Stirring up detritus for SPS food.

[spspirate]

Anyone here stirring up there sand bed or turkey basting detritus for coral consumption? I’ve found out it’s a cheap and very productive way to feed. I usually do this in the morning before lights come on or just before the lights go off. Find really great polyp extension minutes afterwards. WaltD always ready to eat!

 

[Cuong]

I do that as well. I personally try not to blow the corals specifically, concentrating mostly on the rock. I found that if you put too much flow onto the sps, an adverse reaction happens. They tend to retract their polyps, and then slime up. It's pretty funny knowing that someone else does this too. Unlike my wife, who just thinks Im crazy using a turkey baster on a fish tank

 

[spspirate]

Yea exactly when I used to run a shallow sand bed I’d take a dowel rod and whisk the sand bed and the power heads would do the rest. Now I take the baster and blow up under the rocks and all over the bottom and again the power heads do the rest.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I found that if you put too much flow onto the sps, an adverse reaction happens. They tend to retract their polyps, and then slime up.

I have never seen this happen from basting corals.

I use a baster to blow off detritus every few days. This really helps keep the acros happy and clean. I haven't seen any feeding reactions like I used to. Probably because the stuff collecting in the display is already cleaned up by small pods and such. When I baste the rocks in my rock tank off is when I see the corals react but I only do this once a month or less.

 

[jda]

What is in detritus that is nutritious to corals?

 

[Coronus]

I have been doing this for years. Specifically to loosen detritus in the rocks and prevent NO3 and pO4 build up. Detritus is organic matter from fish poop decomposing. Fish poop is the only thing I feed my corals.
I do it once a week and really cloud the tank up. Feed the corals well. Turns it into a snowy filled tank.

 

[reefwiser]

I wouldn't do this in fact I have found that it can cause a tank wipe out. You can stir up bacteria that will kill the corals. Found this out years ago when I tried this method. Now I vaccum the bottom and use coral foods. Cost me too much in coral loss to do this.

 

[jda]

Corals do not eat fish poop. People say this, but what they really mean is that the nitrogen and phosphorous from the fish poop, is what feeds their corals. I highly recommend that people take some time and find out what is really in detritus - after a very short time, all of the organics in it are gone (sometimes hours) and there is nothing left in there of any value. If there is anything of value in fish poop, it is quickly scavenged by micro fauna and then the bacteria take care of the rest.

Even if a coral was able to catch some, they might spend more energy trying to digest it than they get from it.

This is not of any material consequence to this thread, but Dr. Holmes-Farley has indicated that the majority of phosphate is excreted in urine and not feces.

 

[Coronus]

I wouldn't do this in fact I have found that it can cause a tank wipe out. You can stir up bacteria that will kill the corals. Found this out years ago when I tried this method. Now I vaccum the bottom and use coral foods. Cost me too much in coral loss to do this.

It has worked just fine for me for 13 years. Never an issue. I do it weekly in a 8 year old sps tank. It’s a good practice and works very well for me.
If a tank crashes, I would think it would take a lot more than blowing detritus off rocks.

 

[reefwiser]

No it doesnt. But you can do it all you want.

 

[Vin's Reef]

What's everyone's opinion on stirring up their refugium once a week?

 

[reefwiser]

One must be careful stirring anything up. I use a canister filter used to vacuum out my aquariums. I also use a DE filter also to keep the water column clean when does this. Cleaning is not a bad thing you just need to be cautious when doing it. Thru the years I have seen so many people crash their tank after simple water changes and stirring up the sand bed and having done it my self. I had to learn to be very careful when doing tank maintenance going forward.

 

[spspirate]

I can only account from my experiences and observations in the years. I do see that there is a feeding response that some of my SPS display....... never saw any ill effects on my end.

 

[KrisReef]

Interesting thread. I was told a long time ago to blast off the rock surfaces 1/week (before water changes) to remove whatever had settled on the rocks as part of routine maintenance. I have also observed coral retraction and loss immediately after stirring up a tank that had been neglected in detritus removal, on more than one occasion. As far as nutritional value, I would suspect that long settled gunk would be as nutritional as bum feeding out of a dumpster. If you like the bum, by him a sandwich, imo.

 

[jda]

I would be careful to disturb oxic and anoxic zones in your sand very often, or in large quantities.

Detritus removal is a good idea. However, it is likely OK if you are not on it immediately, as long as you do it regularly - it is quickly benign, but can gum up the works with massive amounts in the sand and rocks.

 

[spspirate]

I guess posting this thread I was under the impression that people were keeping bare bottom or very shallow sand beds 1” or so. Understood this would not be recommend in a deep sand bed situation

 

[OriginalUserName]

What's everyone's opinion on stirring up their refugium once a week?

I don't stir up anything myself. Anything usable by the tank's microfauna will have already been consumed, what's left is probably inert junk and you have risk of opening up pockets of sulfur etc.

 

[terri_ann]

Of course one doesnt want to disturb an unkempt and/or deep sandbed. Moderation is important as well as maintenance. I baste off my rock daily. Done for many reasons but mostly to help feed corals, any food not retrieved by fish,inverts will go back into water column and keeps rock in better condition. Shallow sandbed, I baste about 1/4 weekly before WC or, about 1/2 before WC if going on 2 weeks....depending on tank, not much sandbed in 180g. Imo, use good sense if you choose to baste rock, sandbed or detritus area on bare bottom.

 

[tony'stank]

I take a turkey blaster to my sandbed three times per week. I have been doing this for over twenty years with no harmful and apparently beneficial results on my corals and other tank inhabitants. I personally think that it benefits the filter feeders and softies more than the sps

 

[Az reefer]

What is in detritus that is nutritious to corals?

Its fish poop. Best for coral coloration.