Feeding

[JTL]

I am feeding my mixed tank Cobalt Marine Omni flakes and a dyi mixture of chopped clam, scallops and mysis, my fish love it but I am curious as to what others are feeding. I don't spot feed my corals so they just get the same as the fish. We feed small amounts twice per day. The fish seem to eat all of it so maybe the corals are living entirely on photosynthesis. They are all small frags at this point.

I have no measurable phosphates or nitrate and am cannot keep chaeto. I just bought a huge bundle a couple of weeks ago and it is just wasting away. In order to get a little more flow in my refugium have the outflow from my carbon reactor going in to it which is in addition to my tee off my drain line. Not sure if this is the best thing to do or not. Also I have been using a filter sock so maybe I am keeping things too clean.

[thegrun]

I wouldn't worry about it if you cannot grow chaeto at this point, it will only grow once you have sufficient nutrients for it (assuming you are giving it plenty of light). As far as feeding goes the only thing you may want to consider doing differently is to add some form of seaweed to the diet.

[jda]

Chaeto needs iron to grow. If you are not changing water or dosing iron, then it can suffer. Ironically, some people think that by growing chaeto that they can cut down on water changes, when the opposite is true.

High quality pellets and mysis should be the staple of any good diet, IMO. I use New Life Spectrum and Formula 2.

Corals don't need to be fed. They can get enough from the light.

[JTL]

I think that not having enough nitrate and phosphate is a good thing. I am going to let it just die back and maybe use the fuge area to raise pods.

[Ron Reefman]

I feed a huge variety of foods. I have several different flakes, pellets, freeze dried, frozen, liquid and some live food. I randomly mix some of it up in a big beer mug and feed it out with a turkey baster. 30 to 60 minutes before I feed, I put a clip with nori in the tank for the herbivores like the tangs. That way they get their requirements before they load up on other foods. I do turn off all the pumps and make it a point to feed the anemones (because I want them to grow and reproduce) and I spot feed some corals. But enough food settles out that all the corals get what they need. After 10 minutes the pumps run again for a minute and get most of the loose, leftover food back up in the water and then turn off for another 10 minutes.

There is never much if any leftover. The shrimp, sea stars, crabs and other life comes out to feed. I do this every other day. On rare occasions I'll feed 2 days in a row (like before I leave on a short vacation) and other times I'll skip feeding 2 days in a row. All my fish are plump, my corals are growing faster than I need and all my other livestock seems to be doing just fine.

I think the variety of foods I feed are part of my success keeping everything healthy.

[JTL]

Chaeto needs iron to grow. If you are not changing water or dosing iron, then it can suffer. Ironically, some people think that by growing chaeto that they can cut down on water changes, when the opposite is true.

High quality pellets and mysis should be the staple of any good diet, IMO. I use New Life Spectrum and Formula 2.

Corals don't need to be fed. They can get enough from the light.

I do weekly 10% water changes and add iron to the fuge. It is without a doubt a lack of phosphate and nitrate. Until such time as I see these climbing I will not add any more chaeto.

I thought about getting some pellets but figured they would not stay suspended very long and settle on the bottom creating junk.

[davocean]

Using the right light can be a factor, as to dosing I don't dose anything I don't test for, I've never dosed iron.

[JTL]

Using the right light can be a factor, as to dosing I don't dose anything I don't test for, I've never dosed iron.

The light I use is mostly red with a couple of blue. It is a knockoff of the Kessil H380.

[davocean]

I have an LED flood in a home depot PVC dome, cheap, simple, the kelvin rating makes a difference, 5-65K is what I use, great growth for me.

[JTL]

I have an LED flood in a home depot PVC dome, cheap, simple, the kelvin rating makes a difference, 5-65K is what I use, great growth for me.

At this point I can only conclude that I am lacking the nutrients it needs to grow. Maybe that is a good problem.

[davocean]

Maybe, but I've had issues in the past and a change in light was what I needed, I once had a nice fancy LED fuge light that did nothing until I swapped to a proper flood and proper kelvin for macro, just a suggestion

[JTL]

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/brstv-investigates-what-is-the-best-refugium-light-and-what-is-coming-next/