Okay, can we talk spot feedings for corals???

[WhoKnew]

I have been reading quite a few threads that include feeding corrals individually. I am rather new to this SW hobby. I have a few fish,some Softies, Zoa, and a few Montipora. I have never spot fed them. I just put some phytoplankton in the tank. I was under the impression that lighting was the Key to Success? I truly have not seen major growth in my tank, I'm missing something. You know when you get that gut feeling something is wrong, it usually is right. :frusty:
I have a 30g tank with a CoralLife skimmer, Marineland 400 PH, heater and Allumination Sol Blue with controller. Here is a picture. From my iPad though.

my tank is actually prettier than this photo gives credit.
I am interested what other Reefers are using to feed, both fish and Corals. Thank you in advance b

 

[ReefFrenzy]

You are going to get responses all over the board on this topic. Some folks never feed, and others like to feed diligently. 99% of your corals receive their nutrients via the symbiotic relationship with the Zooxanthellae which provides a mechanism to "feed" the coral through photosynthesis. I have seen beautiful tanks which are never spot fed and I have seen tanks where LPS such as Acans, Duncans, Brain Corals, etc were fed 2-3 a week and looked amazing.

Based on your tank photo and size I would recommend simply feeding your fish and permitting the corals to thrive off the leftover food. If you start spot feeding 2-3 times a week and upset the balance of nutrients going in with those exported, your water quality will suffer. Then you will likely see problematic algae and cyano.

I would argue that more people who are "new" to the hobby create more issues by overfeeding than underfeeding.

Phytoplankton can aid a tank, but not as a direct coral food. The phytoplankton feeds the copepods and other microscopic critters, which are an essential part of the food chain. Unless you're talking about specific NPS corals I haven't seen definitive proof that corals are processing the phyto directly. (I could be wrong, but I live down the road from the owner of www.Area51phytoplankton.com and we have discussed this topic many times.)

Now if your tank grows larger and you get some bigger LPS corals you can experiment with direct foods. I got into a huge debate with a local reefer over how corals should never be fed under any circumstances. I shot this video and responded 'If God (or evolution if that's your view) didn't intend for corals to feed, why would it develop a means to ingest meaty foods like in this video?"

[video=youtube_share;bHwyMwAemHU]http://youtu.be/bHwyMwAemHU[/video]

Good luck with your tank and I hope this was helpful.

 

[SirKevinD]

+1 I have a 60G tank with one LPS torch, zoos and SPS dominant. I feed very rarely. Sometimes using
Marinesnow or aquavitro fuel amino acids. The majority of feeding
My corals comes from leftover food from my fish, they're poo and the lighting. The biggest drawback to feeding corals is that there's a fine line between feeding them just enough and way to much. You feel like your doing them good and then you wonder why your getting cyano and algae outbreaks.

 

[ritter6788]

I never target feed photosynthetic corals.

 

[GHill762]

there was an article on advanced aquarist a while back that said basically even photosynthetic corals are not 100% photosynthetic and should be fed. I spot feed 1 to 2 times per week usually, sometimes I forget or don't have time and go a couple weeks without feeding my corals, IMO there is a noticeable difference in growth and coloration.

 

[ritter6788]

I'll never say corals don't eat. I just don't feed them directly. I haven't spot fed my corals or used coral foods for years. They can catch fish food from the water column or zooplankton that reproduce in the tank. Adding more food to feed corals isn't needed in my tank.

 

[Palting]

I have been reading quite a few threads that include feeding corrals individually. I am rather new to this SW hobby. I have a few fish,some Softies, Zoa, and a few Montipora. I have never spot fed them. I just put some phytoplankton in the tank. I was under the impression that lighting was the Key to Success? I truly have not seen major growth in my tank, I'm missing something. You know when you get that gut feeling something is wrong, it usually is right. :frusty:
I have a 30g tank with a CoralLife skimmer, Marineland 400 PH, heater and Allumination Sol Blue with controller. Here is a picture. From my iPad though. my tank is actually prettier than this photo gives credit.
I am interested what other Reefers are using to feed, both fish and Corals. Thank you in advance b

It doesn't look like you have any coral that needs direct feeding. What you have can likely just benefit from excess fish food and poo. If you still want to coral feed, try using zooplankton instead rather than phyto. Coral feed only once a week or once every 2 weeks, and keep an eye on your parameters particularly nitrates to avoid an algae problem.

I have a mixed reef. I target feed anything with mouths (acans, candycanes, duncans) and anything that puts out feeding tentacles (hammers, brains, plus acans and candycanes again). I make a "broth" of Coral Frenzy, Mysis, clam, and whatever frozen food good for coral was on sale at the LFS. I turn all the pumps and powerheads off. I cover the targeted coral with a cloud of this broth, and leave it there for about 15-30 minutes. I leave the feeding syringe in there to bat off the shrimp and fish that try to steal the food LOL. After that time, I turn on only the powerheads to distribute the food all over the tank. After another 15-30 minutes, I turn the return pumps on. I do this maybe once a week or once every 2 weeks, usually just before I do a water change. This way, any excess food gets taken out of the system by my mechanical filters and the filters get rinsed.

 

[WhoKnew]

There is so many different opinions on feeding. My LFS told me to use Reef Nutrition. Called Phyto Feast, 3mls per day. I didn't see any difference in my corals but a lot of green in my skimmer. So I think it was maybe a waste of money. I was under the impression that my Torch Coral needed to be fed. This is truly trial and error.

 

[GHill762]

There is so many different opinions on feeding. My LFS told me to use Reef Nutrition. Called Phyto Feast, 3mls per day. I didn't see any difference in my corals but a lot of green in my skimmer. So I think it was maybe a waste of money. I was under the impression that my Torch Coral needed to be fed. This is truly trial and error.

Lps would prefer larger meatier foods. Phyto is mostly for filter feeders and it also feeds your pod pupation..

 

[GHill762]

Lps would prefer larger meatier foods. Phyto is mostly for filter feeders and it also feeds your pod pupation..

And it doesn't require spot feeding but will definitely grow faster. Lps love being fed..

 

[WhoKnew]

I have also heard reefers dose their tanks with Iodine, Reefing Essentials, is this beneficial for the tank. I was under the impression. If I could not test it, don't dose it??

 

[Diamond1]

I wouldn't worry too much about Iodine dosing. You don't have a heavily stocked tank and if your doing regular water changes you're more than likely keeping ahead of the iodine consumed by your inhabitants. If you do feel the need to dose then get a good test kit and check your levels first.

 

[WhoKnew]

This hobby can sure be confusing.

 

[Diamond1]

Yeah when your just starting there is a lot of information to digest.

 

[GHill762]

Yeah when your just starting there is a lot of information to digest.

Even people that have been around a while still learn things. Nobody knows everything in this hobby