Feeding corals?

[davelin315]

I add basically the same stuff as you, and I don't add any specific coral food. I, too, have heard that corals can be negatively impacted by the addition of these foods. I figure there is enough stuff floating around and hatching in the water column in my tank that I don't have to worry about adding extra food. My corals do look great whenever there's a visible hatch in the tank, but I'm sure it's the same thing in nature, they fatten up when there's big hatches, and then go back to normal.

 

[2poor2reef]

It's tough to generalize about coral feeding. You need to tell us specifically what species you have aquired. There are some species that will perish without being fed properly. Others cannot be fed directly. Many species fall in between.

You can't generalize about foods either. Some corals take phytoplankton, but most species don't. Small polyped corals utilize smaller zooplankton. Larger mouthed polyps can take foods of significant size.

Many tanks have meaningful bacterioplankton and zooplankton populations but many others don't. Refugiums and deep sand beds can help provide these if infauna populations are maintained and are themselves fed. It is best to have access to a good current book which discusses feeding and other captive care requirements of the various species of coral animals.

[ August 05, 2001: Message edited by: 2poor2reef ]

 

[Mike&Pam]

We just got our first corals today and we are adding Kent brand I-tech (iodine), Strontium, and Coral-Vite. However, at our LFS we were told to feed the corals with Kent Micro-Vert. But we have read that feeding the corals is not necessary and can have a negative impact on the water quality. Please give me your opinions on this.

Thank you,
Pamala