Not feeding corals...

cytranic · 09-03-2005, 09:27 AM

Hi All,

I read on here about 4 months ago that some people dont feed their corals at all. So being the adventure that I am, I stop feeding them also. Its been 4 months now, corals look great, and my acro's are growing faster then every (I think).

I do Bi-Weekly water changed with natural salt-water which is probley where I'm getting a good dose of all my food, and trace elements.

So I guess my question is, how many of you all DONT feed thier corals?

salt creepette · 09-03-2005, 10:36 AM

i feed my fish but not my corals specifically. i have mostly soft with one lps coral. Ive had various tanks since i started the hobby two years ago. I do own some fritz invertibrate banquet that I bought last april. I am scared to use it because it does not require refrigeration. how can that be good?! ew.

Casey · 09-03-2005, 10:38 AM

I dont feed mine and I barely feed my fish.

Tasher80 · 09-03-2005, 11:49 PM

I only feed my fish and my Sun Corals. Sun corals are non photosynthetic so without food additions to them they will die. Other than that no other corals are fed directly.

mantisfreak · 09-04-2005, 01:05 AM

To say whether I feed corals or not, coral IMO has to be defined.

Mushroom corals are not really corals and I don't feed them.
Zoanthids can range from palythoa or protopalythoa to zoanthus. The larger button polyps, I've fed before and they will readily eat. The smaller ones grow quite well with merely photosynthesis and DOM.
In my softy tank, small animals like GSP's, xenia, etc. and any other softy with small mouths is not fed.
For LPS, most have a lot more tissue and larger mouths. (And that is a good indicator of whether you should be offering additional food as a general rule).
For my SPS, they have hardly any tissue whatsoever so the only food they get is from fish poop in suspension. The remainder is from photosynthesis and bacteria.

skeety · 09-06-2005, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey

I dont feed mine and I barely feed my fish.

Casey...so you don't even drop in some phytoplankton or anything, from time to time? I'm the same as you with feeding (or the lack there-of), except I'd heard good things about DT's, so I thought I'd try it. But not sure if it's a waste of $$ or not.

Loverotties · 09-06-2005, 08:24 AM

I Don't.

Casey · 09-06-2005, 03:19 PM

Dts in your tank will just cause algae blooms I only bowl feed it to small clams

every 3 days thats it.

Melix · 09-06-2005, 03:33 PM

I don't feed my corals, and until recently all my fish (2) were algae eaters, so I didn't feed at all. There was enough algae in the tank to sustain them and their fat bellies. Now I have clowns that I feed, but still don't feed the corals.

skeety · 09-06-2005, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey

Dts in your tank will just cause algae blooms I only bowl feed it to small clams

every 3 days thats it.

REALLY? I'd heard that most phtyo does that, but that DT's wouldn't.

hunh.

thanks for the info. Guess I'll stop using it.

Anyone else use DT's?
(not that I don't trust Casey's judgement, as it's not like he has the prettiest corals I've ever seen or anything...oh...wait...he does. Sigh)

mantisfreak · 09-06-2005, 11:21 PM

DT's is definately better than the freeze dried types of phyto. There is very little evidence that corals even utilize it (other than gorgonians). However, it won't stay alive for very long. Some people who have a lot of filter feeders use DT's to cause the filter feeders to reproduce and produce zooplankton that corals can use. I don't do this because there are so many nutrients that are introduced in your tank for a relatively small amount of zooplankton. If you wanted to feed corals, the best use of DT's IMO would be to enrich rotifers with it in a separate tank and then put the rotifers into your tank.

Different strokes for different folks I guess. The only corals I feed are LPS.