coral feeding

[awelds]

i currently have gbt anemone, crocea clam, long-tentacle toadstool, yellow tonga leather coral, mushroom polyp, birds nest coral, favia morph, and i believe a small frag of acropora. can all thier nutritional requirements be satisfied through photsynthetic algae or should i be feeding with something. right now i focus on feeding the few fish i have and just maintaining water parameters. all coral, fish, and inverts in my tank seem to be healthy and happy. lighting is 2 150mh and 2 130watt dual actinics for a 55 gallon tank. replies appreciated!

 

[roshi719]

Just pick up some Rod's food. It'll cover all of your bases.

 

[jaytizzle]

Supplemental feeding wouldn't be a bad thing, but essentially all of their "needs" can be met through photosynthesis. You are likely to get accelerated growth if feeding, but pay close attention to water quality as you are essentially adding more organics to the water column.

 

[kgehrke]

I also feed Rod's, and like the results, but like jaytizzle said, if you feed to much your water quality will crash fast.

 

[awelds]

thanks for your responses. i guess you would just follow the dosing requirements per my 55 gallons and then check water parameters every day until i know what works for my reef. as far as overfeeding goes what parameter would be the first to go and so on, just so i know what to look for other than a algae out break.

 

[roshi719]

Nitrate and phosphate, but phosphate is difficult to pick up on a test without using a photometer.

 

[awelds]

i will probably wait until i get a digital nitrate monitor before i start regular feedings. i have a digital ph meter and boy is that a nice convenance. i wish i had the cash to go digital across the board. for the parameters they have for anyway.

 

[bluebeltreefer]

ive never added or fed my sps directly. lots of fish ='s lots of poop. ive heard poop is good coral food.

 

[ARB_REEFER]

ph isnt phosphate, you need a hanna photometer for phosphates.