shroom looks bad

[heavenly damsel]

My mushrooms also eat frozen brine shrimp. I am changing to Eric Borneman's coral food recipe though. He feeds his corals with a mixture of things you can find at the grocery store. And he feeds them often. After hearing him speak Sat in Atlanta I feel like I have been starving my corals. Light is only part of the formula in a coral's energy budget.

 

[daisy]

what's the recipe? What quantities do you feed, and do you feed with a syringe, or just into the water?

 

[j21kickster]

it is a long list. i would but the book, not just for the recipe but the whole book is amazing,Aquarium Corals: Selection,Husbandry, and Natural History. by Eric Borneman

 

[heavenly damsel]

Eric Borneman’s Coral Food Recipe
6 fresh shrimp
12 fresh mussels
12 fresh clams
12 fresh oysters
1 package frozen sea urchin
1 package frozen roe
8 oz decapsulated Artemia nauplii
½ cup dried seaweed (after soaking) (mix brown, red and green)
10 gm (0.3 oz) powdered sea greens/antioxidants
3 oz Marine flake food
3 oz tiny pellet premium marine food
30 ml Marine vitamins (Selco, Super Selco)
1. Powder and mix the sea greens and antioxidant tablets.
2. Add the liquid vitamins and Marine flake food.
3. Thaw the fish roe, sea urchins and nauplii in a separate bowl.
4. Soak the dried seaweeds in pure (no chlorinated) water until soft.
5. Liquefy the fresh seafood and softened seaweeds in a blender. All seafood shells are removed and discarded.
6. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and gently stir until blended.
7. Freeze in Ziploc bags in thin flats.
Feed approx. 20 ml for 300 gallon of system water every night.
More details are available in Eric’s book Aquarium Corals Selection, Husbandry and Natural History (pg 64-65)

 

[jonthefb]

wow 20mLs for 300 gal every night! thats very often. i feed my corals once a week! better start a new regimen!
jon

 

[heavenly damsel]

Had an opportunity to hear Eric this weekend in Atlanta....I walked away from the meeting knowing I have been starving my corals. What our corals eat doesn't have to be a mystery or something that comes already prepared in a bottle. I want my corals to be healthy and happy...so I will start feeding them properly and more often.
If you ever have an opportunity to hear Eric you should go. He is a dynamic speaker who takes a complex subject and explains it so the non-scientist can understand it. I am so thankful I had an opportunity to hear him. My tank will be much healthier for having gone.

 

[twoods71]

Heavenly Damsel,
Interesting info. I have not read eric's book but have read other info claiming that lighting in a home aquarium is only part of a proper diet for corals.
In fact a while back I read about a public aquarium that relies mainly on feeding the corals kept (all types, sps, lps, leathers, polyps) and the lighting for the corals is second priority. Of course they were using an open system which means fresh saltwater is constantly being pumped in.
I guess the biggest problem with feeding corals in a closed system like our home aquariums would be the ability of the filtration to be able to handle the additional load of all that food.
I find this topic very interesting and believe it will change the way we look at the setup our aquariums in the future.

 

[heavenly damsel]

I am making some tonight, found most of the ingredients at the grocery store this afternoon. I will let you know how it goes. I do actively run a skimmer 24/7 on my tank, and I highly reccomend it. I also have a refugium that grows my pod population for me. I will be adding garlic juice to my coral goo, only because I believe it has added benefit for health.
You should hear Eric talk about the tremendous amount of food that has been measured and is available to corals in the ocean.