Feeding corals

[brad23]

Anyone have any good advice on products and brands to use? I know I need to use calcium and maybe iodine. What else?

Any good links?

[jedimike]

For softies - no calcium is needed. You don't really need to feed them anything. Phytoplankton may help them grow faster.

LPS - A lot of the LPS family need to be fed meat periodically. Depending on the coral, you'll need to adjust the size. They also calcify so calcium may need to be added. Depends upon how many LPS you have, how often you do water changes, and what brand salt you use.

SPS - Feed mainly off light and also calcify. Usually calcify faster than LPS.

These are very general guidelines. Once you research the coral(s) you want, you'll have a better idea of their needs. You also need to be able to test for any suppliments you add. Iodine usually does not need to be added. Iodine helps inverts molt.

[Jamesurq]

I feed my tank a homemade slurry - the messy eating fish generally spread enough in the water column for the corals to eat if they're so inclined.

[brad23]

Thes are going to be my first 3 corals.

orange zoos, yellow polyps, green mushrooms

What should I keep my calcium at 400?

[Jamesurq]

doesn't matter really - none of those corals require high calcium levels. keeping it above 360 is fine.

[brad23]

What does my ALK need to be at?

[jedimike]

I think this article will help.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

[brad23]

Thanks for the link.

What product is best for raising Calcium?

[jedimike]

That's a whole other story. Same guy different link. This article explains the pros and cons of the different ways of adding Alkalinity and Calcium. They are tied together and should be added in balance.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

[brad23]

Well now I'm even more confused on what to use.

I was wanting something where I could just add it from a bag bottle or what ever to the tank.

I don't want a reactor yet. What would be the best product for this?

[jedimike]

A two part would be easiest. There's a product called B-ionic that is popular. I'm using this product.

http://reefcraze.com/Oceans/oceans.html

Really, with soft corals such as yours, you won't have to add anything.

[bertoni]

Well, that depends. Soft corals do build skeletons of a sort, and the coralline algae in the tank might consume some calcium as well. I would suggest testing and dosing B-Ionic as a good starting point.

Almost all corals will do better with some real food. There's a recipe in the coral forum:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=176530

[Steven Pro]

Here is an excellent series on coral foods and feeding:

Borneman, Eric. 2003. "The Food of Reefs, Part 7: Dissolved Nutrients" Reefkeeping Online Magazine, April 2003.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/eb/index.htm

Borneman, Eric. 2003. "The Food of Reefs, Part 6: Particulate Organic Matter" ReefKeeping Online Magazine, March 2003.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/eb/index.htm

Borneman, Eric. 2003. "The Food of Reefs, Part 5: Bacteria" Reefkeeping Online Magazine, January 2003.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/eb/index.htm

Borneman, Eric. 2002. "The Food of Reefs, Part 4: Zooplankton" Reefkeeping Online Magazine, December, 2002.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/eb/index.htm

Borneman, Eric. 2002. "The Food of Reefs, Part 3: Phytoplankton" Reefkeeping Online Magazine, October 2002.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/eb/index.htm

Borneman, Eric. 2002. "From the Food of Reefs to the Food of Corals." Reefkeeping Online Magazine, August 2002.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-08/eb/index.htm

Borneman, Eric. 2002. "Reef Food." Reefkeeping Online Magazine, July 2002.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/eb/index.htm

[brad23]

Thanks for all the help guys, I didn't want to go and ask the LFS because I know they'll just push what ever is on the shelfs.

[Dazed And Confused]

I got some of Jamesurq's "slurry". I think even my life rock ate a bunch of it. My tank goes from peaceful and tranquil to full-blown feeding frenzy in a couple of seconds. I've seen my torch snag quite a bit and my hammer and frogspawn come to life. I turn the skimmer off overnight when I add this stuff (about 2x/week) but skim heavily the rest of the time. My fuge with the DSB looks to have increased number and activity among the tiny tube worms, pods and bristle worms since I started feeding this stuff. If you can get some from him, give it a shot - I highly recommend it.

[brad23]

Originally posted by Dazed And Confused
I got some of Jamesurq's "slurry". I think even my life rock ate a bunch of it. My tank goes from peaceful and tranquil to full-blown feeding frenzy in a couple of seconds. I've seen my torch snag quite a bit and my hammer and frogspawn come to life. I turn the skimmer off overnight when I add this stuff (about 2x/week) but skim heavily the rest of the time. My fuge with the DSB looks to have increased number and activity among the tiny tube worms, pods and bristle worms since I started feeding this stuff. If you can get some from him, give it a shot - I highly recommend it.

Where do you buy this from? and do you feed it with a baster to the corals?

[Dazed And Confused]

I bought it directly from him - PM him and if he has any for sale, I'm sure he'd be glad to hear from you. I just thaw it and feed it to the whole tank slowly. The water is so full of meaty chunks and small particles that the corals don't need to be spot fed. HTH