SPS feeding

[pat8you]

Do any of you supplement your SPS with occasional feeding? If so, what do you feed and do you use and kind of target feeding or just turn off the pumps and dose the tank?

I know most SPS will catch the occasional prey from the water and that most people don't feed in order to keep nutrients low. Just curious if people have been able to get a good feeding response out of their coral and if they actually notice much prey capture.

 

[neilanh]

Never target fed any SPS, but I do use reef chili and some other coral foods 2-3 times a week that I do see collect on the polyps.

 

[ryshark]

This is a good thread. I do feed my sps, although I can't say if it helps any or not. I just know what in the ocean they get TONS of food flowing through. More than we could ever recreate. I tend to jump around a lot on what I feed. But typically once a week I will feed one of the following. Oyster Feast, Coral Frenzy, ReefBooster.... However, last week I got some Tropic Marin Zooton and I have been feeding that once a day.

Unfortunately,I have yet to notice the polyps actually catching something. I definitely get good PE during that time though.

 

[ccCapt]

I feed my SPS 750w of MH lighting.

 

[Jimbo7]

36w of raw LED POWUHH.
I have been experimenting, I got some DT's to treat my clam but i squirt it around my SPS as well. My ORA Joe the Coral, gets crazy extended and happy. I don't know if it does them and good, but it sure makes me feel like I did something to help.

 

[ryshark]

I forgot to mention, in my method I do not target feed. I just dump it in for the entire tank.

 

[ryshark]

36w of raw LED POWUHH.
I have been experimenting, I got some DT's to treat my clam but i squirt it around my SPS as well. My ORA Joe the Coral, gets crazy extended and happy. I don't know if it does them and good, but it sure makes me feel like I did something to help.

Are you talking DT phytoplankton? Im pretty sure the sps do not consume that. Its more for filter feeders. Now the DT Oyster Eggs, the sps would consume...suposedly. I used to dose DT phyto and then just stopped a long time ago because I wanted to lower my nitrates. My clam is a very very slow grower, maybe because I don't dose and I have it on the sandbed.... I don't know. But I am ok with it for the crocea clam. The corals are a different story, I like them growing.

 

[pat8you]

I have been looking for a good article or study on SPS feeding but have not been able to find anything that is real helpful. I did find a few that used fresh hatched baby brine (forgot how to spell the name artemia something like that) or other live foods and there was a noticable difference in coral health. This would be difficult for most hobbiest to keep up with since hatching those on a regular basis can be a pain. I don't know if frozed or prepared foods would be as effective since that article also mentioned that SPS stronly depended on their prey being motile since thier polyps were so small.

 

[ryshark]

I have been looking for a good article or study on SPS feeding but have not been able to find anything that is real helpful. I did find a few that used fresh hatched baby brine (forgot how to spell the name artemia something like that) or other live foods and there was a noticable difference in coral health. This would be difficult for most hobbiest to keep up with since hatching those on a regular basis can be a pain. I don't know if frozed or prepared foods would be as effective since that article also mentioned that SPS stronly depended on their prey being motile since thier polyps were so small.

In the book, Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman, he talks about feeding the reef tank(including sps) and the amount of food the coral get on the real reef.
Next, I really like this guys method, how couldnt you by looking at his pictures. Manhattan Reefs - An SPS Recipe for Success
Some people think that feeding the fish and them pooing is all you need to feed the coral. I don't know, I'm sure that is correct in some cases, but for now I will continue to throw in "coral food"

 

[pat8you]

I do acutally own that book but i don't remember that part. I will have to go back and look it over again. Its been a while since i cracked it open. Thanks for the link i'll check it out.

 

[ryshark]

I do acutally own that book but i don't remember that part. I will have to go back and look it over again. Its been a while since i cracked it open. Thanks for the link i'll check it out.

Yeah check it out... I can't find my copy of it right now or I would cite the page. I looked in all the bathrooms already, now I am stumped where it could be

 

[ryshark]

I have been looking for a good article or study on SPS feeding but have not been able to find anything that is real helpful. I did find a few that used fresh hatched baby brine (forgot how to spell the name artemia something like that) or other live foods and there was a noticable difference in coral health. This would be difficult for most hobbiest to keep up with since hatching those on a regular basis can be a pain. I don't know if frozed or prepared foods would be as effective since that article also mentioned that SPS stronly depended on their prey being motile since thier polyps were so small.

This is a good one for getting baby brine: Brine Shrimp Direct | Quality Aquarium Fish Food Products | Quality Marine Aquarium Fish Food Products