what do you feed sps?

[khoivo1]

hi,,i have about 10frag sps...whatdo you feed them and how often?? target feed??

[twon8]

you need a healthy tank and lighting. no target feeding is necessary

[khoivo1]

my tank is perpect healthy tank,, and ATI t5 light,,everything is good,, so you don't feed sps??weirrrrrrrr?? i have some plyto,is that what you feed?? comon guy,,,i heard people alway said target feed hardcoral,,,but not sure,,what do they use ,for food,,,

[khoivo1]

when i buy coral frag,,,bring it home,,,put a bag in the tank for 1/2 hr the put alll the coral frag in, the tank,,,,is that how you guy do?? or you dip them?/ i would like to hear what people do when they bring them home??thanks for alll input

[twon8]

you should dip all new frags in interceptor for red bugs, and something else for aefw


sps dont' eat phyto, they are carnivores

[twon8]

you need to target feed some lps (acans, micros, favia....)

[kurplunk]

How about Rotifers? Reef Nutrition seems to have a good product. I just begun using it.

[jessezm]

Clearly all SPS have to get their energy from somewhere, the question is, from where, and how much? There are many ways to skin a cat with SPS feeding. Many rely on the waste and other biological material produced by the tank (fish poo, bacteria, microfauna, etc.). Others are very deliberate about adding food specifically for SPS, as well as other nutrients such as amino acids and minerals essential to coral's biological processes.

Gaining a good understanding of how all this works can help you decide what approach is best for you. A good guideline is too start with as little intervention as possible, and make small incremental adjustments based on what you observe. For example, wait and see what your frags do. Get reliable test kits for calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, ph, nitrate, and phosphate, and make sure all your levels are steady and in check. Then watch your coral frags. Do they have good polyp extension? Do they seem to have deep, rich colors or do they look brown? Or, do they look pale?

if you want to consider feeding SPS, there are a number of routes you can go, but the first step is to make sure you have the ability to keep your tank clean after adding a slurry of organic matter. That means a good protein skimmer, regular water changes, and a decent clean up crew to take care of the rest.

As far as food choices, there is much debate about what SPS will consume. I think it varries from coral to coral, but I've observed some species in my tank fully consuming cylcopeeze (A. Samoensis, A humilis), but I feed a slurry of blender mush (oysters, shrimp, mussles, nori), and sometimes feed coral frenzy or a similar powder.

I'd start with very little intervention, though--if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[cnaegler]

I just started using Marc Weiss' S*P*S coral grow for my SPS. It's supposed to feed the bacteria that live in the SPS, which i nturn "feeds" the coral. It contains -controlled cultured detrital aggregate. I don't know if it works well...I just started using it but i can tell you when i feed my tank this stuff all my acros have long "hairs" that come out to feed. It's really cool, never seen them do that before so......?
Heres the link:http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...5&pcatid=18505

[twon8]

i wouldn't put anything with marc weiss' name on it in my tank.

snake oil

[kurplunk]

I agree!

[acrylic_300]

I agree most corals eat detrital aggregates. I see polyps grab onto aggregates all the time.

Bacteria colonize aggregates and this makes them nutritious. Thats why so many people only feed fish poo.

I feed my fish and add some amino's to the tank.

Once in a while I throw some blended oyster, shrimp, and spirulina powder in depending on how close to an algae outbreak I think I might be (mostly paranoia keeps from doing much of this).

[khoivo1]

OK CHECK EVERYTHING JUST NOW
PH 8.25
NITRITE AND TRATE IS 0
AMONIA 0
PHO4 0
MAG 1300
ALK 3.8
CAL 450
SALINITY 1.025
LIGHT 4X54 ATI T5 FIXTURE
90G TANK
,,,10 SPS IN THE TANK AND 3 OF THEM GETTTING BROWN,,,THE REST OK,, BEEN IN TANK FOR 2 WEEK NOW,,
ANY IDEA?? I NEVER FEED ANYTHING TO SPS,,,,,,,SHOULD I MOVE TO THE TOP OF THE ROCK THEN?? THANSK

[twon8]

a 4 bulb fixture over a 90 isn't that much light imo, so yes, i would move them to the top

what bulbs are you running?

[khoivo1]

oppp 6x54 t5 ,,i am sorry,,,
front atinic blue -
blue +
pro color
-12k -
blue +
aquablue,

[twon8]

flow?

[gasman059]

Originally posted by twon8
i wouldn't put anything with marc weiss' name on it in my tank.

snake oil

lolololololol

[cnaegler]

Twon & Kerplunk,
NO Marc Weiss stuff? Why?, may i ask. Just curious . I'm always up for new info. It seems to work though , the polyps jump out of all my hard corals to grab up the aggregate. Can
't be bad can it?

[kurplunk]

I tried some stuff called reefbugs, critters something to that effect, and all it seemed to do was cloud up my water. I just started to use reef nutritions rotifeast and my corals have responded well. No water quality issues and it seems to have increased polyp extension. I just rather try to go with something more natural as opposed to some powder mixture.