Coral Food Question

[Slick Willy 46]

I have a Red Sea Max Nano 20 gallon tank. I fed my coral once the recommend dose of Reef Roids and immediately had algae everywhere, which was something new. I want to feed my corals, but and scared to. Can anyone explain or give me any suggestions. Thanks in advance!!

 

[WrasseyReefer]

Reef roids have a massive amount of phosphates in them, so you basically spiked your phosphates, which feeds algae. You can feed your corals frozen mysis, which has way less phosphates.

 

[Derrick0580]

A little goes a long way, and you want to spot feed with reef roids. Look at youtube for how to videos on mixing it in a paste like consistency and just feeding a few drops at a time to individual corals

 

[WrasseyReefer]

Reef roids have a massive amount of phosphates in them, so you basically spiked your phosphates, which feeds algae. You can feed your corals frozen mysis, which has way less phosphates.

Get yourself a good phosphate test (I recommend Hanna ulr) and some Gfo to remove excess phosphates if you need to in a pinch. But don’t lower your phosphates to zero. Your corals need some phosphates, 0.03-0.10 is a good place to shoot for. It’ll be ok. Just use less next time.

 

[Slick Willy 46]

Get yourself a good phosphate test (I recommend Hanna ulr) and some Gfo to remove excess phosphates if you need to in a pinch. But don’t lower your phosphates to zero. Your corals need some phosphates, 0.03-0.10 is a good place to shoot for. It’ll be ok. Just use less next time.

I have the Hanna and my phosphates have never been over .04

 

[Slick Willy 46]

Is there a coral food that is less likely to effect it. Like Red Sea A+B

 

[WrasseyReefer]

I have the Hanna and my phosphates have never been over .04

Did you test after adding reef roids? Whenever I’ve added reef roids, my phosphate has spiked. What are your nitrates?

 

[WrasseyReefer]

Is there a coral food that is less likely to affect it. Like Red Sea A+B

Just feed mysis. I’ve found reef chili to be a little less phosphate rich than reef roids. Red Sea A+B also has phosphates, but I don’t remember if it spiked mine or not in the past. The challenge with Red Sea A + B is that it isn’t thick enough for the corals to really grab onto. It’s more of something you dose into your tank rather than target feed.

 

[Slick Willy 46]

Nitrates are between 1-2. I test weekly. I tried spot feeding mysis but my fish and shrimp just steal it.

 

[WrasseyReefer]

Nitrates are between 1-2. I test weekly. I tried spot feeding mysis but my fish and shrimp just steal it.

Yeah, that happens. My shrimp also steal reef roids, anything I feed the corals really. What I do is target feed my shrimp and then feed the corals while they’re distracted.

 

[WrasseyReefer]

Nitrates are between 1-2. I test weekly. I tried spot feeding mysis but my fish and shrimp just steal it.

How old is your tank? Could just be normal new tank algae, which is common. Other idea would be to test for silicates.

 

[Slick Willy 46]

How old is your tank? Could just be normal new tank algae, which is common. Other idea would be to test for silicates.

My tank is nine months old. A little about me: I am not a lazy aquarist. I am on top of my tank daily. Water test weekly and water changes every two weeks. I research constantly and hear the same horror stories unless someone has a large tank.

 

[WrasseyReefer]

My tank is nine months old. A little about me: I am not a lazy aquarist. I am on top of my tank daily. Water test weekly and water changes every two weeks. I research constantly and hear the same horror stories unless someone has a large tank.

I’m the same, but I’ve still had some hiccups and disasters before, as even experts aquarists can have. Nine months isn’t brand new, but it’s very young, so it could be normal algae growth in a young tank. Other thing I thought of was how often are you testing phosphates? Because if you’re testing it once per week, it could be spiking during the week and then being consumed by the algae and then going back down before you test.

 

[Slick Willy 46]

I’m the same, but I’ve still had some hiccups and disasters before. Nine months isn’t brand new, but it’s very young, so it could be normal algae growth in young tank. Other thing I thought of was how often are you testing phosphates? Because if you’re testing it once per week, it could be spiking during the week and then being consumed by the algae and then going back down before you test.

I have no algae. When I used reef roids and had the algae issue was 3 months ago. I quickly fixed that.

 

[WrasseyReefer]

I have no algae. When I used reef roids and had the algae issue was 3 months ago. I quickly fixed that.

Then I’m confused what your question is if you quickly fixed the issue and don’t have the issue anymore. You must know what caused it if you fixed it.

 

[Slick Willy 46]

Then I’m confused what your question is if you quickly fixed the issue and don’t have the issue anymore. You must know what caused it if you fixed it.

I do know. It was the reef roids. I'd like to feed my corals without that happening again.