What To Feed Acropora And Sps?
- Thread starter l.i. geo
- Start date
fedukeford
Active Member
As long as you have good light, and good calcium and alk levels, they dont need to be fed. Nothing wrong with some good PE (polyp extension)
aztec reef
Active Member
i don't feed mine that much either and when i do it's like dt's live plankton, baby live brine shimp & zooplex . the hole tank benefits from this foods too, so i'm actually feeding the tank. they mailnly trive with great alk,calcium levels , intense lighting and stong current..
lion_crazz
Active Member
Originally Posted by fedukeford
As long as you have good light, and good calcium and alk levels, they dont need to be fed. Nothing wrong with some good PE (polyp extension)
Where did you hear this? SPS corals definitely need to fed.
LI, I use DT's oyster eggs and Cyclopeeze for my SPS corals.
As long as you have good light, and good calcium and alk levels, they dont need to be fed. Nothing wrong with some good PE (polyp extension)
Where did you hear this? SPS corals definitely need to fed.
LI, I use DT's oyster eggs and Cyclopeeze for my SPS corals.
aztec reef
Active Member
the only time when my sps polyps are Not out is when the mh lights go off and even then i still see some polyps out when actinics are On
reefreak29
Active Member
ive never fed mine , they just need good lighting
lion_crazz
Active Member
In a large tank, I would just add it to the water. If you only have a few SPS, I would target feed them the food.
fedukeford
Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Where did you hear this? SPS corals definitely need to fed.
LI, I use DT's oyster eggs and Cyclopeeze for my SPS corals.
I was assuming they ment target fed, guess not.
I feed Kent Coral Vite, Coral Accell, Phytoplex, zoaplex... and something else but i forget, one everyother day.
Feduke
Where did you hear this? SPS corals definitely need to fed.
LI, I use DT's oyster eggs and Cyclopeeze for my SPS corals.
I was assuming they ment target fed, guess not.
I feed Kent Coral Vite, Coral Accell, Phytoplex, zoaplex... and something else but i forget, one everyother day.
Feduke
reefreak29
Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
In a large tank, I would just add it to the water. If you only have a few SPS, I would target feed them the food.
why add exsecc nutrients to the tank sps dont need to be fed
In a large tank, I would just add it to the water. If you only have a few SPS, I would target feed them the food.
why add exsecc nutrients to the tank sps dont need to be fed
aztec reef
Active Member
i don't spot feed (well maybe on some lps) but other than that i just feed tank and the water current takes care of the spot feeding on my sps..
lion_crazz
Active Member
SPS corals, as well as the entire tank, will do much better when they are fed nutritional foods. The oceans that these corals come from are full of food and nutrients for them to absorb. We cannot fill our tanks with this much food because we do not have an aquarium as clean as the ocean. The ocean gets an estimated 100% water change 2 to 3 times per day.
I like this excerpt from an article by Eric Borneman:
Do We Need to Provide All This Food?
I think we do. There are many ways to do be a successful reefkeeper. I think such a diversity of thought and method should be encouraged. I also think the understanding and provision of proper food sources is an important and relatively recent school of thought in keeping aquaria; one that is just beginning to be realized by many. It is a key aspect of natural communities, and it has provided me with visible and tangible evidence of its importance in aquariums. I have crystal clear water and no problem algae with healthy fish and thriving corals. "So what," the reader may say, "Certainly the same can be said for those keeping stony coral galleries with powerful foam fractionators." Yes, it could. Indeed, I was once one of those people and I considered myself to have a very successful aquarium. But now, I have "reef snow" in my tanks, I have copious natural sponge growth, and I have communities of animals that never existed (or did not thrive) in the absence of these food sources. I also feel it is important to utilize food sources that provide maximal nutrition with minimal volume or unused components. In other words, high protein sources (e.g. "Golden Pearls") live or cultured live sources (e.g. Artemia, Mysis, rotifers), unicellular algal cultures (or live phytoplankton products such as DT's phytoplankton), and fresh whole food products (e.g. blenderized seafoods and algae), along with the intentional growth of a biodiverse community acting together as predators, prey, producers, and decomposers, is vital to success in keep coral reef communities in aquariums.
It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be a thriving community of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely a collection of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae. By intentionally depriving many of these animals of natural food sources, I think we become lax in our responsibility, even if we did not spend money to acquire them. Dinnertime is a happy time for all, and nutrition is a universal requirement for survival. We may never be able to duplicate the coral reef, but we can get closer and closer as we learn more about closed systems and the natural communities.
On the issue, Robert Fenner says:
What should I feed the SPS and clams?
One of the best foods for SPS corals in my opinion is the food you feed your fish...after it is processed by the fish. I also like Cyclop-Eeze (the frozen offering), Selcon, and vitamin supplements (Boyd's is my fav). Another food which I have yet to try but hear very good things about are the oyster eggs offered by DT's
I like this excerpt from an article by Eric Borneman:
Do We Need to Provide All This Food?
I think we do. There are many ways to do be a successful reefkeeper. I think such a diversity of thought and method should be encouraged. I also think the understanding and provision of proper food sources is an important and relatively recent school of thought in keeping aquaria; one that is just beginning to be realized by many. It is a key aspect of natural communities, and it has provided me with visible and tangible evidence of its importance in aquariums. I have crystal clear water and no problem algae with healthy fish and thriving corals. "So what," the reader may say, "Certainly the same can be said for those keeping stony coral galleries with powerful foam fractionators." Yes, it could. Indeed, I was once one of those people and I considered myself to have a very successful aquarium. But now, I have "reef snow" in my tanks, I have copious natural sponge growth, and I have communities of animals that never existed (or did not thrive) in the absence of these food sources. I also feel it is important to utilize food sources that provide maximal nutrition with minimal volume or unused components. In other words, high protein sources (e.g. "Golden Pearls") live or cultured live sources (e.g. Artemia, Mysis, rotifers), unicellular algal cultures (or live phytoplankton products such as DT's phytoplankton), and fresh whole food products (e.g. blenderized seafoods and algae), along with the intentional growth of a biodiverse community acting together as predators, prey, producers, and decomposers, is vital to success in keep coral reef communities in aquariums.
It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be a thriving community of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely a collection of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae. By intentionally depriving many of these animals of natural food sources, I think we become lax in our responsibility, even if we did not spend money to acquire them. Dinnertime is a happy time for all, and nutrition is a universal requirement for survival. We may never be able to duplicate the coral reef, but we can get closer and closer as we learn more about closed systems and the natural communities.
On the issue, Robert Fenner says:
What should I feed the SPS and clams?
One of the best foods for SPS corals in my opinion is the food you feed your fish...after it is processed by the fish. I also like Cyclop-Eeze (the frozen offering), Selcon, and vitamin supplements (Boyd's is my fav). Another food which I have yet to try but hear very good things about are the oyster eggs offered by DT's
reefreak29
Active Member
yep thats correct best food for sps=fish waste and high lighting
lion_crazz
Active Member
Anthony Calfo is the most in favor of feeding corals:
I am wondering if you can share your opinion on feeding SPS corals specifically Acro. Sp. and Monti. Sp.
<not much "opinion" on the matter regarding to feed or not: they must feed! They are not even remotely autotrophic. Highly successful, albeit, symbiotically (zooxanthellate) but not fully autotrophic. Unfed animals starve to death in 10-18 months in most systems>
Read several articles that champion either that its a must or nothing at all sans proper lighting and calcium.
<no discussion here... the studies are redundant and reliable. They need to be fed, are observed feeding and have feeding structures. Form follows function. Our problem as aquarists is that they cannot be fed much or at all by target feeding for how small their polyps are. Cultured rotifers and very fresh live baby brine can feed some... most however need very fine zooplankton/nanoplankton. An upstream fishless refugium is recommended here>
I am wondering if you can share your opinion on feeding SPS corals specifically Acro. Sp. and Monti. Sp.
<not much "opinion" on the matter regarding to feed or not: they must feed! They are not even remotely autotrophic. Highly successful, albeit, symbiotically (zooxanthellate) but not fully autotrophic. Unfed animals starve to death in 10-18 months in most systems>
Read several articles that champion either that its a must or nothing at all sans proper lighting and calcium.
<no discussion here... the studies are redundant and reliable. They need to be fed, are observed feeding and have feeding structures. Form follows function. Our problem as aquarists is that they cannot be fed much or at all by target feeding for how small their polyps are. Cultured rotifers and very fresh live baby brine can feed some... most however need very fine zooplankton/nanoplankton. An upstream fishless refugium is recommended here>
reefnut
Active Member
When I had my sps tank I would feed them Cyclopeeze once or twice a week after the lights turned off. I figured whatever the corals did not eat would just become food for the shrimp, pods & such.
FWIW, my understanding is they will not eat Phytoplankton... they are carnivores.
FWIW, my understanding is they will not eat Phytoplankton... they are carnivores.