Newbie Question

[reeferdude]

I am a long time aggressive guy and I am going to be starting a nano very soon. My question is what do I feed corals? Is there some kind of guide I can read somewhere for basic coral care? I have a 10 gallon set up for the job, it has a Rio 180 for water circulation and a penguin 125. I am getting a Custom Sealife PC light and the person I am getting it from says it will handle pretty much any coral out there. I do 10% water changes every week and I mix the water for that tank with RO instead of tap water with dechlorinator. I have so many questions!!!!

 

[reeferdude]

It is a 65 Watt PC. So how often will I need to add the Phytoplanktin and how often should I test my water?

 

[nicky1.8t]

most of my corals will eat silver sides, i asked my lfs wat i should feed them , and they said they will filter feed but to make them grow faster i should feed them silversides and dose the calcium, iron and strontium

 

[reeferdude]

What is dosing?

 

[jonthefb]

corals use light as their primary energy source.....corals host a type of algae called zooxanthellae that lives within their tissue. this algae goes through photosynthesis and the end products are simple sugars and oxygen which the corals use for food and growth....under proper lights...in theory...no food should be needed as the corals would be able to make their own....however many aquarists feel that the animals do better when also provided with a source of food that they can ingest....for some corals this is phyto/zooplankton, for others it can be small peices of shrimp suchas krill or fish such as silversides....really the only corals that will take in this type of meaty food are the large polyped stony corals or lps...these are your common brain corals, moon corals, cand corals, etc....small polyped stony corals (sps) and soft corals such as leathers do better if fed with phyto and zoo plankton!
good luck
jon