coral feeding?

[tbui127]

Do i need to feed my corals, if yes then with what? or weekly water change will be enough?

[Tuscaquatics]

What kind of corals are we talking about? Softies, maybe. LPS/SPS, most definitely.

[tbui127]

i have some zoos, mushrooms, and some sps, frogspawn. what do i need to feed them?

[leeb.]

I feed mine some phyto-feast. and then Im pretty sure they get food from the particles of food that I feed the fish with.

[Tuscaquatics]

Zoos will get what they need from light, as will mushrooms for the most part. I've heard of people target feeding frogspawn with brine shrimp and the like, though I'm positive they don't need it. It might make it grow a little faster.

For the SPS, you're going to need to feed the whole tank with some kind of zooplankton. There are many choices, and I'm sure other people will chime in on exactly what they use. But you can get something as simple as a bottle of Zooplex, or you can get special blends with cool names that have mixtures of many things like oyster eggs and other tiny critters.

Some people with soft and stony corals think adding phytoplankton is a good idea, though I don't think there's any definitive answer as to whether or not they actually eat it. It does feed the natural zooplankton in your system, though and will increase their population.

[tbui127]

http://www.livesaltwatersupplies.com/apps/webstore/products/show/1406038

will something like this do?

[leeb.]

I know a reefer who has had a reef tank for 10 years without any type of feeding. His corals thrive off of just light and the natural ecosystem in his tank. I add phyto-feast because I have some filter feeding softies in a cave in my tank.

[Tuscaquatics]

That's phytoplankton, which is still kind of debated as to how much benefit it truly is. Your SPS won't eat it. The stuff that eats phyto are things like clams, feather dusters and, more importantly, pods and other tiny zooplankton.

So it will probably help to feed any kind of natural zooplankton you might have in your tank, but it won't really feed the corals directly.

The one thing with phyto, I have heard, is that it tends to dirty up your water pretty quickly. This is probably because people put a lot in hoping that it's being consumed when it's not.

[tbui127]

i see, iwill try to get some zooplankton, hopefully the natural ecosystem will feed the corals itself in the future when my tank is matured

[cloak]

Sometimes the light is all they need. Kind of efficient really.