Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't there been controlled experiments AND research to back up the importance of feeding corals? I'm pretty sure there have been.

thats a pretty blanket statment.. I think something like depending on the depth and there location they may get more from eating than from light.

there are actualy several tests done in different areas and a few have showen that some SPS domanant areas actualy have very low nutreant levels in the water. So I would say thoes ones are getting more from the light.

Steve

Only ones by coral food manufacturers :wink: Most seam to use selective species for the test to inorder to get the results they want.

Steve

I find this discussion quite interesting so I was hoping to see something on the link attached to your signature but when I click it a window pops up that doesn't open. I would love to see some pictures of your sps and if you have any that show the growth rates it would be a nice touch.:smile:

I'm gonna whip out the Coral magazine when I get a chance (when I remember to at work) and pull out the girl's name. She did a lot of research on phytoplankton and corals though. Hell, if it merits it, I'll pull some borderline copyright infringement and patch together a quick knockoff edit of the article.

liquid life
 

I feed my SPS and LPS liquid life coral food and have noticed brighter colors and better extension of polyps. Feeding makes a big difference in my tank since my lighting is not up to par. The only problem I run in to is the alge bloom I get when I feed liquid life.

I look at feeding with a very simple mind. If the corals don’t need it then why do they eat it? The nutrients must be doing some thing! Just like when I walk down the street I can’t tell the difference if that person is taking Omega 3 or not but for that person whom is taking Omega 3 they might be feeling better inside. Some times positive effects are not always visible to the eye.

Here's an interesting view on the subjuct from Borneman.The 3rd post from the bottom.
http://www.marinedepot.com/FORUMS/Topic20086-9-2.aspx

you missed his first post on the first page a couple interesting statments.

"1. relatively few rigorous gut analyses of coral species have been done.
2. Stony corals are almost exclusively carnivores, despite some evidence that a few have been noted to either take up or ingest phytoplankton (notably Acropora and Goniopora). However, these may have been later ejected as a pellet or not utilized. To my knowledge, no one has done radioacive tracer studies to label phyoplankton for incorporation into scleractinain biomass."

Just goes to show how little research has actually been done on eating habits of SPS, or even corals in general.



Snappy, I have my website on a server that is down, even if it wasn't all it is, is a work in progress, one day maybe I will finish it, and one day I might even start making things again.. until then I have a few things to finish building for a guy in town and a few for myself then my page might get finished.

Steve

sps food
 

I just keep calcium and alk high, good light (250W MH), feed the fish regularly, once a week I use a small pump to blow the detritus from the rocks. I sometimes feed the Marc Weiss Combi Vital. Some of the sps seem to injest it but I don't know if it's actually digested.

I use that product as well as other items I mentioned in a previous post.
Here is an interesting thread on the same topic.
http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/sh...ad.php?t=18337