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View Full Version : Live native foods


121
02/04/2010, 05:16 PM
I've been thinking about the live foods that corals eat in their native environment. I know some consume bacteria and phytoplankton but what about the free swimming pods that the polyps catch?

We can feed baby brine shrimp, rotifers and Cyclop-eeze etc, but IIRC their not native. Corals do consume these critters and we can easily feed our corals with them, either by buying them frozen or cultivating them separately in remote hatcheries.

What exactly do all those coral polyps catch and eat in the wild reef?

Is there a free swimming pod that we can cultivate thats native to natural reefs?

Regular copepods that we get from live rock are not free swimming and I only see those on the glass of my aquarium. Their not going to end up in the coral polyps.

If there was a specific pod that was free swimming then maybe it would be possible to add a hatchery to the main system (sharing the same water) and grow them to feed our corals.

Obviously using frozen foods is easier in the long run but a live, free swimming pod would be great for non photosynthetic corals and fish that are difficult to feed.

ChadTheSpike
02/04/2010, 05:25 PM
there are a variety of calanoid pods that we can cultivate... I maintain a culture of A. tonsa to add to my tank.

pods are just a small part of what corals eat though.