How much waste do corals produce?

[EyesClosed]

do corals also contribute to the nutrients in the tank? Is there an significant output to zooxanthellae?

Is it ok to add 10+ corals to an established but understocked tank at once?

 

[Anonymous]

Being animals, yes they do. The amount they put out though, is minimal compared to big ole' heterotrophs like fish.

 

[Anonymous]

Ditto. The amount of organic can be substantial esp. when they start to slime, but compare to grouper and eel, they are tiny poopers.

 

[monkeyboy]

I suppose that would also depend on how much you feed them, but when it comes to introducing several corals at once, you could pretty much fully stock the entire tank in one shot. Of course, it's a better idea to add coral slowly so that you can pay close attention to how they do as they acclimate to the new lighting and water conditions of your tank.

I feel that in most properly filtered and maintained reefs with plenty of live rock and living substrate that you could theoretically load up the fish population in one shot without any ammonia and/or nitrite consequences. Obviously this would be a horrible idea because of the possibility of infection/infestation quickly spreading within the new, stressed, additions as well as aggression problems. You may also get an algae bloom from this, because of the big jump in feeding and waste production. Why am I talking about this? I dunno, just thinking out loud during my lunch break.

 

[Anonymous]

>... suppose that would also depend on how much you feed them

Food, no matter if the coral eat it or not, will become waste no matter what.

 

[monkeyboy]

>... suppose that would also depend on how much you feed them

Food, no matter if the coral eat it or not, will become waste no matter what.

My point is that if you are specifically feeding your corals, you are adding additional food.

 

[John_Brandt]

Most coral "waste" is probably through the continual shedding of slime (polysaccharide).