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mcoomer
10/19/2009, 08:49 AM
Right now I'm using a small pipette feed mysis to some LPS at the bottom of the tank, which means my entire arm is in the tank. I know that I've read about long squirters on here but I'm having zero luck finding info. If somebody can turn me on to some info I'd appreciate it. Also, if someone can help me figure out how to get coffee straight to the brain on Monday morning I'll take that too.

Thanks,
Mike

Aquarist007
10/19/2009, 08:56 AM
Right now I'm using a small pipette feed mysis to some LPS at the bottom of the tank, which means my entire arm is in the tank. I know that I've read about long squirters on here but I'm having zero luck finding info. If somebody can turn me on to some info I'd appreciate it. Also, if someone can help me figure out how to get coffee straight to the brain on Monday morning I'll take that too.

Thanks,
Mike

you do not need to target feed lps corals. I would suggest you but the frozen stick of cyclopeeze and introduce that to the tank once a week just before the lights go off in the tank. Turn off the return pump and skimmer for about 45 min so the cyclopeeze can stay in the display tank and be eaten by the corals.

I would take the small pipette, fill it with coffee and inject it up your nose--this might help:lol::rollface:

IslandCrow
10/19/2009, 09:53 AM
Although I agree with the Capn that you don't need to target feed LPS, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, and it can be beneficial. I'm lazy and generally just broadcast feed my corals like the Capn is suggesting, but target feeding does make sure more food gets to the corals, allowing you to feed less. This is what I've used for target feeding corals and other creatures at the bottom of the tank or in hard to reach areas:

http://www.marinedepot.com/fish_food_kent_marine_nautilus_sea_squirt_feeding_prong-ap.html

lordofthereef
10/19/2009, 09:55 AM
There is a guy on another forum who is a professional glass blower and sells 2 foot long glass pipettes for 10 bucks. I will try and ind his email later today and PM it to you (he leaves his email public on that forum).

thegrun
10/19/2009, 10:31 AM
I attached a piece of 1/4" tubing to a turkey baster.

Aquarist007
10/19/2009, 11:15 AM
Although I agree with the Capn that you don't need to target feed LPS, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, and it can be beneficial. I'm lazy and generally just broadcast feed my corals like the Capn is suggesting, but target feeding does make sure more food gets to the corals, allowing you to feed less. This is what I've used for target feeding corals and other creatures at the bottom of the tank or in hard to reach areas:

http://www.marinedepot.com/fish_food_kent_marine_nautilus_sea_squirt_feeding_prong-ap.html

You must turn all the flow off then IslandCrow? I gave up on the spot feeding because of that(I have 5500gphflow)

iceman79
10/19/2009, 11:54 AM
Frozen cyclops after the lights go out works awesome that stuff floats around in my water for about 5 minutes with all my pumps on should i still turn my return and skimmer off and does my BTA feed off the cyclops floating around in my tank

Frogmanx82
10/19/2009, 12:16 PM
+1 on the Kent feeding tube. The best 15 bucks you will spend. I use it all the time for my feather dusters and lps. I don't have a sump so I also use it to dose my additives in front of the power head.

IslandCrow
10/19/2009, 02:57 PM
You must turn all the flow off then IslandCrow? I gave up on the spot feeding because of that(I have 5500gphflow)

Honestly, I generally fed pretty much like you do (now that I only have my soft coral tank, I don't feed at all). Although I used the feeding tube to get the food initially moving in the general direction of the coral, I really counted on the flow to keep it suspended. . .you could call it "targetted broadcast feeding" if such thing exists. If I truly spot fed, I would certainly have had to turn off my pumps. When I fed larger foods like mysis, I actually hand fed and made sure the LPS grabbed the food (assuming it had feeder tentacles). I didn't do that very often, though, and generally just "target broadcast" fed smaller stuff like cyclopeeze and oyster eggs (the latter being for the SPS of course).

mcoomer
10/19/2009, 05:18 PM
I would be more than happy to feed the tank and not spot feed if I can be assured that my corals will get the nutrients they need. I've never used Cyclopeeze or oyster eggs so I don't know much about them but when I feed mysis my main fear is that the fish will snatch everything out of the water column before the corals get a real shot at it. Any shrimp that slip out of the corals grasp get snatched up right away and I've seen fish nip at stuff that's being pulled in by the coral on occasion.

So, basically what I'm hearing from the broadcast feed advocates is wait for lights out, reduce flow in the tank, and bomb away with my food of choice. Does that sound about right?

Mike

iceman79
10/19/2009, 05:31 PM
Yup sounds good. I wait a few hours to feed after the lights go out just to make sure everyones feelers are out

tufacody
10/19/2009, 06:21 PM
I never target feed my lps and have never had a problem, and they are huge. I do stir the sand once a week, and feel they get plenty from that.

IslandCrow
10/20/2009, 08:09 AM
I would be more than happy to feed the tank and not spot feed if I can be assured that my corals will get the nutrients they need. I've never used Cyclopeeze or oyster eggs so I don't know much about them but when I feed mysis my main fear is that the fish will snatch everything out of the water column before the corals get a real shot at it. Any shrimp that slip out of the corals grasp get snatched up right away and I've seen fish nip at stuff that's being pulled in by the coral on occasion.

So, basically what I'm hearing from the broadcast feed advocates is wait for lights out, reduce flow in the tank, and bomb away with my food of choice. Does that sound about right?

Cyclopeeze are tiny crustaceans (I'm not sure if Cyclopeeze is actually the name of the animal or just the name of the product) that's often used as food for either fish or corals. Oyster eggs are microscopic, and wouldn't be a very good choice for your LPS, but are great for SPS corals. Cyclopeeze comes in both dry and frozen varieties and can be bought online or in some of the better fish stores. It's a bit cost prohibitive to buy the frozen variety online, since the overnight shipping gets expensive. Oyster eggs are only available frozen. Either of those, along with a few other varieties of coral food I think are good candidates for broadcast feeding. I just turn off the return pump for an hour or so to keep them from just getting sucked down into the sump.

As far as mysis goes, I personally am not a fan of broadcast feeding to the corals, since invariably I have quite a few large chunks of meat that are going to go uneaten unless I have enough crabs, shrimp or other carnivorous scavengers to eat what the corals don't catch. Mysis is just too heavy to stay suspended in the water column for very long. I've also had problems with my shrimp stealing from my corals. Eventually I just decided the shrimp had to go (plus, my wrasse started making snacks of them), but there are a couple other ways you can discourage them. Probably the simplest (though not always effective) is to feed the shrimp first, so they're otherwise occupied while you feed your corals. A more effective (though not as simple) method is to place some kind of protection (like one of those strawberry baskets) over your coral after you feed it so the shrimp can't get to the food.

As tufacody implied, feeding your LPS is seldom required, but I think it's probably always beneficial.