feeding coral brine shrimp

[Caige]

I have a flower pot, green duncan and frogspawn - all of which I read should be fed brine shrimp. How do I feed brine shrimp to them????? How often? any recommendations on what kind to buy?

I am feeding tangs spirulina flakes every other day.... seaweed on off days.

I am feeding clown prime reef flakes every 3 days... however, he isn't shy to jump up on the tangs feedings LOL

 

[melosu58]

If you do feed brine make sure it is vitamin fortified because regular brine has very little nutrional value. Almost like you sitting down to supper to a plate of twinkies. A better alternative would be mysis shrimp. JMO

 

[Caige]

I was reading all your posts and I see you don't feed your corals due to them getting all elements from water column and lights.....

I'm just a little nervous cause I have this flower pot that says I should feed it daily?? + My frogspawn is like 1 yr old and has lost one of it's heads and hasn't seem to come out strong in the last 6months....

So Mysis would be better to feed all than Brine? How do I feed them?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I wouldn't feed brine shrimp. If you want to feed, I'd use mysis or cyclopeeze. I would only feed once, maybe twice a week. Just suck up the food in a turkey baster, or one of those big eyedropper thingies meant for spot feeding aquariums and squirt on the coral. Best to turn off any powerheads or pumps to reduce the current to try and keep the food on the coral until its tentacles get a good grip on it.

 

[melosu58]

I was reading all your posts and I see you don't feed your corals due to them getting all elements from water column and lights.....

I'm just a little nervous cause I have this flower pot that says I should feed it daily?? + My frogspawn is like 1 yr old and has lost one of it's heads and hasn't seem to come out strong in the last 6months....

So Mysis would be better to feed all than Brine? How do I feed them?

A lot of my corals are over ten yrs old and have never target fed them. They simply dont need it. You can feed them as Kurt said but it`s not necessary.

 

[Caige]

Thank you both........... I have made very few "beginner" mistakes due to all your advice! (that doesn't mean I haven't made any) LOL

 

[pat8you]

Flower pot coral usually refers to either goniopora or alveopora. They have 24 "pedals" and 12 respectively for identification purposes. They are both very difficult to take care of and have a very poor success rate in home aquariums. Here are a few bits from a coral book i have that might help you give it the best shot.

"recent research suggests that almost half the food taken by goniopora in the wild is phytoplankton, and the rest very small zooplankton."

"goniopora are strongly aggressive corals and can easily sting nearby specimens with their long, flowing polyps. The normally prefer medium current flow and medium to bright light, as they are often found in lagoons in the wild."

"Feeding goniopora is likely to be required, because the energy provided from photosynthesis is not adequate for their daily energy needs. Many goniopora, however, have not been seen to capture prey in captivity, so absorption of nutrients or unknown food sources may be thier primary method of heterotrophy."

"because of the hydrodynamic drag of the long polyps, goniopora should be firmly attached if placed up on the rockwork, lest they become vidtims of "falls" caused by water motion or other disruption."

That was all from "aquarium corals" by Eric H. Borneman for copywrite purposes.

Because when feeding phyto and zooplankton though. They can increase your nutrient levels in the system rapidly causing problems with algae quickly.

As the others have said. Frogspawn and duncans will still thrive with out any supplemental feeding.

You have a challange on your hands and i would not recommend even the most experience reefers to try the flower pot corals as we just don't seem to be able to understand them and provide for them yet. Not trying to take a shot at you or seem like i'm nagging. Just trying to give you the best shot at keeping your coral healthy.