Feed fish and corals or just feed fish?

[FrugalReefer]

Some will say that corals need to be fed for their health and general well being. Others will say that corals get all their nutritional requirements from photosynthesis and fish pee and poop. There are amazing tanks out there on both sides and I want to get everyone’s beliefs, reasonings or experience of why one is better than the other. TIA

 

[LPS Bum]

Ask 100 reefers you'll get 100 answers. My take is that corals have feeding tentacles and mouths for a reason (especially the fleshy LPS corals that I love so much). If you can feed them once or twice a week and not struggle with nutrient problems, then why not do it?

But yes, I think most photosynthetic corals can subsist on nothing more than light, bacteria and nutrients they pull out of the water.

 

[bushdoc]

Different corals have different requirements for food, very few ( gorgonians for example) digest phytoplankton, yet many reefers feed their SPS with phyto. All corals benefit from source of Nitrogen, but quite often, little scraps from feeding fish or fish poop is enough to satisfy them. Overzealous feeding can in my view lead to more problems then not feeding at all. There is an industry push for reefers to feed corals with various proprietary food, nothing wrong with that, but I am choosing my poison carefully.