What Happens When A Coral Isn't Fed

[7237689918]

The issue for us novices what is "feeding" and what are "levels". There is almost too much info these days to make head for tails of anything. JMO from someone who doesn't know squat.

 

[MrWheelock]

Very interesting read, thank you again for the write up

 

[Da8]

This polyps have evolved to capture food.

So they must get food.

What should you prefer to eat today?
Fish poop or fresh zooplacton and phytoplankton?

For you who not feed your acros, hope you enjoy your fish poop today... I'm will enjoy my balanced fresh meal.


It's obvious that in a balanced tank the addition of food is key.

Adding it we supplement fish poop (which is also needed) and we add nutrition to all members of the piramid. From the bacteria to the copepods, and all from one way or the other end in the '' stomach'' of our loved acros.
And acros also get much if the correct food is selected.
As they base their feeding on polyp, that tend to remove excess zoanthela algae improving it color greatly.

I feed my corals easy booster and EVO.

Try them, you'll see the difference in not much time

Reed roids it's not suitable for feeding sps as said by its manufacturer. (but guess some sps get it)

Pappone maybe it's too much, but definitely worth...

Whatever you do, if you got a big settled sps or mixed reef, feed it!!

 

[Sabellafella]

Hey dana, thank you for the write up! Just a quick question. Why yeast?

Yes, I feed my corals daily. I feed the fishes a cube or two of frozen mysis daily. These cubes are thawed in green water I culture, and to this I add a drop of an amino acid supplement, a tiny pinch of yeast, as well as an engineered coral food. This feeds the corals directly. Various zooplankton also feed on some of this food and are eaten by the corals. Nutrient control is important when using this method - a skimmer runs at might to export uneaten microalgae (current levels: NO3-N = 0.5 ppm and Phosphorus as P = 0.05 ppm.)

 

[ca1ore]

Of course corals need the necessary elements to survive, how they get get them is less important. I keep a sizable fish population in my reef - enough to provide all nutritional requirements for the corals without any direct feeding.

 

[ink]

What happens when we add food? organic nitrogen is transformed into ammonia by heterotrophica bacteria? If correct, adding food, we add N and P, but also cause a large and rapid increase in bacteria, that could harm corals. Light then allow algae (I mean all photosynthetic organisms) to use inorganic N and P. Could it be right that if there is "too much" light, nitrate will stay at zero? and adding food in order to increase nitrate, it will result in high bacterial reproduction (and oxygen consumption), but we will still find zero nitrate because algae will eat it up all?
If instead we add nitrate and avoid to exaggerate with food, we could have nitrate and organics and bacteria in the correct balance? Also reduce the light could help avoid zeroing nitrate.

What do You think?

Luca

 

[Da8]

Of course corals need the necessary elements to survive, how they get get them is less important. I keep a sizable fish population in my reef - enough to provide all nutritional requirements for the corals without any direct feeding.

Sure?
They eat the rest of the digestion of the food your fish eat. Not bad, but enough?

Do you even trust in the quality of the food you give to your fish?

I don't. As I don't trust the quality of the ingredients used and the manufacture and preservation techniques used to prepare nor my fish food not mi dogs (and I try to bring them the best possible.)
Not saying it's bad either, but wouldn't trust only on it when in our hobbie now there are very good reef foods.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Hey dana, thank you for the write up! Just a quick question. Why yeast?

Re: Yeast. Years ago, I was feeding yeast to Artemia. It's a single-cell fungus and sometimes 3-4 microns in diameter. So, I thought why not feed yeast to corals? Have been doing so for a couple months and am happy with coral appearance and growth. Interestingly, I saw the other day that Unique Corals feeds their corals yeast.

 

[7hogwarts]

What yeast are you using?

 

[Da8]

Re: Yeast. Years ago, I was feeding yeast to Artemia. It's a single-cell fungus and sometimes 3-4 microns in diameter. So, I thought why not feed yeast to corals? Have been doing so for a couple months and am happy with coral appearance and growth. Interestingly, I saw the other day that Unique Corals feeds their corals yeast.

How interesting.



What have you observed?

What dosis do you use? Any brand or specific composition?

Thank you very much!

 

[Dana Riddle]

What yeast are you using?

The package is labeled 'Active Dry Yeast.' Got it a the grocery.

 

[shred5]

What happens when we add food? organic nitrogen is transformed into ammonia by heterotrophica bacteria? If correct, adding food, we add N and P, but also cause a large and rapid increase in bacteria, that could harm corals. Light then allow algae (I mean all photosynthetic organisms) to use inorganic N and P. Could it be right that if there is "too much" light, nitrate will stay at zero? and adding food in order to increase nitrate, it will result in high bacterial reproduction (and oxygen consumption), but we will still find zero nitrate because algae will eat it up all?
If instead we add nitrate and avoid to exaggerate with food, we could have nitrate and organics and bacteria in the correct balance? Also reduce the light could help avoid zeroing nitrate.

What do You think?

Luca

How does bacteria hurt corals? Some corals feed on bacteria? Part of the methodology behind Zeovit system.
You are talking extremes here. You are not going to get a rapid increase in nitrogen or phosphate unless you are adding to much food. Matter of fact the opposite is happening allot in the hobby where there is too little Nitrogen and phosphate. Our equipment, media, and systems have got to efficient and allot of people started getting to light on their feeding.




Also something else. What does zooxanthellae actually produce?

Glucose and what is Glucose but sugar. Think about that!

 

[shred5]

The package is labeled 'Active Dry Yeast.' Got it a the grocery.

I used to feed my rotifers yeast in between rearing my batches of fish to keep them alive. I used to feed the excess rots to my corals. I actually like rotifers to feed my corals and Rotifers are so easy to raise.

 

[Dana Riddle]

How interesting.



What have you observed?

What dosis do you use? Any brand or specific composition?

Thank you very much!

I mix food for the tank every morning. One cube frozen mysis, one cube frozen brine shrimp, one drop amino acid supplement, a few drops Selcon, a few drops Polyp Lab's coral feeding stimulator, engineered coral food (from Polyp Lab and Fauna Marin), a pinch of dry yeast. All this is thawed/soaked in a couple hundred milliliters of greenwater. This fed several times over the course of the day. Also feed fishes a pelletized food (Fauna Marin), nori, and a frozen cube of algal-based food. Greenwater is also added 2-3 times per day.

 

[7hogwarts]

The package is labeled 'Active Dry Yeast.' Got it a the grocery.

Hmmm? Are you activating it in freshwater first? Will it survive in Saltwater?

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Interesting topic. Great write-up @Dana Riddle. Following >>>

 

[User1]

Yeast? What sort and how much?

Fish. No fish, no reefs. People need to eat. People find unique ways to haul in more fish to eat. Land lubbers need to eat. Grow crops. Insect comes to eat easy food, crops. Animals come to eat easy food insects and other small animals. The food chain. Humans get frustrated and develop pesticides and traps to remove pests. Mother Nature waters crops. Man messes up natural water management by planting or blocking or clearing. Water runs over collects pesticides and enters a path to the ocean.

Everyone says global warming. Maybe. Human ignorance and the need to eat is another. Mother Nature cries.

Rant I know but it always struck me that when I dive and see low life areas in reef there is no fish. Connection?

 

[Dana Riddle]

Hmmm? Are you activating it in freshwater first? Will it survive in Saltwater?

I add it directly to the mix I mentioned earlier. There are marine yeast species but I don't know for sure the survival of this grocery yeast in sea water. There is a way to check (add yeast to sterile sea water spiked with sugar and observe oxygen consumption. I'm retired, but I don't have that much pare time. LOL.) If this yeast does survive, it would act as a decomposer of organic materials, hence fungus and bacteria would work together.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Yeast? What sort and how much?

Fish. No fish, no reefs. People need to eat. People find unique ways to haul in more fish to eat. Land lubbers need to eat. Grow crops. Insect comes to eat easy food, crops. Animals come to eat easy food insects and other small animals. The food chain. Humans get frustrated and develop pesticides and traps to remove pests. Mother Nature waters crops. Man messes up natural water management by planting or blocking or clearing. Water runs over collects pesticides and enters a path to the ocean.

Everyone says global warming. Maybe. Human ignorance and the need to eat is another. Mother Nature cries.

Rant I know but it always struck me that when I dive and see low life areas in reef there is no fish. Connection?

Baker's yeast from the grocery. I add a small pinch of yeast to the food (previously mentioned) I mix every morning.

 

[Sean C.]

A small Porites (3" diameter) was placed in a 240-gallon holding tank with only two small fishes (that were fed once daily.) Lighting and water motion were monitored and considered to be sufficient. In retrospect, I should have monitored nutrient content as well but the gist of this procedure was to monitor what happens when a coral is transferred from one tank to another with different lighting. Chlorophyll content of zooxanthellae was made through use of an Opti-Sciences chlorophyll meter at 8 points on the coral over the course of about 2 months. The coral initially did well but soon did not have polyp expansion and began to lose color. The chart shows an initial increase in chlorophyll content, perhaps due to the coral being underfed and beginning to consume its own tissues in order to survive. After about two months, the chlorophyll content was reduced by 93%. Unfortunately the coral eventually died. I am sharing this information only in the hopes that some good will come out of its loss. I think the message here is 'feed your corals.' For obvious reasons, I do not want to repeat this experiment. Had I know the coral would die, I would have abandoned the procedure.

As a pretty novice guy to coral care and wanting to avoid this outcome, can you suggest a strategy for feeding? Thanks!