What does everyone feed their corals? How often? Do you feed them before or after lights go out?
I feed the LPS every once I a while the sps maybe once a week. A established aquarium. Usually has food in the water column to support most of the coralsOnce a week, I make a cocktail of a cube of cyclopeeze, oyster feast, reefroids, and reef chili. I target feed with the pumps off, and turn on the circulating pumps for an hour before turning on the returns. I have a few plates that I target feed with some PE mysis a couple times a week, and I know they can grab some pellets when I feed the fish.
Lights are on.
lights on or off? I was told to feed them about an hour or so after lights go out.
I feed once a week with the lights on. Euphylia, blastos, duncans, bubble coral, and candy canes get my diy mix. Chalices, war coral, small euphyilia polyps, and favia get a 50/50 mix of cyclops and mysis. I dont feed the sps directly but im sure they get something once the pumps kick on.
I have been using phyto feast per my LFS and nothing else.
phyto feast, to me is more of a food for pods and rotifers.
so the corals probably arent getting what they need? they dont look bad but I think some of them could look better especially my duncan.
duncan likes meaty food. like mysis shrimp.
Most corals are carnivorous and they usually only accept certain particle sizes - I think the only real exceptions to the rules would be LPS corals. They can take down large pieces of food.
Phyto is good for feeding rotifers and micro-organisms in the tank as well as clams and other filter feeders, but you only really need the phyto to grow larger food items in the system that will, in turn, feed your corals.
Personally - I never really “fed” my corals. The only real feeding I did for them was when I fed the fish - if they caught food, then good for them.
The thing I believe my corals liked the most is when I would get in there with a turkey baster and blast the detritus off rocks and out of crevices and stuff. Always a good feeding response with that, and you’re cleaning the tank at the same time.
[quote=“reefman66, post:9, topic:6767”]
duncan likes meaty food. like mysis shrimp.[/quote]
+1 feed the duncans mysis no more than 2-3 times per week and you will notice a big difference.
Frogspawn, hammer, xenia, and zoas I am assuming are just filter feeders? or do you guys feed them as well?
Some say frogs, hammers and zoanthids eat. I’ve never seen this in my 10+ years.
Xenia don’t eat, they get their nutrition through lighting and nutrients in the water.
[quote=“Sneeyatch, post:13, topic:6767”]
Some say frogs, hammers and zoanthids eat. I’ve never seen this in my 10+ years.
Xenia don’t eat, they get their nutrition through lighting and nutrients in the water.[/quote]
thats what I thought. So the only one I really need to worry about feeding is the duncan.
Yup.
I feed my euphillya, but they are picky eaters. Probably the most picky of all my LPS. You have to get the food right in their mouth otherwise they won’t eat.
What do you use to feed with besides a turkey baster. I found a seasquirt feeder on amazon but some of the reviews are saying that the hole is not big enough for some of the larger foods such as mysis shrimp to fit through.
If you want to use a syringe type feeder; I use the turkey injector without the needle. It works great even with little chunks of meaty food. You can also use the 1/4 tubing attach to it to extend the feeding tube.
[quote=“reefman66, post:18, topic:6767”]
If you want to use a syringe type feeder; I use the turkey injector without the needle. It works great even with little chunks of meaty food. You can also use the 1/4 tubing attach to it to extend the feeding tube.[/quote]
Thanks A!
I started with a turkey baster then i switched to the kent marine feeding syringe. Now i use Jullians Thing and it is the best by far. I needed to cut the tip of the kent marine one to handle larger foods and Jullians Thing come with a few tips u can customize.