BROADCAST FEED!!! No real reason not to. Right?

[Glenner’sreef]

here’s why.

1. All fish are equally being fed.
2. Corals are equally being fed.
3. Mimics occasional shallow reef feeding.
4. Even coral growth.
5. Encourages fish natural openwater feeding.
6. Corals receive feeding mimicking natural reef currents.
7. Fish feed on rocks, sandbed and in water column.
8. Takes food to rock dwelling inverts.

Broadcast feeding? Yes?

 

[X-37B]

I have had pretty good results by just feeding the fish and let them feed the corals. My tank is 95% acros.
Many broadcast feed with excellent results.
I do squirt some oyster feast maybe once or twice a month when I remember and the lights are off.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I have had pretty good results by just feeding the fish and let them feed the corals. My tank is 95% acros.
Many broadcast feed with excellent results.
I do squirt some oyster feast maybe once or twice a month when I remember and the lights are off.

Do you supplement with aminos or roids etc. for your acros? It sounds like you have a good method going.

 

[X-37B]

Do you supplement with aminos or roids etc. for your acros? It sounds like you have a good method going.

No I just feed my 15 fish in my 120 8+ cubes a day with some pellets now and then.
Also some larrys every now and then.

 

[mdb_talon]

Depends on the tank, corals, goals, etc in my opinion. Target feeding makes a huge difference for my acan and my sun corals. Most other coral i notice no obvious difference. I do both broadcast and target feedings(switch about every other day)

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Depends on the tank, corals, goals, etc in my opinion. Target feeding makes a huge difference for my acan and my sun corals. Most other coral i notice no obvious difference. I do both broadcast and target feedings(switch about every other day)

Nice! Sounds like a solid plan. I think of non-photosynthetic gorgs and how they just don’t stand a chance in our tanks without the direct feeding. Is your target feeding the Sun corals working?

 

[mdb_talon]

Yes my sun corals do fantastic. One of my favorite types of corals for sure. At some point i hope to plumb in a 20g tank into my system just for NPS. Being on my larger system that struggles with too low of nutrients will allow me to do the heavy feeding NPS requires without worrying about nutrients spiking too high.

 

[kittenbritches]

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Yes my sun corals do fantastic. One of my favorite types of corals for sure. At some point i hope to plumb in a 20g tank into my system just for NPS. Being on my larger system that struggles with too low of nutrients will allow me to do the heavy feeding NPS requires without worrying about nutrients spiking too high.

Very cool. Document it on your build thread. I’d check it out for sure! Thumbs up also on Sun corals!!!!!!!

 

[attiland]

I never new there is any other way of feeding I thought target feeding is a thing or special if you have a fish / corals require you to do that.
So yes no reason not to broadcast feed

 

[Susan Edwards]

I also broadcast feed. I use cheap condiment squirters and blast each end of tank 2x's a day. 1 bottle--8-10 cubes last almost 2 days depending on how much more I add. Sometimes dry mysis with seldcon. once or twice a week I add coral foods including ab+ and phyto. I don't turn off pumps so the flow carries food to bottom feeders. Once in a while I'll take a turkey baster and feed some of the corals like the duncan

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I never new there is any other way of feeding I thought target feeding is a thing or special if you have a fish / corals require you to do that.
So yes no reason not to broadcast feed

I know reefers who only target feed. That is definitely “another way”. And nature itself doesn’t require special individualized feeding from what I’ve seen. Imagine a whale dying a couple hundred feet from a large fish/coral population with the current passing right through them. That system can be eating for days.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I also broadcast feed. I use cheap condiment squirters and blast each end of tank 2x's a day. 1 bottle--8-10 cubes last almost 2 days depending on how much more I add. Sometimes dry mysis with seldcon. once or twice a week I add coral foods including ab+ and phyto. I don't turn off pumps so the flow carries food to bottom feeders. Once in a while I'll take a turkey baster and feed some of the corals like the duncan

Great reply!!! You know anyone can starve their tanks into “pristineness” but focusing on and controlling higher nitrates for instance and at the same time “naturally” feeding our tanks, I think is a worthy act to balance. Again impressive. ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[Timfish]

Disagree. Corals have species specific (and I wouldn't be surprised genotype/variety specific) preferences.

Coral farming: effects of light, water motion and artificial foods

Improved coral cultivation will facilitate the reduction of wild harvesting, reef restoration, preservation of biodiversity, and the use of corals as model experimental organisms. In this study, we examine species-specific responses in growth and

www.academia.edu

Influence of different feeding regimes on the survival, growth, and biochemical composition of Acropora coral recruits

Heterotrophic feeding in newly-settled coral planulae can potentially improve survivorship and accelerate early development in some species; however, an optimal diet to facilitate this does not currently exist. This study evaluated the efficacy of three heterotrophic feeding regimes (enriched...

journals.plos.org

Comparing the capacity of five different dietary treatments to optimise growth and nutritional composition in two scleractinian corals

Developing an optimal heterotrophic feeding regime has the potential to improve captive coral growth and health. This study evaluated the efficacy of three exogenous diets: Artemia nauplii (ART), a commercially available coral diet (Reef Roids) (RR), and a novel, micro-bound diet (ATF), against...

journals.plos.org

Elucidating an optimal diet for captive Acropora corals

Developing an optimal heterotrophic feeding regime has the potential to improve the growth and overall health of captive corals. This study evaluated …

www.sciencedirect.com

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Disagree. Corals have species specific (and I wouldn't be surprised genotype/variety specific) preferences.

Coral farming: effects of light, water motion and artificial foods

Improved coral cultivation will facilitate the reduction of wild harvesting, reef restoration, preservation of biodiversity, and the use of corals as model experimental organisms. In this study, we examine species-specific responses in growth and

www.academia.edu

Influence of different feeding regimes on the survival, growth, and biochemical composition of Acropora coral recruits

Heterotrophic feeding in newly-settled coral planulae can potentially improve survivorship and accelerate early development in some species; however, an optimal diet to facilitate this does not currently exist. This study evaluated the efficacy of three heterotrophic feeding regimes (enriched...

journals.plos.org

Comparing the capacity of five different dietary treatments to optimise growth and nutritional composition in two scleractinian corals

Developing an optimal heterotrophic feeding regime has the potential to improve captive coral growth and health. This study evaluated the efficacy of three exogenous diets: Artemia nauplii (ART), a commercially available coral diet (Reef Roids) (RR), and a novel, micro-bound diet (ATF), against...

journals.plos.org

Elucidating an optimal diet for captive Acropora corals

Developing an optimal heterotrophic feeding regime has the potential to improve the growth and overall health of captive corals. This study evaluated …

www.sciencedirect.com

I agree with you Tim. Let me clarify: what they eat and how they eat are two different things. The “special individualized feeding” was in reference to spot or target feeding vs broadcast feeding. What they eat though, their dietary needs are very important as well and hopefully Polyplab, Saki-Hikari, Ocean Nutrition and all the others are all researching and delivering all that our tanks need. Copying a more natural delivery of these foods has got to have some benefits.

 

[attiland]

I agree with you Tim. Let me clarify: what they eat and how they eat are two different things. The “special individualized feeding” was in reference to spot or target feeding vs broadcast feeding. What they eat though, their dietary needs are very important as well and hopefully Polyplab, Saki-Hikari, Ocean Nutrition and all the others are all researching and delivering all that our tanks need. Copying a more natural delivery of these foods has got to have some benefits.

Corals are opportunistic feeders. If size is right swallow too big dot sooner or later. While I agree spot feeding has its benefits in nature they will not only eat let’s say krill, if Mysis comes along they will eat that.
same stand for fish. E.g. tangs eat mainly algae but if they can catch a fry they will eat it.
As per broadcast feeding if you don’t put the food in a feeding ring or squirt it to the face of a fish you are technically broadcast feeding. Food will swirling all around the tank and everything eating white it lasts.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Corals are opportunistic feeders. If size is right swallow too big dot sooner or later. While I agree spot feeding has its benefits in nature they will not only eat let’s say krill, if Mysis comes along they will eat that.
same stand for fish. E.g. tangs eat mainly algae but if they can catch a fry they will eat it.
As per broadcast feeding if you don’t put the food in a feeding ring or squirt it to the face of a fish you are technically broadcast feeding. Food will swirling all around the tank and everything eating white it lasts.

Don’t forget a common part of target or spot feeding is turning off all pumps. So not a lot of swirling going on! Lol. God doesn’t turn off the pumps. Just sayin.

 

[attiland]

Don’t forget a common part of target or spot feeding is turning off all pumps. So not a lot of swirling going on! Lol. God doesn’t turn off the pumps. Just sayin.

This is just a technicality. When you turn on the flow again the leftover goes swirling.

I did spot feed my dragonet before it has thought it was a bird but there was no other option for that.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

This is just a technicality. When you turn on the flow again the leftover goes swirling.

I did spot feed my dragonet before it has thought it was a bird but there was no other option for that.

Exactly So why do it? Pump on, pump off can’t be good right? “COW”. Name that movie.

 

[Timfish]

. . . Copying a more natural delivery of these foods has got to have some benefits.

In theory I'd agree, but the paper by Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology shows both species specific responses and "goldilocks" responses with specific amounts required to be beneficial and more or less had a negative impact.