Coral Food

[joker577]

Hey guys I got mushrooms, xenia, zoas and GSP's I was wondering what kind of food I can get or chemicals so to say that will keep them healthy and make their color richer

 

[joker577]

What about that stuff Coral-Vite by Kent? "Kent Coral-Vite is the premium hard & soft coral vitamin & mineral supplement. It provides exotic trace minerals and complex nutrients for health and vigor and to stimulate growth in corals, anemones, gorgonians, and desirable marine algae. It contains no detrimental heavy metals, gluconates or other sugars, phosphates, nitrates, or silicates. Coral-Vite does not promote undesirable algae growth. Our goal is to provide SLR or Sustained Long-term Results. To this end, Coral-Vite makes the lightest possible use of EDTA and preservatives. These ingredients are necessary, however, to make sure you get a fresh, potent product"

 

[Dav]

IMO for the corals you are keeping quality lighting, and regular water changes will serve you better than anything you can buy in a store. These types of corals are good beginner corals because they need little other than stable water conditions to be happy.
Again Just my opinion
Dav

 

[joker577]

Yeah I got 108 watts in the 29 gal so I'd say it fine for what I have...and If i ever did get SPS they'd e right up near the top. My anemone is now consuming an inch of shrimp that i thawed out, i feed him more cause his actual body (where the mouth is i mean) is white and his tentacles are a light neon green, he's a BTA. My GSP's have darkened in the weeks so that's why i'm wondering about stuff to put in as a food.

 

[spongebob lover]

i agree with Dav dood, the corals you got really just like water changes and good light not really much you can feed them .
imo what you really gotta save up for is lighting dood , anemones like tons of lights

 

[joker577]

It's been growing fine in here, and i've already retrofitted from 72 to 108 watts

 

[MAGDRL Mom]

Coral Frenzy is THE best food on the market for all your corals.

 

[aaron7405]

Coral Frenzy

I really like Coral Frenzy too. is a very good product little more expensive but you mix it with water, All _My corals seams to be happy along with 2 anemones

 

[Spracklcat]

I disagree with Dav above: anything with a mouth should be fed. Can these corals survive with just lighting and water changes? Depends on your definition of survive. They will get some nourishment through the photosynthesis their zooxanthellae are performing, but in the wild they'd also be picking up tiny foods from the water column. Why starve them when feeding is so easy? And even corals without an obvious mouth have been shown to have whole foods in their digestive tracts (interesting work going on with Xenia regarding this).

As for food choice, yes, small zooplankton substitutes are good, and Coral Frenzy is a good choice. You will see your corals open up more and grow faster if you start feeding them.

Christine

 

[sihaya]

I disagree with Dav above: anything with a mouth should be fed.

I agree. By DEFINITION, any and all organisms classified as animals consume (in some way or another) organic matter... i.e. are heterotrophs.

Can these corals survive with just lighting and water changes? Depends on your definition of survive. They will get some nourishment through the photosynthesis their zooxanthellae are performing, but in the wild they'd also be picking up tiny foods from the water column. Why starve them when feeding is so easy? And even corals without an obvious mouth have been shown to have whole foods in their digestive tracts (interesting work going on with Xenia regarding this).

I've noticed that a lot of the people claiming to keep these corals without feeding them disregard the fact that they DO feed their fish. If you're feeding your fish, you're feeding your corals. And you're doing so in two ways 1) with the food itself (you can't prevent at least some of it from going to the corals) and 2) by making fish poo that can also feeds corals.

 

[joker577]

There's this stuff the guy said he's gonna have in stock in a few days he says it's like a food "orgy" that all corals/invertebrates love...it's called like cyclopeeze or something...please inform me on this stuff I may pick some up if it's any good

 

[sihaya]

Cyclopeeze is good stuff. For an all-in-one reef tank food, Rod's Food is good too (if you can find it).

 

[joker577]

Is it expensive? what all is in there and how do you use it?

 

[sihaya]

Rod's Food or Cyclopeeze? Neither are what I would call "cheap." But I'd say both are probably worth what they cost. Cyclopeeze is a type of cultured microcrustacean. Rod's Food is a mix of all kinds of things (including cyclopeeze I think). You use both the same way. You just defrost them with a little tank water and add it to the tank.

 

[spongebob lover]

ok... i'd just wait to see what Anthony has to say .... if i can remember good, he said that most softies don't need to be fed, so i'd definetly hear what he has to say .
i have never ever seen one of my mushrooms eat cyclopeeze ... but hey may be i didn't try it long enough.
I'm Feeding Rod's food right now, Barrier Reef (one of the sponsors here) sells the food for 20 which is a good deal for me.. you get a frozen sheet of the food and the ones that seem to open are my brain and candy cane.
I use RO with all my foods so i just put a little bit. some RO water and just feed it with my turkey baster hehe .
I've been feeding coral frenzy (not every day) and i see my lps going for it but other than that i don't see any of my zoos, or mushrooms trying to get anything

 

[MAGDRL Mom]

Calfo feeds Coral Frenzy and Cyclopeeze, I know for sure because he told our group that. That is why I tried Coral Frenzy and the feeding response was awesome.

 

[spongebob lover]

in that case i'm wrong and sorry for even saying it ... BUT i have never ever seen my mushrooms or xenias eating any cyclopeeze and like i said the few times i have use the coral frenzy the only ones that respond to the food are my lps... but then again may be i need to get new glasses .

 

[sihaya]

My thought is that you might not ever actually see these corals "eat" the food you feed the tank. Many of them will simply absorb the dissolved organic matter. I imagine that this is what xenia does.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

this is a prime example of the peril of speaking in (gross) generalizations like "softy" or "sps" or in this case, "mushrooms"

Some corallimorphs (Rhodactis) are voracious organismal feeders... and other corallimorpharians (Ricordea florida) eat next to nothing organismally. Is it any surprise that the latter occurs in very shallow water with bright light and higher DO levels? And the former occurs at greater depth and (in the absence of greater light) requires compensatory organismal feeding (where, by God, there is greater amounts of particuate matter and lower water flow to fascilitate such feedings?

Xenia... does not even have a fully formed digestive system. They get their yummies by means other than organismal feeding.

All said, its true... most aquarists grossly over-illuminate and underfeed their corals. More light does not equal more growth. It could not be further from reality in most cases in fact.