Reef Nutrition

[snakeblitz33]

Based on my DIY Home made fish food thread and my underfiltering vs overfeeding thread, I would like to also start a serious discussion on reef nutrition.
How are we making sure that we are providing everything that our corals and fish need to survive and thrive? Is there some kind of magic formula in a bottle, package, or at your local grocery store?
How do you know you are meeting your tanks nutritional needs?
How do you know how much to feed your fish, inverts and corals?
When do you feed your corals?
Is it best to feed all the tanks food at one time or let it drip into the tank over a period of several hours? What benefits are there for each method? How would you create a system to feed your tank fresh foods over a period of 12 hours a day/night?

 

[snakeblitz33]

bump

 

[slice]

If I had more initiative, I would cultivate rotifers. The few times I've put live rotifers in the tank, all my coral reacted very positively.
More intense color, growth spurts, overall healthy appearance.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Slice http:///t/392637/reef-nutrition#post_3492914
If I had more initiative, I would cultivate rotifers. The few times I've put live rotifers in the tank, all my coral reacted very positively.
More intense color, growth spurts, overall healthy appearance.
YES! This is the kind of discussion I was looking for.
I would really like to culture rotifers and my own phytoplankton. My wife says that I am taking over the laundry room with my aquarium projects though. "Hey hunny.... can I have the rack with the soap on it to culture rotifera?" Yeah, thankfully she knows I am a science geek. lol
So, are you enriching them before feeding?

 

[saxman]

Quote:
How do you know you are meeting your tanks nutritional needs?
That's easy...very few people are doing so. No matter how hard we try as hobbyists, we can only do our best to IMITATE what our charges eat in nature, rather than DUPLICATE the menu/frequency. Lack of proper nutrition is probably the #1 reason our captive critters don't do as well as they would in the wild, and why some species never do well in captivity.
Quote:
How do you know how much to feed your fish, inverts and corals?
Because each fish we have is target fed, we know exactly what and how much each one eats. Each fish is fed until it has a slight "belly bulge" even tho many of them would continue feeding to the point of regurgitation. This is especially true of the lionfish.
Quote:
When do you feed your corals?
When we kept a reef, we fed them in the evening, lights on.

 

[mxsnow145]

+1 saxman