coral nutrition??

[djpj001]

hello everybody out there.

I had a question on coral nutrition, being that there's a million one products for coral supplement- what do you guys suggest for an overall essential product for coral supplement. And how often should these products be given. Sorry for the newbie question but I've done my share of research and there's tons of information on this subject. I just wanted the opinon of reef keepers and how they go about it. I have all types of corls except for hard corals.

thank you,
djpj001

 

[blue_eyes53813]

I know most soft corals feed off of the lighting( or sun in nature). Thats why is it important to have the recommended light wattage per gallon. They also feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton which is minute plant and animals from the water column like copepods and amphipods. Refugiums ( or a frig as I call it) are good so the bugs can breed and slowly be released into the water column. And of course corals also feed off of fish feces. I use DTs, just started feeding corals oyster eggs. I have a refugium packed full of bugs. Corals are growing like crazy.

 

[roadrunner1659]

i have few softies and im looking into and researching about LPS coral...i was also interested in whether or not softies need any other supplemental food apart from the lighting...

 

[jwaynet]

Hi Roadrunner,

This article might be a good start for you:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/growingcorals.htm

Cheers,

Jeff

 

[cheeks69]

Most corals we keep are carnivorous and will not feed or benefit from phytoplankton directly but zooplankton. Some people add phyto to increase zooplankton but there's some conflicting evidence. Corals will eat besides zooplankton, detritus, bacteria dissolved organics and many LPS will actually eat small pieces of shrimp, scallop or raw fish meat etc.

IMO there's plenty of food in the tank, you don't need to target feed unless you have non-photosynthetic corals or large meaty corals like LPS. Many of these supplements/additives are very high in PO4 and could lead to problems if overdosed IMO.