Spot feeding in nanos

[InLimbo87]

How many of you spot feed corals in your nano-sized tanks? How often do you do it, and what corals do you feed? Also, what do you use to spot feed?

I spot fed occasionally with my old tank but was always afraid I was adding too much uneaten food to the water column. I want to with my new tank, just want to see what others are doing with similar sized tanks.

Thanks guys

[adam82]

i just did that the other day. normally i am so careful but my mind was somehere else and just wasnt paying any attention. i didnt have any spare water for a water change so it had to go 24 hrs before i could change the water. i lost my serpent star and my xenia and a shroom. my sun coral, frogspawn, monti caps, zoos and gsp are all ok but just be careful.

sorry so long just wanted to share my experience.

[InLimbo87]

now why you gotta go scaring me like that?

j/k, all experiences both good and bad are welcome.

[adam82]

lol...... sorry.

[InLimbo87]

Its cool! Now, how about some positive experiences/suggestions?

[michaelaz]

I have heard of cutting the bottom off a 2 liter bottle and setting the bottle over the coral and dropping or using a turkey baster to squirt in the top of the bottle

[Purple Penguins]

I have at times done a bit of spot feeding with some of my corals but I usually dont, I add freeze dried cyclopeeze and phytomax to my water column

[Illuminati]

When I spot feed I first turn off the pumps. For LPS like torches, hammers & Frogspawn I gently shoot mysis into their tentacles with a turkey baster and they suck it up. By then the candycanes know food is on the way and tentacles come out so I shoot some more mysis into the candycane tentacles.

For SPS I leave the pumps on and spot feed a mix of Reef Chilli & Coral Frenzy.

[InLimbo87]

Thanks for the feedback all.

colinadam, how often do you spot feed?

[Lytehouse]

for solid foods like pellets:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...55&N=2004+2021

for liquids like brine shrimp, mysis, shrimp or oyster eggs:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+112972

The sea squirt extends, so no hands in the aquarium. Bulb lets me place small amounts at a time to reach different critters quickly.

As above, I also feed phyto and cyclo peze for all filter feeders.

[Illuminati]

I spot feed weekly, I usually try to do it the day before a water change.

[!wrass!]

I target feed every day. I have a 20 long with a fuge built into one corner with some live rock and cheato. I feed a medium size sun coral (50 plus heads), a 4 head dendro, a six head and a 3 head duncan, a six head candy cane and a three head frog spawn, a couple of chalices and four ricordia. Everyone that has tentacles out gets fed. Usually adds up to one square of frozen mysis shrimp, a couple of krill or some silver sides. This seems like a lot and it is, but I have no fish. The bio-load probably is about the same as having a tank fully stocked with fish.

I do rinse all frozen foods well prior to feeding. The mysis shrimp is fed with a small plastic lab pipette. The others are fed in chunks with small plastic forceps. I make sure every piece of food ends up in someone’s mouth. There is very little food floating in the tank when the pumps are turned back on.

All I can say is it works for me. I like feeding corals and set the tank up to do so. My tank in the works is a 24-gallon Nano Cube that will be drilled for a sump.

[InLimbo87]

Thanks all for the responses. I think I'm going to spot feed my lps every couple of days. I really want to see better growth with this tank, and I think spot feeding was one of the things that I missed with my last tank.

I've put a couple of small corals in my tank so far, with the only lps being a two-headed trumpet coral. I'm spot feeding every day or two just one or two mysis-shrimp per head. Hoping to get some baby trumpets soon.

[Maxi]

I spot feed every now and then. I turn off the filter so the current doesn't make the food flow all over the place. Then I use chopsticks and I put it where I need to put it

[InLimbo87]

I have always shut the pumps off when feeding, even my fish. I hate the idea of decaying excess food in the back of the tank. So I let everything either get eaten/fall before I turn the pumps back on.

[JackJack7]

nice sun polyps