Recommendations on Coral Food

[Reefer37]

So as of right now, I feed my corals and fish Rod's about 2 days a week, sometimes 3, and Red Sea A + B along with phytoplankton about every other day.

Should I be adding in something else or substitute?

I use to use Reef Roids, but noticed phosphates and algae problems with that. I just want the most variety for the corals so they're getting everything they need. I mostly keep soft corals and LPS.

 

[living_tribunal]

So as of right now, I feed my corals and fish Rod's about 2 days a week, sometimes 3, and Red Sea A + B along with phytoplankton about every other day.

Should I be adding in something else or substitute?

I use to use Reef Roids, but noticed phosphates and algae problems with that. I just want the most variety for the corals so they're getting everything they need. I mostly keep soft corals and LPS.

Coral diet is one of the absolute most important things to get right when starting in the hobby. You can always tell the finesse of one’s marine husbandry by the size of their coral’s poop.

That said, the firmer the stool, the better the health and vitality of the corals, so it’s important to get nutrition right.

What you keep dictates what you feed but the one thing in common is of course a balanced diet.

I maintain an all lps tank with many lobos, scolys, trachys, wellsos, bowerbankis, wilsonis, favias, acans, blastos, pectinia, echinata, gonis, etc, about 70 or so at this point. They eat far more than my fish do.

My go to is coral frenzy .5mm pellets. I feed pellets to any corals that accept it and essentially feed them until they can’t digest anymore. For example, I will feed each favia about 5 pellets per head. My trachy gets about 40 pellets (he eats everything including a couple hermits and other corals). The reason I utilize pellets over reef roids is I’ve noticed that corals cannot maintain a good grasp on the small granules and reef roids, so they only actually eat about 20-30%. With pellets, you ensure the corals receive 80%+ of the food you feed without making a mess as well. I noticed a substantial increase in growth after shifting to pellet feeding.

Now, I obviously mix the pellets in with reef roids and another custom made rotifer blend I whip up every week to ensure they aren’t deficient in anything.

Smaller corals: chalices, zoas, leptastrea, cyphastrea, leptoseris, etc all get the rotifer blend and a bi-weekly serving of reef roids.

I also mix it up with once a week frozen feedings. I mix frozen cyclops and mysis with reef chili and sometimes reef snow and target feed. The larger corals really love this. The fiber results in a browner, more hardier, stool.

Now we all know how important food is to bone density as well as tissue. There is a limit however! Do you want your kid being another obesity statistic? Good, don’t make your corals look like the people you see at schlitterbahn either. Bi-weekly is the limit on feeding, that’s the optimal frequency, don’t push it.

That doesn’t mean you can’t provide ancillary nutrition which is also very important. My tank receives live phyto every night. It feeds everything and is the very foundation my tank stands on. Phyto feeds my pods, my amphipods, everything else north on the food chain.

Additionally, I do a once weekly amino/carbohydrate dose for the color and sps corals. Any a+b blend will do. Do not listen to the vaccine conspiracy theorists, this will not make the corals poops runny!

Hope this helps.

 

[Spare time]

Looks good to me. I feed my corals LPS pellets and home made fish food as well as (for the others) brightwell koral amino, live phyto, recently some reef energy ab+ just for the heck of it.

 

[Spare time]

Looks good to me. I feed my corals LPS pellets and home made fish food as well as (for the others) brightwell koral amino, live phyto, recently some reef energy ab+ just for the heck of it.

edit I mean I feed my LPS corals pellets, not corals lps pellets

 

[Reefer37]

Coral diet is one of the absolute most important things to get right when starting in the hobby. You can always tell the finesse of one’s marine husbandry by the size of their coral’s poop.

That said, the firmer the stool, the better the health and vitality of the corals, so it’s important to get nutrition right.

What you keep dictates what you feed but the one thing in common is of course a balanced diet.

I maintain an all lps tank with many lobos, scolys, trachys, wellsos, bowerbankis, wilsonis, favias, acans, blastos, pectinia, echinata, gonis, etc, about 70 or so at this point. They eat far more than my fish do.

My go to is coral frenzy .5mm pellets. I feed pellets to any corals that accept it and essentially feed them until they can’t digest anymore. For example, I will feed each favia about 5 pellets per head. My trachy gets about 40 pellets (he eats everything including a couple hermits and other corals). The reason I utilize pellets over reef roids is I’ve noticed that corals cannot maintain a good grasp on the small granules and reef roids, so they only actually eat about 20-30%. With pellets, you ensure the corals receive 80%+ of the food you feed without making a mess as well. I noticed a substantial increase in growth after shifting to pellet feeding.

Now, I obviously mix the pellets in with reef roids and another custom made rotifer blend I whip up every week to ensure they aren’t deficient in anything.

Smaller corals: chalices, zoas, leptastrea, cyphastrea, leptoseris, etc all get the rotifer blend and a bi-weekly serving of reef roids.

I also mix it up with once a week frozen feedings. I mix frozen cyclops and mysis with reef chili and sometimes reef snow and target feed. The larger corals really love this. The fiber results in a browner, more hardier, stool.

Now we all know how important food is to bone density as well as tissue. There is a limit however! Do you want your kid being another obesity statistic? Good, don’t make your corals look like the people you see at schlitterbahn either. Bi-weekly is the limit on feeding, that’s the optimal frequency, don’t push it.

That doesn’t mean you can’t provide ancillary nutrition which is also very important. My tank receives live phyto every night. It feeds everything and is the very foundation my tank stands on. Phyto feeds my pods, my amphipods, everything else north on the food chain.

Additionally, I do a once weekly amino/carbohydrate dose for the color and sps corals. Any a+b blend will do. Do not listen to the vaccine conspiracy theorists, this will not make the corals poops runny!

Hope this helps.

Thank you for your feedback and thorough response! Definitely going to trying out those LPS coral pellets.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

@Reefer37 More is less sometimes...its all on what u got in ur system,lighting ,params, but reefroids once a week mix in glass jar suck up with syringe shoot in polyps "mouth" this is good option for soft corals about an hour before lights off so food can metabolize,amino acids are good to dose about bi weekly depending on amount of livestock in the tank,if your growing hard corals make sure cal.mag and carbon are on point,dose phyto product every once in awhile

 

[UnderseaOddities]

@living_tribunal on point my man!

 

[Anubisxii]

Ok so dumb question how do you spot feed pellets to corals. I have em but can't figure out a way to get them to the corals. My larger syringe they just fall out onto the sand. Others are too small.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

If the coral isnt grabbing the food its likely to dense try busting it up or into a powder and mix with a syringe full of plain ro water(squirt polyps mouth) if your dead set on pellet(not all corals will eat pellet)(reefroids, phyto)or sometimes fish will unkowingly feed them or you have gardeners like clowns that will share leftover bits by eating by coralamorphs

 

[UnderseaOddities]

@Anubisxii do you turn down your flow and feed towards the end of light cycle(a hour or two before they turn off)

 

[Anubisxii]

@Anubisxii do you turn down your flow and feed towards the end of light cycle(a hour or two before they turn off)

My corals will eat no matter the time of day, but I usually feed about an hour before moonlight kicks on. I guess what I'm trying to figure out is, how are people getting the food physically to the corals? just dropping pellets in at the water line and aim for the corals or somehow putting the pellets in a device? like I would suck up mysis and spot feed. The issue I have is the pellets are heavy and fall right out of my turkey baster or syringe as soon as it hits the water.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

The main thing is doing the research finding out what your coral needs then providing it consistently with little to no fluctuations to maintain the best results: general rule of thumb diet first then nutes then param then suplement... this will always keep it stress free for you by doing the propper research and knowing the what when why and how alot of the time new reefers overdo it by over suppplementing over feeding and water changes when they would of been better off setting it and forgetting it remember kiss if you cant justify how or why your doing something in or to your tank, then it probably isnt absolutelt neccisary the more simple the more fail proof the more gear and livestock the more room for error -Under the sea

 

[UnderseaOddities]

@Anubisxii have you tried a turkey baster

 

[Anubisxii]

I have reef roids n reef chilli. Corals like both but I notice with reef roids they day after my nitrates shoot up.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

What size is your system @Anubisxii ?maybe something to consider is to reefroid before weekly water change then do15%after

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Ive heard of people with large dedicated setups dosing iodide ftom monteray bay aquariums but ive never done itmyself so i couldnt give any insight and am to afraid because my system is to small...

 

[Anubisxii]

40g and 20g trigger sump.

I never thought about that I'll give it a shot. I've always had issue with nitrate being in the 40-60 range. Mixed reef everything is happy and growing but I don't want that # to go up

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Ive heard of people with large deficated setups dosing iodide ftom monteray bay aquariums but ive never done itmyself so i couldnt give any insight and am to afraid because my system is to small...

Ive heard most marine salt already has the right amount of trace minerals anyways so idk anyone else?

 

[UnderseaOddities]

40g and 20g trigger sump.

I never thought about that I'll give it a shot. I've always had issue with nitrate being in the 40-60 range. Mixed reef everything is happy and growing but I don't want that # to go up

You should be good then with the sump
Do u have an ato topper or fo it by hand

 

[UnderseaOddities]

@Anubisxii Have you ever changed media in your tank and sump, may have became nutrient sink if u got alot of livestock?