Do I need to feed my hammer coral?

[Emarley]

Hello fellow reefers,

I have 3 lps corals in my tank, a hammer, a Duncan and a candy cane. Currently spot feeding lps pellets twice a week, the Duncan and candy cane quickly take the pellets but my hammer doesn’t seem interested. Thinking about trying either reef roids or coral frenzy to feed it but my question is will my hammer coral be ok without been fed at all?

Thanks in advance

Dom

 

[JVan82]

Hello fellow reefers,

I have 3 lps corals in my tank, a hammer, a Duncan and a candy cane. Currently spot feeding lps pellets twice a week, the Duncan and candy cane quickly take the pellets but my hammer doesn’t seem interested. Thinking about trying either reef roids or coral frenzy to feed it but my question is will my hammer coral be ok without been fed at all?

Thanks in advance

Dom

For the most part, corals dont need to be fed, as they feed off of fish waste and from photosynthesis, but most benefit from spot feeding, reef-roids works well, as do many other similar products.

 

[Emarley]

For the most part, corals dont need to be fed, as they feed off of fish waste and from photosynthesis, but most benefit from spot feeding, reef-roids works well, as do many other similar products.

Thank you

 

[JVan82]

Thank you

You're welcome! I've recently had good zoa growth with redsea reef energy A and B.

 

[Emarley]

You're welcome! I've recently had good zoa growth with redsea reef energy A and B.

Sorry for the newbie question, is Red Sea reef energy a and b a food or supplement? Would all my corals benefit if I started adding it? And do I use it as well as spot feeding my corals?

 

[JVan82]

Sorry for the newbie question, is Red Sea reef energy a and b a food or supplement? Would all my corals benefit if I started adding it? And do I use it as well as spot feeding my corals?

One is amino acids the other is vitamins, all corals benefit from it, broadcast feed by pouring into running wave maker.

 

[Emarley]

One is amino acids the other is vitamins, all corals benefit from it, broadcast feed by pouring into running wave maker.

Thank you, only 3 months into the hobby and trying to learn as much as possible.

 

[Mike.P]

Hello fellow reefers,

I have 3 lps corals in my tank, a hammer, a Duncan and a candy cane. Currently spot feeding lps pellets twice a week, the Duncan and candy cane quickly take the pellets but my hammer doesn’t seem interested. Thinking about trying either reef roids or coral frenzy to feed it but my question is will my hammer coral be ok without been fed at all?

Thanks in advance

Dom

Just chiming in a +1 for what everyone has already said... They mostly take care of themselves. I do like to supplement it though as, in my experience, it leads to better growth and colors.

I'm a big fan of Reef Snow from Brightwell, and Marine Snow from Two Little Fishies. Basically the first thing I do, after shutting everything off for feeding, is use a syringe/baster to spritz it evenly around the tank (mix it with a bit of tank water first), and then do whatever other feeding you need to do.

Then, either manually, or you can program it on a controller if you're using one, turn on your powerheads/wavemakers at about 5-10% intensity for about five minutes, before kicking your return back on. This will spread it all around, and suspend it in the water column; the corals will take it in, clams, fan worms, sponges, it's beneficial to pretty much all filter feeders. ;Woot

 

[JVan82]

Thank you, only 3 months into the hobby and trying to learn as much as possible.

August will be 3 years. Always learning

 

[DangerDave]

I only tend to feed euphyllia when they’re new to my reef or stressed. It really seems to get them up and healthy. Typically I’ll feed them frozen mysis. Once they’re established, they’ll get what they need from daily broadcast feeding, and light of course.

 

[Grootzilla]

I'd say the only euphyllia in my tank that actually eats the food I give it (reef roids) is my torch. My frogspawn sort of but my hammers usually just spit it out as soon as the pumps come back on.
Feeding corals isn't a requirement, though it has been shown to have benefits. People with large tanks don't tend to target feed every coral in their 200+ gallon aquarium and those corals still thrive. Unless we are talking non-photosynthetic corals, the majority of them get their nutrition from the zooaxenthellae living in their tissue. LPS corals seem to be the ones that thrive the most from target feeding in my experience.

 

[pjb9166]

Funny.. I see quite a few replies about reef roids. My hammer's and frog spawn don't seem to care for it. I found out mine like tiny bits of fleshy foods. I make my own fish food. Salmon,Shrimp and Scallop. I crush some tdo pellets and fortify with a few drops of esv trace elements and a few drops of polyp booster. When I've tried roids alone, they just let it all snot off of them.

 

[astridaly]

Hm, I am a newbie too but I feed reef roids once a week... My donut loves it and so does my other corals: lobos, hammers and frogspawn. I spot feed about 1/6 of a teaspoon of the reef roids mixed in with some tank water and use my Julian’s thing to feed it, those products work wonders, honestly. My hammers and frogspawn do eat it, whether they spit it out or not, they seem to benefit from the feed. I bought my hammer about 1 month ago and it had like 3 small heads but now it has about 5, it is crazy!

 

[ScottR]

I feed my fish frozen and the corals get a lot of what the fish eat too. Sometimes I’ll target feed reef roids when I feel like I’m neglecting them. They enjoy it. But I wouldn’t feed pellets to them. Real food always works. LRS frozen reef frenzy is great. Or you can make your own. Lots of threads on here.

 

[pjb9166]

Hm, I am a newbie too but I feed reef roids once a week... My donut loves it and so does my other corals: lobos, hammers and frogspawn. I spot feed about 1/6 of a teaspoon of the reef roids mixed in with some tank water and use my Julian’s thing to feed it, those products work wonders, honestly. My hammers and frogspawn do eat it, whether they spit it out or not, they seem to benefit from the feed. I bought my hammer about 1 month ago and it had like 3 small heads but now it has about 5, it is crazy!

Are the heads actually splitting or are you noticing little tiny head like formations (buds) off the sides from the fleshy part of the branch? I started off with two heads back in Oct. I now have ten. even at that they aren't completely split. Steady growth but that took six months. Like I said mine get actual fleshy foods. If I was to count all the little buds on the sides I'd have double the count easily. Just wondering?

 

[astridaly]

Are the heads actually splitting or are you noticing little tiny head like formations (buds) off the sides from the fleshy part of the branch? I started off with two heads back in Oct. I now have ten. even at that they aren't completely split. Steady growth but that took six months. Like I said mine get actual fleshy foods. If I was to count all the little buds on the sides I'd have double the count easily. Just wondering?

Hm, with a closer look with the lights off, there are three heads but they have all widened since feeding well. I will attach a photo.

Again, the lights have been off for almost 5 hours so very closed...

 

[rogersb]

I spot feed reef roids once a week or every other week. The only euphyllia I see eat it are my torches. I don't bother trying to feed hammers or frogspawns.

 

[Barb0713]

Thank you, only 3 months into the hobby and trying to learn as much as possible.

Same although I am a veteran freshwater keeper with multiple tanks. I am a newbie to salt. But I am so excited and obsessed with it.