Most effective live food for SPS corals

[Lousybreed]

Hi, I am looking to transition from the common dried coral foods (reef roids, reef chili) to a live alternative. I cannot find any data on what is the best culture to provide to your tank. My thought process is that live foods are more effective and will not decay like dried products. I just cannot find any real data on what is the most effective live food to provide for SPS corals.

 

[AZMSGT]

SPS, I‘m pretty sure they don’t eat much in the way of live foods. Unless it’s microscopic. My understanding is they eat fish byproduct more than anything else. Some will feed aminos as a supplement too.

 

[EMeyer]

Interesting question. I think feeding zooplankton is a great idea in general. In nature, all corals (including Acropora) feed constantly on live zooplankton, and require feeding.
I can't say it better than this paper did

Influence of different feeding regimes on the survival, growth, and biochemical composition of Acropora coral recruits

Heterotrophic feeding in newly-settled coral planulae can potentially improve survivorship and accelerate early development in some species; however, an optimal diet to facilitate this does not currently exist. This study evaluated the efficacy of three ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Although energy provided by the photosynthetic symbionts (zooxanthellae) can account for a large portion of lipids acquired by the coral host, many coral species possess varying degrees of ability to supplement their diet with heterotrophically derived lipids and FA [15]. Heterotrophic feeding also provides inorganic nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as essential amino acids, and trace vitamins and minerals that are essential for proper metabolic functioning that would otherwise not be provided by phototrophy alone [15,16]. Heterotrophic feeding enhances tissue growth, skeletal calcification rates, and lipid storage in corals [14,17]

The often stated hobbyist perspective that corals only need light is very much in contrast to the biological literature on the subject.

I know researchers who have used rotifers (like the above paper) and others who have used newly hatched baby brine shrimp. In some cases they feed these alongside phytoplankton, which are not thought to be directly eaten but serve to feed zooplankton in the tank. I havent done these experiments myself, but there doesnt seem to be a lot of controversy among coral biologists about it, corals need to eat and zooplankton is what they eat.

I think the biggest challenge is that we can't grow what they normally eat (a diverse collection of zooplankton). Rotifers and baby brine shrimp seem like the only realistic options I know of. I'd love to hear any other ideas.

 

[Lousybreed]

SPS, I‘m pretty sure they don’t eat much in the way of live foods. Unless it’s microscopic. My understanding is they eat fish byproduct more than anything else. Some will feed aminos as a supplement too.

Sorry I am not asking if SPS eat live food, this is proven data, I am asking what live food is best for SPS in an aquarium. In the wild they feed heavily on live food.

 

[Lousybreed]

Interesting question. I think feeding zooplankton is a great idea in general. In nature, all corals (including Acropora) feed constantly on live zooplankton, and require feeding.
I can't say it better than this paper did

Influence of different feeding regimes on the survival, growth, and biochemical composition of Acropora coral recruits

Heterotrophic feeding in newly-settled coral planulae can potentially improve survivorship and accelerate early development in some species; however, an optimal diet to facilitate this does not currently exist. This study evaluated the efficacy of three ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The often stated hobbyist perspective that corals only need light is very much in contrast to the biological literature on the subject.

I know researchers who have used rotifers (like the above paper) and others who have used newly hatched baby brine shrimp. In some cases they feed these alongside phytoplankton, which are not thought to be directly eaten but serve to feed zooplankton in the tank. I havent done these experiments myself, but there doesnt seem to be a lot of controversy among coral biologists about it, corals need to eat and zooplankton is what they eat.

I think the biggest challenge is that we can't grow what they normally eat (a diverse collection of zooplankton). Rotifers and baby brine shrimp seem like the only realistic options I know of. I'd love to hear any other ideas.

There are some small zooplankton you can buy and grow them up on phytoplankton. I am not sure if there is any value of feeding phytoplankton to a SPS aquarium as SPS do not eat them. Only zooplankton from what I read are the main nutrition for SPS

 

[Waynerock]

Go get you some ocean magik phyto from algae barn.

 

[Lousybreed]

Go get you some ocean magik phyto from algae barn.

Is it easy to culture at home? I have heard about this.

 

[Waynerock]

Is it easy to culture at home? I have heard about this.

It’s pretty cheep to “grow your own” . Cheep light a bubbler Heater and 5 gal bucket. There are some good threads on here to set it up right. I get everything from my buddy he started with a bottle of that last summer and winds up with more than he can get rid of for free.