I did a little post for a fellow on another board, and I thought I would share it here. feel free to ask questions if you need clarifications or if ya just want to talk about it.
There are various feeding mechanisms used by the inhabitants of our
reef aquariums. In some instances the same organism may use more than one feeding strategy which is probably an adaptation to ensure that as much nutrition as possible can be extracted from the nutrient poor area that a reef is. This is the case with many coral species.
Filter feeders feed mostly on detritus and fish waste. Those that feed on detritus either digest the bacteria living on them or the particulate organics that coat such particles (Wotton 1988). Will they feed on rotifers? yep do they need them in place of the above? nope.
Organisms (sps/most lps/ most soft corals/ feather dusters and so on)that feed on smaller particles such as detritus and its associated components, as well as zooplankton, can either be fed or, in some cases, ignored entirely. Given that large amounts of detritus are produced in reef systems and that this detritus is often found as a fine suspension in the water due to the actions of burrowing worms in the rock, fish, bacterial action and water movement, most filter feeders receive more than enough to eat and do not need any additional feeding.
Zooxanthellae bearing corals (hermatypic), both hard and soft,
including mushroom anemones, zoanthids, anemones and gorgonians, can utilize a wide variety of feeding techniques. Not only can they
utilize the photosynthetic products of their algal symbionts but they
can also feed directly on plankton, bacteria, detritus and fish feces.
Some corals have even been shown to be able to directly absorb glucose from the water (Stephens, 1962). Other zooxanthellae bearing organisms include some sponges and Tridacna spp. clams. the general consensus is that zooplankton do not contribute a major portion of the caloric or carbon requirements of hermatypic corals (Muscatine and Porter, 1977).
The general rule seems to be the smaller the polyps, the more
important zooxanthellae are in the diet (Porter, 1976). Corals
feed in a variety of ways. The larger polyped forms (e.g. Euphyllia
spp.) can actually feed on shrimp-sized prey which they capture with
their tentacles. Other forms collect the slime that forms on the
polyps and swallow the microorganisms and detritus trapped in it
(Kuhlmann, 1985). Still others can directly absorb nutrients
(ammonium, nitrate and phosphate used by the zooxanthellae as well as
various amino acids) from the water (Franzisket, 1974; Muscatine and
Porter, 1977; D'Elia, 1978; Muscatine and D'Elia, 1978).
Ok what I am trying to show you Brucey, is through decades of scientific study (not folks making money off the hobby) it has been proved that almost everything we keep in our tanks feeds on detritus/waste/food/organics and all the things that associated with them (ie: bateria/nekton/larvae and so on). You as with me have an abundance of these items in our tanks, in most cases to much and we are looking for a way to remove them. If we allow them to be available to our critters and then remove the excess, we dont allow the balance to create a problem. If we have all this stuff and we continue to add more stuff to feed the corals and such directly we are making it so the corals dont need the above as thier stuffed already and thus we have more of an export issue to deal with.
Natural foods are enlarge far less nutritional then simple prepared fresh seafood. Natural food sources such as larvae/rotifers/copapods/ampapods and so on are comprised of more then just the nutrition the critters need. they have shells/antenii/legs and so on, which do not have nutritional value (or very very little). now compared to fresh seafood which is all meat and thus nutrition. Feed your fish and the extra and waste products will feed the balance of the critters in your system. If you have a coral or anenome that requires more food then it can get through this, then just directly feed it a little bit of the food you were feeding the fish.
There are various feeding mechanisms used by the inhabitants of our
reef aquariums. In some instances the same organism may use more than one feeding strategy which is probably an adaptation to ensure that as much nutrition as possible can be extracted from the nutrient poor area that a reef is. This is the case with many coral species.
Filter feeders feed mostly on detritus and fish waste. Those that feed on detritus either digest the bacteria living on them or the particulate organics that coat such particles (Wotton 1988). Will they feed on rotifers? yep do they need them in place of the above? nope.
Organisms (sps/most lps/ most soft corals/ feather dusters and so on)that feed on smaller particles such as detritus and its associated components, as well as zooplankton, can either be fed or, in some cases, ignored entirely. Given that large amounts of detritus are produced in reef systems and that this detritus is often found as a fine suspension in the water due to the actions of burrowing worms in the rock, fish, bacterial action and water movement, most filter feeders receive more than enough to eat and do not need any additional feeding.
Zooxanthellae bearing corals (hermatypic), both hard and soft,
including mushroom anemones, zoanthids, anemones and gorgonians, can utilize a wide variety of feeding techniques. Not only can they
utilize the photosynthetic products of their algal symbionts but they
can also feed directly on plankton, bacteria, detritus and fish feces.
Some corals have even been shown to be able to directly absorb glucose from the water (Stephens, 1962). Other zooxanthellae bearing organisms include some sponges and Tridacna spp. clams. the general consensus is that zooplankton do not contribute a major portion of the caloric or carbon requirements of hermatypic corals (Muscatine and Porter, 1977).
The general rule seems to be the smaller the polyps, the more
important zooxanthellae are in the diet (Porter, 1976). Corals
feed in a variety of ways. The larger polyped forms (e.g. Euphyllia
spp.) can actually feed on shrimp-sized prey which they capture with
their tentacles. Other forms collect the slime that forms on the
polyps and swallow the microorganisms and detritus trapped in it
(Kuhlmann, 1985). Still others can directly absorb nutrients
(ammonium, nitrate and phosphate used by the zooxanthellae as well as
various amino acids) from the water (Franzisket, 1974; Muscatine and
Porter, 1977; D'Elia, 1978; Muscatine and D'Elia, 1978).
Ok what I am trying to show you Brucey, is through decades of scientific study (not folks making money off the hobby) it has been proved that almost everything we keep in our tanks feeds on detritus/waste/food/organics and all the things that associated with them (ie: bateria/nekton/larvae and so on). You as with me have an abundance of these items in our tanks, in most cases to much and we are looking for a way to remove them. If we allow them to be available to our critters and then remove the excess, we dont allow the balance to create a problem. If we have all this stuff and we continue to add more stuff to feed the corals and such directly we are making it so the corals dont need the above as thier stuffed already and thus we have more of an export issue to deal with.
Natural foods are enlarge far less nutritional then simple prepared fresh seafood. Natural food sources such as larvae/rotifers/copapods/ampapods and so on are comprised of more then just the nutrition the critters need. they have shells/antenii/legs and so on, which do not have nutritional value (or very very little). now compared to fresh seafood which is all meat and thus nutrition. Feed your fish and the extra and waste products will feed the balance of the critters in your system. If you have a coral or anenome that requires more food then it can get through this, then just directly feed it a little bit of the food you were feeding the fish.
