Educate me on trachyphyllia

[Labridaedicted]

Hmmm, I’m probably going to sound pretty dumb in this post, just a heads up. I have a trach and have had it for quite awhile and it looks great. Yet, I have never ever fed it, or my wells, or my Acans, and I don’t have any problems ever. Am I missing something? I do feed every night shrimp misis and the little frozen alage thingys. But, I turn my wave makers off and feed in stages. I always thought they fed off of light and the water column. My acans I have had for years now, and they grow amazing. My wells is massive and is about 2 years old and I have never fed him. So what am I missing?

They don't need to be fed (really, most corals don't) since they have their cool symbiotic relationship. I find growth rates can be increased and sometimes better polyp extension can be exhibited with feeding, though. Bleached or otherwise damaged corals tend to heal better worn feeding as well. Also, if you run a ULNS, the corals can receive necessary nutrients through feeding that wouldn't be available freely in the water.

 

[Sarah24!]

I have a 240 gallon tank, with a naso tang, blue hippo tang, flame fin tang, purple tang, two clowns a lt. tang, and an achillies tang. I use fuel every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and dose alk, and Calicium on the same days. Water changes every two to three weeks. Also what is ULNS?

 

[DSC reef]

Your actually feeding your coral with fuel and the amount of fish you have. ULNS means ultra low nutrient system.

 

[Labridaedicted]

I have a 240 gallon tank, with a naso tang, blue hippo tang, flame fin tang, purple tang, two clowns a lt. tang, and an achillies tang. I use fuel every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and dose alk, and Calicium on the same days. Water changes every two to three weeks. Also what is UNLS?

ULNS (ultra low nutrient system) is a technique for reef keeping where nitrates and phosphates are artificially maintained at very low levels using various dosing and media.

Basically you strip almost all the nutrients from the system and dose your nutrients like phosphates and nitrates. It used to be the gold standard for acro husbandry, but there has been a shift lately to slightly higher nutrient levels.

You have a reasonably large number of reasonably large fish with reasonably large appetites (I couldn't resist, haha) so you probably have enough food and waste to keep your corals fed through poop, extra food, and nutrients available from decomposition. Plus, fuel (If I remember correctly) is an amino/lipid type supplement that provides additional free nitrates in the water column.

 

[Sarah24!]

Oh wow look mom, she can be taught. Never knew that existed and wow nesto. So In short I don’t have to physically feed the critters. Are plate corals the same?

 

[Labridaedicted]

Oh wow look mom, she can be taught. Never knew that existed and wow nesto. So In short I don’t have to physically feed the critters. Are plate corals the same?

Similar in that they will eat, but its not necessary to feed food. It is kind of cool to watch them eat, though.

 

[Sarah24!]

Lol well most of my fishies are small to medium except Madam Marie Monkeybut. She is my large naso tang and was my first fish, (yes I name all my fish). But she is probslly a good 7-8 inches and the rest are small barely medium size fish. The Lt. tang and Achillies tang are about 4 inches. But they eat more than I do, they are super healthy.

 

[DSC reef]

Similar in that they will eat, but its not necessary to feed food. It is kind of cool to watch them eat, though.

I second this, plates are fast eaters and very cool to watch.

 

[Sarah24!]

It’s just hard for me to reach the bottom of my tank. If I’m not careful I would call into my tank and I could swim w the fishies. (I have mean parents i have not grown since the 8th grade). But if I stick my entire arm in, I have like 8-10 inches or heck more before I reach the bottom. I have thought about by a snorkel so I can just stick my whole head in. At least I can reach the bottom.

 

[Labridaedicted]

It’s just hard for me to reach the bottom of my tank. If I’m not careful I would call into my tank and I could swim w the fishies. (I have mean parents i have not grown since the 8th grade). But if I stick my entire arm in, I have like 8-10 inches or heck more before I reach the bottom. I have thought about by a snorkel so I can just stick my whole head in. At least I can reach the bottom.

Yeah, if that's one of the 30" deep 240s, those are a bit of a bear to get to the bottom of. I have trouble reaching the bottom of my 180 and it's only 24" deep. I'd reccommend looking at the kent sea squirt (or a similar type feeder) for target feeding stuff. It like 24" long but can extend even longer. It's what I use for feeding stuff on the sand bed.

Edit: I almost forgot the aquarists best friend!!!!! The 2 step ladder!!!!

 

[Sarah24!]

Lol I wish only 30 inches deep. I considered myself pretty darn smart until I bought my tank. Mine was a custom built, and I’m not sure of the gallon size now simply because I haven’t done the math yet. But my tank is 72 inch long, it’s 24 wide but 34 deep. It’s almost 5 inches taller than a normal 210. I thought it was super cool, till I realized my arms are like maybe 22 inches long and I have these tiny 5th graded hands and fingers.

The item from Kent would help, a lot. Most of the ones I find are like onky 12 inches and kinda crappy.

 

[jasonrusso]

Lol I wish only 30 inches deep. I considered myself pretty darn smart until I bought my tank. Mine was a custom built, and I’m not sure of the gallon size now simply because I haven’t done the math yet. But my tank is 72 inch long, it’s 24 wide but 34 deep. It’s almost 5 inches taller than a normal 210. I thought it was super cool, till I realized my arms are like maybe 22 inches long and I have these tiny 5th graded hands and fingers.

The item from Kent would help, a lot. Most of the ones I find are like onky 12 inches and kinda crappy.

I bought these. It came with the precision tips also, but I took them off because they kept getting clogged. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/skimz-coral-feeder-2-pack.html

 

[Sarah24!]

Thanks the days of me coming out of my salt water tank looking like a wet puppy in a rain storm are over yay.

 

[SteadyC]

Hmmm, I’m probably going to sound pretty dumb in this post, just a heads up. I have a trach and have had it for quite awhile and it looks great. Yet, I have never ever fed it, or my wells, or my Acans, and I don’t have any problems ever. Am I missing something? I do feed every night shrimp misis and the little frozen alage thingys. But, I turn my wave makers off and feed in stages. I always thought they fed off of light and the water column. My acans I have had for years now, and they grow amazing. My wells is massive and is about 2 years old and I have never fed him. So what am I missing?

Yes, many/most corals, photosynetic corals, have xoenthellie (my spelling is wrong) that creates sugars and other nutrients for food for th coral from light (hence photosynthetic). They also benefit from nutrients in the water like nitrate and phosphate. But let’s say, you have a low nutrient tank, or the amount of light on the coral isn’t enough to generate enough “food” for the coral to be healthy, fight off disease, grow, etc. that’s where supplemental feeding can be good for corals. And for the reefer, it’s rewarding to feed a coral, see the tentacles come out, and devour the food. When corals do expose their tentacles, I’ve always treated that as a sign that it is hungry and looking for additional nutrients.

 

[Sarah24!]

Will the acans, plate corals etc catch some of the food when I feed my fish every night. I do see some of it land on the corals, but my fishies gobble it up so fast and I feed in stages.

 

[SteadyC]

Will the acans, plate corals etc catch some of the food when I feed my fish every night. I do see some of it land on the corals, but my fishies gobble it up so fast and I feed in stages.

That’s why you can feed corals at night . When those pesky gobies are sleeping . Yes, Acans and plate corals will eat meaty foods. Acans love to be fed. Each polyp has short tentacles that grabs food.

 

[jasonrusso]

If it's putting out feeders now, that's a good sign. Means it is starting to settle in.when you see those little feeders just drop a little bit of meaty food onto them and the coral will do the rest. They're pretty fun to watch eat.

When corals do expose their tentacles, I’ve always treated that as a sign that it is hungry and looking for additional nutrients.

I'm seeing the tentacles every night and morning now. Am I supposed to feed it again? I feel like I would be overfeeding if I fed it every time.

 

[SteadyC]

I'm seeing the tentacles every night and morning now. Am I supposed to feed it again? I feel like I would be overfeeding if I fed it every time.

If it’s putting it’s tentacles out, it’s trying to capture something, so it wants food.

 

[DSC reef]

I'm seeing the tentacles every night and morning now. Am I supposed to feed it again? I feel like I would be overfeeding if I fed it every time.

It's a normal response from corals to put out tentacles at night. While I truly believe in feeding corals I think every night or day would be excessive and could possibly cause nutrient issues down the road.

 

[Labridaedicted]

It's a normal response from corals to put out tentacles at night. While I truly believe in feeding corals I think every night or day would be excessive and could possibly cause nutrient issues down the road.

Yep, this. They'll put out feeders every night *hoping* to catch something. In captivity, it's not hoping, they're pretty much guaranteed good since we target them.

2x a week is usually plenty.