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LPS Feeding

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    Posted: August 25 2014 at 3:26pm
Do you use any of the food on the market for corals?  Do you hand feed them or place the food in the water supply?  Are you noticing a difference in growth rates or coloration that you think you can attribute to the food?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ReefdUp Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 25 2014 at 5:47pm
I make my own, hand feed, and it's a huge difference in sick corals. It helps a little bit in healthy corals (most corals get about 95% of their energy from zooxanthallae, not actual food.)

Edited by ReefdUp - August 25 2014 at 5:47pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Molli Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 27 2014 at 10:45am
So no one is trying any of those rather expensive coral foods that are being marketed to add color and size to corals?  I'm wondering if any of them are worth the money. 
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I use Fauna Marin LPS food
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Molli Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 27 2014 at 8:47pm

Originally posted by willstang willstang wrote:

I use Fauna Marin LPS food


I just found a time lapse youtube video of someone using that food to feed LPS corals!  Great video!



Edited by Molli - August 27 2014 at 8:48pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 27 2014 at 10:34pm
It seems good to feed at night when they are out looking for food.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ReefdUp Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 27 2014 at 10:39pm
I've tried some of the fancy ones, and in my unofficial and nonscientific studies, most corals vastly preferred my food.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 28 2014 at 8:31am
I don't feed any coral directly. I feed the ~75 fish 1x/day in my ~200 gal system. Just for comparison, that food contains minute particles of BSD New Wave Arctic Copepods, Rotifers and Roe. Bob Carlson's newest food and Emerald Entree also go into the mix. The GSL and BSD Brine and Mysis contain broken up pieces which feed invertebrates. Lastly there is a spoonful of BSD Tahitian Blend Algae Paste in many feedings. The food is not drained because I believe the "juice" is absorbed by the coral. I have seen Coral eat fish poop. Coral absorb nutrients like fish pee and other N compounds from the water, right?
Originally posted by ReefdUp ReefdUp wrote:

most corals get about 95% of their energy from zooxanthallae, not actual food.
If 5% of coral energy comes from captured food, and a coral gets 12 hours of light, does that equate to needing 0.6 hour of eating food(12 hours x 5%)Question How much captured food does it take to give a coral 5% of it's energyQuestion

Who has seen videos of the wild reef at night when the water is murky with swimming invertebrates and their spawn? In a well fed and not so "clean" more biologically active reef aquarium, there should be a good amount of worm and bug spawning going on at night which I believe feeds coral. As sunset approaches the LPS hydrate/expand and extend their feeding tentacles to capture and eat this spawn all night.

Below is a pic of a coral, a rescued Pearl Bubble Coral in one of my old tanks, in the middle of the night when it's feeding tentacles were out. The next 2 pics are of the same coral about 6 months later, shortly after dusk and again during the day. It remained hydrated/extended more than many LPS.

Aloha  Hug


(The orange rock is Southern Utah sandstone beginning to cover with Coralline Algae. The camera flash made it look more orange than pink. The extensive growth of Saw Blade Caulerpa was eventually completely eaten by the fish.)




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote relethg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2015 at 3:07pm
Originally posted by ReefdUp ReefdUp wrote:

I've tried some of the fancy ones, and in my unofficial and nonscientific studies, most corals vastly preferred my food.


Niki what is your recipe? Is it on your site?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pete Moss Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2015 at 3:12pm
Originally posted by ReefdUp ReefdUp wrote:

I make my own, hand feed, and it's a huge difference in sick corals. It helps a little bit in healthy corals (most corals get about 95% of their energy from zooxanthallae, not actual food.)


+1 Zoox provide 95% of the calories to a healthy coral. Nikki is one of the best sources around for coral healh.

I make my own food as well.

I blend high qualty pellets and flakes ( brine shrimp direct ) into a powder using a coffee grinder, then add RO water, brine shrimp, mysis, rotifers, squid, diced clams, fish eggs etc, and throw it in the ninja blender until everything is blended to a very fine level.

I put it in ziploc bags and freeze it in flat sheets. I break off a very small piece ( .5"x.5" ), mix it with tank water, then use a turkey baster to feed corals directly. I turn off flow and let the food drop onto the corals. I turn back on the powerheads 5 minutes later, then the pump 20 minutes after that. 

I feed bi-monthly unless a coral is recovering. For recovering corals I feed twice a week. Anything more than that is un-necessary in my opinion, and has the potential to pollute the water. 

Edited by Pete Moss - March 06 2015 at 3:29pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pete Moss Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2015 at 3:27pm
Originally posted by Mark Peterson Mark Peterson wrote:

If 5% of coral energy comes from captured food, and a coral gets 12 hours of light, does that equate to needing 0.6 hour of eating food(12 hours x 5%). How much captured food does it take to give a coral 5% of it's energy


It's not an if. There are numerous studies confirming this.

And it doesn't equate that way. 95% of the caloric intake of corals is handled by zoox in a normal light cycle ( sunrise/sunset photo-periods found in nature )

They don't need .6 hours of eating food. The amount of calories a coral needs to grow and flourish depends on species. It definitely doesn't take .6 hours of eating food every day to provide the additional 5% of calories needed for optimal coral health. Meaty foods are calorie dense in comparison to the calories provided by zooxanthellae. Please don't feed your corals for 36 minutes a day.

Each species of coral is different, and has different requirements. Ultimately good husbandry comes down to knowing what is in your tank and what it's needs are. Success comes when we study each species in our tank to better provide for it's dietary needs.

Edited by Pete Moss - March 06 2015 at 3:31pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beege29 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2015 at 3:30pm
Oh god...here we go again. Wonder how long this thread is going to end up being? :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pete Moss Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2015 at 3:33pm
Originally posted by beege29 beege29 wrote:

Oh god...here we go again. Wonder how long this thread is going to end up being? :)


LOL

Grab a lawn chair and a beer.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AcroNem Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2015 at 4:25pm

Grab a lawn chair and a beer.[/QUOTE]

That was good! And to stay on topic mine get fed once a week alternating between things like oyster eggs, brine, mysis, roe, plankton, depending on the coral. I've never tried any commercial foods never seen a need to.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ReefdUp Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2015 at 6:46am
Originally posted by relethg relethg wrote:

Niki what is your recipe? Is it on your site?


Here's the link on my site:

http://www.reefdup.com/2012/01/08/rescuing-dying-corals-feeding/

I keep the "pappone" recipe as the base, then I add whatever is lying around. My latest batch is this:

Ingredients:

Garlic (organic, out of my garden)
Raw shrimp
Raw mussels
Raw oysters
Raw clams
Raw snow crab (fish eat better than I do...)
Red algae
Green Algae
Brown Algae
Mysis shrimp
Artic copepods
BSD Golden Pearls (various micron sizes)
BSD Astaxanthin (increases pigmentation)
Dash of sugar (bacterial food)
Dash of buffered Vitamin C (great for tons of stuff, esp. zoanthids)
Pacific Krill
Cyclopeeze
RO/DI water

Originally posted by Mark Peterson Mark Peterson wrote:

If 5% of coral energy comes from captured food, and a coral gets 12 hours of light, does that equate to needing 0.6 hour of eating food(12 hours x 5%) How much captured food does it take to give a coral 5% of it's energy


What?! No. First off, corals hit photoinhibition/photosaturation usually well before 12 hours. Second, the amount of energy obtained varies depending on the light quality and quantity. Dusk is not equivalent to noon light. Third, not all food is created equal. If you ate for 0.6 hours of nonstop salad or burgers, which do you think would have the larger impact to your waist? It's an energy percentage, not a time percentage.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 11 2015 at 8:49am
LOL I figured that little "what if" would raise a few eyebrows. Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pete Moss Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 20 2015 at 12:17pm
Flawed logical deduction often does.
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