What to feed soft corals?

[razord]

Hello,
It's been a while since I've cared for corals. Looking for some basic info on feeding and dosing. What to buy? And how often? Looking to keep soft corals only (zoanthids, palythoa, mushrooms).

Thanks!

 

[homer1475]

You don't need to feed them anything except light. Soft corals eat through a beneficial bacteria called zooxanthellae. They process light through photosynthesis to make food for the corals.

If it were some LPS, then you could feed them. But softies only require light.

 

[razord]

Thanks. It's been a while since I've had them and I remember buying various bottles of stuff to dose. My guess is they were supplements above and beyond what will be needed at first.

 

[mcgyvr]

"Dosing" is typically for calcium/alkalinity/magnesium and to keep them stable between water changes.. And you only need to do so if your corals,etc.. are using it faster than water changes are replenishing it.. (thats why we measure those parameters to see if dosing is needed... and it typically only is needed when you have quite a few corals)

But softies and most other corals that are photosynthetic can do just fine without any supplemental feeding at all..

 

[homer1475]

As long as you keep Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium in line, softies will be fine with nothing.

 

[tinfoilsoldier]

Lots of soft corals (and molting shrimp) benefit from iodine being added up the water. 1 drop weekly per 25G.

Plenty of paly/mushrooms eat meaty foods, but for the most part seem to grab food from the water on their own.

You can certainly dose phytoplankton, the corals might not eat it but other things in your tank will probably like it.

There are also various other nutritional supplements like selcon, which has fats and vitamins, but like you said, they might be more than you need.

But it probably doesn't hurt the ecosystem to have a little extra nutrition dissolved in the water as long as your parameters stay in check.

 

[canadianeh]

Lots of soft corals (and molting shrimp) benefit from iodine being added up the water. 1 drop weekly per 25G.

Plenty of paly/mushrooms eat meaty foods, but for the most part seem to grab food from the water on their own.

You can certainly dose phytoplankton, the corals might not eat it but other things in your tank will probably like it.

There are also various other nutritional supplements like selcon, which has fats and vitamins, but like you said, they might be more than you need.

But it probably doesn't hurt the ecosystem to have a little extra nutrition dissolved in the water as long as your parameters stay in check.

which brand name for Iodine and phytoplankton that are well known and used among reefers?

 

[razord]

thank you all

 

[scooter31707]

All corals that are photosynthesis does not really need to be feed. I feed my softies Reef Chili once every 2 weeks.