Dear Diary...

[perfectdark]

Frog spawns are cool :jumping: or and so are hammer corals too.
I think i posted the name of the phyto I feed my corals in one of the above posts. Kent if you missed it.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by Adairable
um.....I want to feed all of them? I dunno?!?
For LPS I'd just direct feed something like minced scallops or Mysis Shrimp. For SPS Golden Pearls or Cyclop-eeze. Be very careful not to overfeed.
Only a very few types of corals are able to consume Phytoplankton so that makes a poor food source.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
For LPS I'd just direct feed something like minced scallops or Mysis Shrimp. For SPS Golden Pearls or Cyclop-eeze. Be very careful not to overfeed.
Only a very few types of corals are able to consume Phytoplankton so that makes a poor food source.
Good to know. So to clarify I guess I should say that all of the corals I have require phytoplankton. As I was told by both of my LFS's and on this website and another, that for Mushrooms, zoos, polyps and my gorgonian, this was essential to their diet.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
for Mushrooms, zoos, polyps and my gorgonian, this was essential to their diet.
None of those can eat Phytoplankton.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
None of those can eat Phytoplankton.
Not trying to say that your wrong but, where do you get your info from? My LFS 2 of them actually both recomended it one which employ's 2 marine biologists who actually told me how much and when ro feed. I am curious as to your source of information as the websites that sell them also recomend micro plankton. The FS's display tank has had their corals for years and they only feed phyto to them. Just looking for some clarification here.
I do a lot of research and all i have read and hear tells me to use phyto. The bottle of kent Phytoplex I use specifically states on it "For SPS or soft coral propagation. It provides necessary proteins carbs and lipids for live hard and soft corals, tube worms clams and other inverts." Why would it state this if none of them can eat phyto?
And why are so many sources telling me to use this? I am just trying to make sense of this all. Is there any factual evidnece you can give me to dispute all I have been told and researched about? :notsure:

 

[blueram]

I have tons of corals that I never feed and they all are growing and doing super well. The corals I currently have are:
Frogspawn, Hammer, Hairy Mushrooms, Zoos, Polyps, Bubble Coral, Candy Cane, Xenia, Cloves, Ricordea....etc. The point is that I never feed them and they all are doing very very well.
Cheers

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
And why are so many sources telling me to use this? I am just trying to make sense of this all. Is there any factual evidnece you can give me to dispute all I have been told and researched about? :notsure:
Some tubeworms and all Clams eat Phytoplankton. Is there any chance they were referring to Zooplankton? Nearly all corals eat Zooplankton, very few eat Phyto.
Many crustacean larvae and 'pods eat phytoplankton so the phyto can indirectly feed some of the corals you listed. But, the catch is nutrient levels. There is a fine line between feeding enough phyto to propogate 'pods and just adding excess nutrients to the tank. In my opinion it's more efficient to feed the corals what they are going to eat. I also believe it's a good idea to feed any animal with a mouth and a digestive system but you must be very careful with nutrient levels in the water column. A balance is very important.
I am absolutely not saying that dosing Phytoplankton is a bad thing, it's not. All I am saying is that if you're feeding carniverous Coral it's probably better to feed Zooplankton instead of relying on Copepods or Mysid Shrimp to convert the Phyto to animal flesh that the corals can actually eat. The typical aquarist has a fish density 1000 times greater than what would be found naturally on the reef. This means that the Phytoplankton consumed by 'pods and larvae is most likely going to find it's way to a fish instead of your coral.
Some of the better sources for detailed Coral information is probably Eric Borneman, Anthony Calfo, or Ron Shimek. They study the organisms that we actually keep in our aquariums. I'm sure a web search on "Borneman Reef Food" will give you all the information you're looking for.

 

[perfectdark]

Great thank you. All info is appreciated, I just want to make sure I give the best well rounded diet to all my inhabitants of my tank with out over dosing or not giving them what they need to survive. :jumping:

 

[adairable]

Originally Posted by mushroomss
get dt's live phytoplankton.IT is without a doubt the best coral food you can buy!

thanks for the advice!

 

[adairable]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Frog spawns are cool :jumping: or and so are hammer corals too.
I think i posted the name of the phyto I feed my corals in one of the above posts. Kent if you missed it.

i didn't miss it silly! I read/respond to this message board religously...mainly because work is soooooooo slow
and I definatley want some frogspawn but it doesn't look like it is available right now at SWF :notsure:

 

[adairable]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
For LPS I'd just direct feed something like minced scallops or Mysis Shrimp. For SPS Golden Pearls or Cyclop-eeze. Be very careful not to overfeed.
Only a very few types of corals are able to consume Phytoplankton so that makes a poor food source.
thanks Bang, you're always helping us newbies out

I'll be very careful when I start feeding them...

 

[adairable]

Originally Posted by blueram
I have tons of corals that I never feed and they all are growing and doing super well. The corals I currently have are:
Frogspawn, Hammer, Hairy Mushrooms, Zoos, Polyps, Bubble Coral, Candy Cane, Xenia, Cloves, Ricordea....etc. The point is that I never feed them and they all are doing very very well.
Cheers

So what you say is what I had thought

....I mean I read up on it and supposably they do not need to be feed and will do just fine, but they may grow faster? if they are fed...
well I am kinda on your side with the no feeding thing because 1. Im poor and 2. I don't want to overfeed them
Thanks for the input, always appreciated!!!

 

[spanko]

So have you done anything to raise your calcium or check your alkalinity yet?

 

[adairable]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Great thank you. All info is appreciated, I just want to make sure I give the best well rounded diet to all my inhabitants of my tank with out over dosing or not giving them what they need to survive. :jumping:
So I leave the message board for a weekend and I get back and you two have been hashing it out, huh?!!!!

I am kidding of course
I think that is what I enjoy so much about this message board... No one is fighting, or critizing, just helping. And when someone, like Bang guy here, has something to clarify, he always has research derived evidence

I just hope we aren't going to have to start quoting it in MLA format!!!!

 

[adairable]

Originally Posted by spanko
So have you done anything to raise your calcium or check your alkalinity yet?
yea I started topping off the water with limewater. I checked the calcium yesterday and it was up from 200 to 275. So i guess it is a slow process, but I can see a change
and I am going to get a alk test from SWF as soon as I get an order ready with Bonebrake

 

[spanko]

Yea you do want to bring the calcuim up slowly so you don't stress out any life you have in there. Still no fish right? Gonna leave it fallow for 6 weeks because of the Ich outbreak?

 

[adairable]

Originally Posted by spanko
Yea you do want to bring the calcuim up slowly so you don't stress out any life you have in there. Still no fish right? Gonna leave it fallow for 6 weeks because of the Ich outbreak?
You got it...No fish for me until mid-June

oh well, gotta do what ya gotta do
But for right now I am just going to use all my enegy on trying to get the calcium up and the nitrates down AND getting the corals that I have to stop moving...

little

[hr]

 

[perfectdark]

So I leave the message board for a weekend and I get back and you two have been hashing it out, huh?!!!!

I am kidding of course
I think that is what I enjoy so much about this message board... No one is fighting, or critizing, just helping. And when someone, like Bang guy here, has something to clarify, he always has research derived evidence

LOL No not at all infact I like to hear statements that contradict eachother because most of the time (not all) somewhere in the middle is where you end up. And finding out the reasoning from one to the other is half the fun. And as bang as done on countless occasions in other posts is back up his staments with credible evidence. IMO I think answering questions with that type of knowledge is worth 10X more than what "someone has done" that worked out for them in the past. Alot of these threads are based on individuals who do something a certain way and it works for them. Although its prob fine and there are no issues those types of opionions vary greatly from person to person resulting in 5 different answers to one question. :joy:
Now hurry up and get your tank back up to normal, girl!!!

 

[adairable]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Now hurry up and get your tank back up to normal, girl!!!

Im trying, I promise!! :jumping:
I can't wait to get it back to normal and get a fish. :happyfish
I think this time around I might get a pair of clowns instead of just one, Rowdy was lonely. He would get so excited when I was at the tank and he would constantly play with the pep. shrimp

 

[trainfever]

Originally Posted by Adairable
So I leave the message board for a weekend and I get back and you two have been hashing it out, huh?!!!!

I am kidding of course.

You were gone for the weekend? :notsure: I hadn'tnoticed.