Is there a down side to overfeeding coral?

[litebrite]

Brand new to coral. I bought 5 polyp frags and started feeding them Coral Life liquid food. I've been feeding them every day. Can I over feed them? They are growig faster with more food.

My question is...
Will the coral food turn in to ammonia or is it different from fish food? Thank you.

 

[roka64]

Not sure on the feeding of corals, but overfeeding can lead to excess nutrience and algae problems. I'm pretty sure it's not a good to overfeed any animal....

 

[cmor1701d]

As Scott said, over feeding your corals will lead to water quality issues. It is the same as feeding any other food. I over feed my tank on the 2 days a week that I feed my corals. I mix a blend of phyto and zoo plankton, both live and freeze dried. I turn off the main pump and leave the ph's runing for a ½ hor to an hour, then turn the main pump and the PS back on. The skimmer goes nuts clearing up all the leftovers. During the time the pump is off the tank is a bit cloudy from all the particles floating around. I can see all the SPS polyps feeding as they close up around the food.

I don't target feed as there is no need with this method, but I do have a large skimmer and lots of macro algae in my sump.

More than twice a week may be overdoing it. Keep checking your water parameters to make sure you are not spiking on ammonia, nitirite or nitrates.

 

[melosu58]

You really dont need to feed those corals. They get all they need from the lighting and water column.

 

[Ziggy953]

What kind of coral are you talking about?

 

[ccCapt]

My question is...
Will the coral food turn in to ammonia or is it different from fish food? Thank you.

Yes it will, if it doesn't get eaten. No different than uneaten fish food.

When you say "5 polyp frags", what exactly do you mean? What kind of coral?

 

[litebrite]

These are the coral polyps. These are not mine but photos of the same corals.

 

[ccCapt]

Looks like star polyps -clavularia sp. or maybe briarium sp. No need to feed them.

 

[Ziggy953]

Most corals we keep in our tanks require light and good water quality to thrive. There are some corals that do require target feeding but for the most part they are going to get what they need from the water and light. If you only have the star polyps in your tank I would not be feeding the coral at all.

 

[Fish Dude]

Those are GSP (Green Star Polyps) Mine did not spread very quickly. They lay a purple mat and creep across the rock/glass. I do not feed the corals in my tank. A well respected hobbyist/writer once told me to leave the supplements and coral foods on the shelves....Good water (With changes), good light, good flow, good growth.

Just my opinion

 

[melosu58]

A well respected hobbyist/writer once told me to leave the supplements and coral foods on the shelves....Good water (With changes), good light, good flow, good growth.

Just my opinion

That`s some really good advice there.

 

[pitt420dude]

I had no idea there is coral food.

 

[Innovator]

I had no idea there is coral food.

Corals are autotrophic and heterotrophic, photosynthesizing and actively feeding within the water columns. There are a plethura of beneficial foods available.

 

[lando]

When it comes to feeding corals...it really depends on the speices. I agree with the others in that GSP do not require any speical feeding requirements. Just make sure you feed a good variety of food along with dietary supplements (vita-chem, selcon, zoe, etc.) and the corals will be fine. Coral feeding is greatly dependant on the type of coral. To a large degree, most will do well with a quality-fed tank and good lighting.

 

[litebrite]

Lighting

I set up my tank to be in front of 2 windows. One gets direct sunlight in the early am and the other gets indirect light all day. I put the corals in view of the windows for natural lighting. I think I had them about a week and they doubled in height/growth but not spreading outward. Yes you are correct about the purple blanket. That's a perfect identification. I thought it was the liquid feedings? But could also be the sunlight. They are doing amazingly well. So its the sunlight not the liquid food then making them grow faster. This would make a great experiment. One set up with food under low lighting and another with out food in direct sunlight in a very cold room. Has anyone tried this before?

My water is home made with filtered tap water. The tank is only 1-2 weeks old but filled with live rock and sand. So I guess that makes it established. But other than my feedings there is nothing else for the corals to eat unless they eat algae from the sun and minerals from the water.