be ruled out too.

Feeding corals is a good thing to do. Mine do well without it but I have a lot of well fed fish a . While most corals are described as autoprophic( photosynthetic) meaning they make their own organic carbon, or non photosynthetic/ heterotrophic, most are mixotrophic- relying for a varying % of their need for organic carbon on photosynthesis and supplementing the rest via feeding or absorbtion from the water. So the best food for them varies from a dissolved organic carbon source for some to to larger m foods for some to small micron foods for sps. Amino acids are also useful in tanks with nitrogen deficiencies which can occur when nutrients are driven down by organic carbon dosing .Aminos if absorbed can be useful to corals but even if they are not they do add nitrogen.

 

[tmz]

I'm a little curious and I know the arguement we keep a "non natural" ocean box, but have you ever heard of fish/corals eating carrots and broccoli?

Yes. Here is a post on broccoli and carrots :

'


<table id="post16804724" class="tborder" width="100%" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td class="alt1" id="td_post_16804724" style="border-right: 1px solid #FFFFFF"> I'm currently unable to locate any of my threads documenting the recovery of several Tangs with HILLE.
I have been able to locate one thread that has a couple of pix:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...2#post10202172


Some info on the subjest as well:
Dietary Control Of HLLE In Blue Tangs
By Steve Collins, Curator Indianapolis Zoo-Aquarium


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The occurrence of head and lateral line erosion, (HLLE) is a common problem with certain reef fish, particularly tangs and surgeonfish. We experienced and epidemic amoung our blue tang (Acanthurus coeruleus) population six years ago,(1989), in our 25,00 gallon reef exhibit here at the Indianapolis Zoo-Aquarium. Other surgeonfish were affected, but the angelfish in the exhibit were not.

Water quality was dismissed as a likely cause of the problem. Good water quality was maintained by a combination of use of sand filters, ozone, and periodic water exchanges with saltwater mixed from Instant Ocean sea salt. We do not use activated carbon. Normal nitrate levels were maintained in the range of 15 to 20 milligrams per liter ,(mg/l), Nitrate Nitrogen , (N03-N). pH averaged 8.25 and salinity was 32 parts per thousand, or a specific gravity of 1.023. At the onset of the HLLE, salinity was dropped to inhibit parasite reproduction, in case this was the cause. The erosion continued and salinity was eventually brought back up to 1.023.


In reviewing other possible causes for theis malady we next focused on possible dietary deficiencies, because no obvious pathogens were found. Our fish were receiving a varied diet including romaine lettuce and spinach. Initially we tried elevating the level of vitamin C by incorporating a supplement into a gelatin based food, but this had no effect. We next considered supplementing the level of vitamin A. According to the Applied Nutrition and Diet Therapy, page 852, "One of the most important functions of vitamin A is to maintain the integrity of the epithelial cells....As a result, surfaces of the skin and membranes lining all passages that open to the exterior of the body, as well as glands and their ducts, are susceptible to disease." This was the basis for trying increased amounts of vitamin A after the vitamin C supplement by itself failed to produce results. It was our feeling that the laining of the lateral line ducts had deteriorated.


We were concerned with the possible toxicity of high vitamin A levels that has been reported for certain animals. Upon reviewing the nutritional value of different types of lettuce, we found them to be very low in nutrients and began researching the nutritional value of other green vegetables. Spinach appeared to be higher than lettuce, but it does not hold up well in sea water. Carrots were found to be a good natural food, but they had to be shredded and were quite messy to feed. Still, we fed carrots solely for six to eight weeks and observed a resolution of the HLLE. A more complete literature review made broccoli an obvious choice. It is well balanced in many vitamins in addition to the high level of vitamin A, and also has other features that make it acceptable. It holds up very well in the aquarium. Many fish like the flowerettes when they are first added. Only the larger fish could break open the woody layer on the stalks, but once opened small fish feed on the softer pulp material. We replaced the carrots with broccoli, and we are currently using it as a well-balanced maintenance diet.


After replacing the lettuce diet with first carrots and then fresh broccoli, the HLLE improved to the extent that only a few scars remained on the most severely affected fish. After nearly eight years in the exhibit, most of the original batch of blue tangs are still alive. Broccoli, supplemented with peas and other prepared foods, dominates the diet. No HLLE sypmtoms are evident in any of the fish in the exhibit.



__________________
over 18 years experience with multiple types of marine aquarium systems

Current Tank Info: 72x24x30 225 gallon peninsula reef aquarium
</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="alt2" style="border: 1px solid #FFFFFF; border-top: 0px">

</td> <td class="alt1" style="border: 1px solid #FFFFFF; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px" align="right"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table id="post16804752" class="tborder" width="100%" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr> <td class="thead" style="font-weight:normal; border: 1px solid #FFFFFF; border-right: 0px"> 03/20/2010, 08:10 AM </td> <td class="thead" style="font-weight:normal; border: 1px solid #FFFFFF; border-left: 0px" align="right"> #8 </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td class="alt2" style="border: 1px solid #FFFFFF; border-top: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" width="175"> Gary Majchrzak
Team RC Member

Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 35,635


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[allsps40]

isnt pe mysis a saltwater shrimp, but they swim in to freshwater at some point in the year and thats when they go and get them? i believe this is why they are so high in protein.

They are brackish. I have seen them in fresh water swamps, in river mouths where the SG is lower than the sea but higher than fresh (brackish) and in tide pools when I live on Long Island. Same with ghost shrimp.

 

[Allmost]

They are brackish. I have seen them in fresh water swamps, in river mouths where the SG is lower than the sea but higher than fresh (brackish) and in tide pools when I live on Long Island. Same with ghost shrimp.

you are simply wrong.

did you have a microscope to look at the ones u have seen in brackish water to make sure they are PE mysis ? or did u ask them ?


why continue posting wrong stuff on the net ? what is the point ?

at least add a line at the end saying wht you THINK,.

 

[allsps40]

Reef Stew. Not sure how available it is nationally, but locally it is the cats meow.

Bug huge plus one. I normally dont recommend reef stew on the forums because it is locally made here is Arizona by a fellow member and is sold in LFS. It is super great stuff has tons of live coral foods in it from brine shrimp of all stages and tons of zoaplankton that you can see swimming around in it. When I feed this weekly to one of my old reef tanks the corals all did very well and my pod and plankton population where thriving.

 

[allsps40]

you are simply wrong.

did you have a microscope to look at the ones u have seen in brackish water to make sure they are PE mysis ? or did u ask them ?


why continue posting wrong stuff on the net ? what is the point ?

at least add a line at the end saying wht you THINK,.

I only know what I was told. I worked at a LFS on Long Island and we would go collect live shrimp for sale at the store. We collected in several different areas and always caught the same shrimp that I was told was mysis and they sure looked just like the frozen ones. This comes from real world experience not something I read. It is possible that we where getting many different shrimps but they all looks the same weather they came from fresh water or salt.
As for my comment on blood worm. I said I would not feed they to my marine fish not only are they not a natural food source but frozen blood worms have a lot of nasty bloody red water in them when thawed (even after being rinsed), I would not want to add any of that at all to my water. This is just my opinion not saying it is right or wrong.