questions regarding feeding of softies and LPS
 

Hello People of the SALT

Like any gardner I am wondering if I am giving my corals enough food. The clavularia that I have has good colour and sent out a few new polyps in the first month or so but has slowed to a stand still. I know these have a reputaion for being quick growers, almost pest like so.. what to do to get them pest like!

I have read that "They also benefit from weekly feedings of micro-plankton or foods designed for filter feeding invertebrates." What products and methods do folks use?

I have acquired a couple LPS coral. I am new to the coral thing in general but I have been reading a bit about the feeding of dendros which I think I have a handle on and some goniopora which I have learned is a little trickier to grow. I read an article in advanced aquarist though that spoke of foods that will help with these. The article said:

These include Cyclop-eeze, Hikari Frozen Rotifers, and DT's Oyster Eggs. The design of plankton-friendly systems, proper coral husbandry in terms of water conditions, and the direct feeding of these quality foods will help insure long term success.

Any suggestions regarding the food and method of feeding of these LPS would be greatly appreciated.

Rick

I have a 40 gallon cube with the new radion, two tunze pumps, a skimmer going 24/7.
params are kh of 9, calcium 430, magnesium 1400, nitrate 0 nitrite 0 phosphate 0.

bi weekly 30% water change.

I use a combination of foods for my LPS corals. I use live phytoplankton, pods, reef roids, and a dried plankton mix from Two Little Fishes. I seem to get the best reaction from my LPS and anemones when I use the reef roids and live phyto.

My torch and hammer coral are growing massive but I haven't seen any increased numbers in my zoanthids at all. Reefwars gave me a frag of some zoanthids that are supposed to spread like weeds but all they've done is get bigger.

One of the things I am wondering is, I have about 40 lbs of live rock that is completely covered in coraline algae and so is a skimmer going 24/7 a disadvantage to these corals that get some of their nutrition from filter feeding?

I dose two part calcium and carbonate from two little fishies.

I have three pajama cardinal one dotty orchidback one zebra goby, two urchins and 5 cleaner shrimp.

What is your method of feeding? As I said I am new to reef and I wonder specifically about the skimmer. Do you run yours all the time? I am considering not running it 24/7. I guess if I am going to turn it off it should be for parts of the day as this is when the corals or feeding yes?

I turn my skimmer off for about an hour when I add the liquid foods to my aquarium. I bought one of those extension cords for your Christmas tree that has a big red foot pedal on it so I don't have to crawl behind my display to turn it off.

Techniques for feeding? I have a syringe if I get around to target feeding but I normally just use a mixing cup and dump it in the path of my wave maker to spread it around.

I forgot to mention I also use Marine Snow by two little fishes.

Hi Rick,

Here are a few suggestions you may want to consider....

My feeding methods are 2 times a week I shut the skimmer off for 5-6hrs, next step is shutting off return pump. I then dose some Lps amino acids to get a feeding response. Usually 10 mins after dosing AA the corals go into a feeding frenzy. Next comes the fun part, I feed the fish with pellets then mysis as much as they can eat. Once they submit to the all you can eat fest and are uninterested in the food I feed frozen cyclopeze, reef roids, reef snow, phytoplankton, phyto gold, and a bunch of other phyto via broadcast. Next I have krill chopped into pieces and feed the acans, duncan, dendros, favia, and scolly's. The tank is now cloudy in a sea of soup. With the powerheads still running I walk away and let the tank do its thing. When I return 5 hrs later the tank is clear ish, I then Turn on skimmer and return pump. The reason I feed the fish first is so they don't bother the corals and that's the only way the corals can eat.

Warning, my method is very messy and if you don't have a good skimmer and other proper filtration to remove the excess waste you can get algae growing out of control fast.

If you have only a few corals to feed the best way is to target feed them, when you feed your fish and shrimps mysis the water will smell which should get a good feeding response for the other corals. Shut off all flow in the tank. Have your premix concoction made up and use a syringe to feed the corals. You can pick up syringes at the dollar store or industrial plastics on Bridgeport in Richmond. When feeding the corals lightly spray the food overhead the corals don't spray it directly at the corals as some will react by closing and the food will be wasted. If you do this once to twice a week you'll see your corals grow faster.
You should be able to turn on your powerheads 1/2hr after feeding then 1 hr after online your return pump. If you want more efficiency leave the skimmer off overnight and this will allow the food more time to pass through the system.

One more thing I wanted to add, if your feeding Zoas, flowerpots, and cloves you should use finely powdered food as their mouth is small and can only accept micro food, my larger palys can eat mysis and same with my rics.

thanks tang daddy. those are some lovely instructions.

So, when target feeding you have ALL pumps off, even the tunze's in the tank. I would have thought that keeping the food in suspension longer with water moving around the tank would help them filter, in the case of calvularia and catch in the case of the flowerpots. I totally get having the return and skimmer off.

R