Nutrient source in a low fish load softy tank

[puddleglum]

Hi all,

I am setting up a 30 gallon (36Lx12Wx16H) tank that will be mostly zoas/palys, some "islands" of clove/GS polyps, some mushrooms, a couple sinularia/nepthea leathers, and maybe a few hardy LPS down the line.

I really like the six line wrasse, know they are a good predator for many of the pests I could encounter, and am more interested in keeping corals than fish so I plan to keep just the sixline to avoid having to remedy fish aggression.

If I only have one smaller fish in my tank, and I am trying to keep corals that enjoy levels of nitrate and phosphate in a "not super close to zero" range, I guess I will need to feed the corals a bit. I read palythoas and rhodactis mushrooms will be decent feeders, while zoanthus and discosoma are less aggressive feeders, and I get the impression that leathers and GSP/clove polyps are not aggressive feeders either.

Anyone have suggestions on feeding corals when the fish load is very low?
Spot feed the ones that do eat, and do an occasional broadcast feed of reef roids/chilli for the less responsive eaters?
Anyone have a frequency for feeding corals that you find keeps nutrients up a little, without over polluting?

Thanks
-pg

 

[Tamberav]

When you feed, you will be feeding the good guys too, pods and worms. Something will eat it.

Nutrients are pretty easy to get in nanos even without fish. At least once the rock isn’t sucking up po4 assuming you start with dry.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I suggest more small fish. My fish are there to feed my acros, but they definitely enhance the reef and make it more interesting. Most people don't care about the corals anyways.

 

[VintageReefer]

Lps like torches, Cynarina, Scolymia, trachy, acans, Duncan’s…all these are easy to feed

Palythoa grandis is one of my favorites…not the craziest of colors, but the largest of the palys, and very easy to feed. They eat flake, pellet, mysis, powdered foods.

This started off as a 6-8 polyp frag and now it’s 50+ Many polyps are over 1”

 

[puddleglum]

When you feed, you will be feeding the good guys too, pods and worms. Something will eat it.

Nutrients are pretty easy to get in nanos even without fish. At least once the rock isn’t sucking up po4 assuming you start with dry.

Yeah I also figure the clean up crew will need a little feeding as well, not that I want to over feed them, but they will get a little as well, and I guess I can back off a little if the stuff they are there to clean up is noticeable.

Lps like torches, Cynarina, Scolymia, trachy, acans, Duncan’s…all these are easy to feed

Palythoa grandis is one of my favorites…not the craziest of colors, but the largest of the palys, and very easy to feed. They eat flake, pellet, mysis, powdered foods.

This started off as a 6-8 polyp frag and now it’s 50+ Many polyps are over 1”

I really like paly grandis and I like the nuclear palys with the long tentacles. Definitely want a rock or two with them.

I want a Duncan for sure and maybe a blasto and candy cane, all of which I think are easy to feed.

 

[exnisstech]

Lps like torches, Cynarina, Scolymia, trachy, acans, Duncan’s…all these are easy to feed

Palythoa grandis is one of my favorites…not the craziest of colors, but the largest of the palys, and very easy to feed. They eat flake, pellet, mysis, powdered foods.

This started off as a 6-8 polyp frag and now it’s 50+ Many polyps are over 1”

Thanks for posting, I need motivation lol. I really need to bring my paly grandis up from the basement and put them in the new tank. I have a couple of rocks of them from my tear down. They have been indestructible for me. I had some in a dark brute for a several months and they came back. Maybe I'll just grab this rock I've seen mine eat while PE mysis.

EDIT : these look sad because they've been in the dark for a while while I'm doing some rearranging.

 

[twentyleagues]

Duncans are really easy to feed and are great eaters. My blastos will eat but take forever to do it. If you catch the candy canes with their tentacles out they will feed if not kind of like the blastos.

 

[puddleglum]

I suggest more small fish. My fish are there to feed my acros, but they definitely enhance the reef and make it more interesting. Most people don't care about the corals anyways.

I can definitely see the appeal of many fish, but I had a buddy with a six line years ago and I was just fascinated by it. Add in that it will eat zoa nudis and flatworms, and that they are such an active fish, like a little hummingbird, I think I will be happy with just it.

I personally am much more interested in the corals than the fish, and i am going to be the only one enjoying the tank 320+ days of the year. The other days, when I have guests, if they think the tank is boring, I can just silently judge them for not appreciating my genius corals scape. I kid of course… mostly…

 

[exnisstech]

Duncans are really easy to feed and are great eaters. My blastos will eat but take forever to do it. If you catch the candy canes with their tentacles out they will feed if not kind of like the blastos.

Got duncans also in storage. To bad your not closer OP, I could hook you up.

These ricordia (?) love to eat too.

 

[ieatbugman]

I like the name puddleglum. Probably spot feed with frozen mysis and reef roids

 

[VintageReefer]

Thanks for posting, I need motivation lol. I really need to bring my paly grandis up from the basement and put them in the new tank. I have a couple of rocks of them from my tear down. They have been indestructible for me. I had some in a dark brute for a several months and they came back. Maybe I'll just grab this rock I've seen mine eat while PE mysis.

EDIT : these look sad because they've been in the dark for a while while I'm doing some rearranging.

Mine got neglected a while also

But they recovered when food and lighting were introduced

 

[ieatbugman]

You could also do some neat inverts that you feed and that would help raise nutrients

 

[VintageReefer]

You could also do some neat inverts that you feed and that would help raise nutrients

Pistol shrimp

 

[twentyleagues]

Mine got neglected a while also

But they recovered when food and lighting were introduced

I have always loved grandis such an understated coral. Cant wait until I get my colony to a monster size. I had a 75g years ago that I did an agracrete back ground on, half of it was covered in grandis the other half was raptors rainbows and candy apple reds. Think of pretty much an 18x18 sheet of them. Over flow was in the middle of the tank when they started growing on it I would cut the mat and scrape them off and glue them to a frag plug, easy fragging.

 

[Tamberav]

I have them too, they are also neglected atm. They are in a bin in the garage with some rock and poor lighting. Paly abuser club member.

 

[VintageReefer]

I have always loved grandis such an understated coral. Cant wait until I get my colony to a monster size. I had a 75g years ago that I did an agracrete back ground on, half of it was covered in grandis the other half was raptors rainbows and candy apple reds. Think of pretty much an 18x18 sheet of them. Over flow was in the middle of the tank when they started growing on it I would cut the mat and scrape them off and glue them to a frag plug, easy fragging.

I would love to get these on the back glass! These started as a 6 polyp frag, I have 50+ now

 

[Sharbuckles Reef]

I wouldn’t be too concerned about the nutrients with just one fish. My 9 gallon soft coral tank does incredibly well with just one blood shrimp in it. I only feed about once a week.

If nutrients become an issue, feed more, less water changes, or even less skimming.

I don’t think you’ll need to stress too much about it. You can also just add some more fish that can hold their own. Some damsels, maybe a dottyback, even some of the larger species of clownfish. Tomato, Clarkii, etc.

 

[exnisstech]

You could also do some neat inverts that you feed and that would help raise nutrients

My peppermints are awesome. They come out and eat anytime I feed. They might steel food from coral but mine have behaved

These guys will come in naturally and help out

 

[puddleglum]

When you feed, you will be feeding the good guys too, pods and worms. Something will eat it.

Nutrients are pretty easy to get in nanos even without fish. At least once the rock isn’t sucking up po4 assuming you start with dry.

I am soaking about 35-40 lbs of dry pukani with 100% weekly water changes to leech out the phosphates in the rock. I bleached it before, so there isn't any noticable nitrates from the curing. Started at about 0.3ppm phosphate after a week of soaking, that was 5 weeks ago. It is down below 0.2 and above 0.1ppm after a week of soaking now. Planning to keep up the water changes until I am reading around 0.05 to try to minimize nuisance algae when I do cycle the tank and then turn the lights on.

 

[puddleglum]

What are those palys above and to the right of the grandis? I will try to keep some brightly colored zoas, but I like more subtle ones like that, as well as the grandis.