Best time for feeding fish and corals?

saltrookie53 · Dec 2, 2016

What times have you found that were the best times to feed your fish and corals. By time I mean with full spectrum on or off.... I'm having trouble getting corals to intake their food, it's like they withdraw from the food.

LetItReef · Dec 2, 2016

Corals- when all lights are off around 10p for me.

BlueDevil · Dec 2, 2016

The polyps on my corals are usually wide open after lights go out. I usually feed them around an hour after light out. Fish I usually feed in the evening when my full spectrums are still on.

saltrookie53 · Dec 3, 2016

I'm not really seeing the polyps on my corals staying open after lights out.

Tyreef2016 · Dec 3, 2016

any specific coral your trying to feed here? sometimes just give them a taste and wait 10 more minutes they should open.

saltrookie53 · Dec 3, 2016

I think it's a blastamosa?!?!?!? I've probably spelled it wrong. my purple candy canes are thriving. Along with GSP but it is all on the lights there. I just got a blue calli torit and a frogspawn...

Flippers4pups · Dec 3, 2016

SPS anytime they have polyp extension, LPS after lights out. Fish, anytime.

ReeferMaddness843 · Dec 3, 2016

Fish mid day and corals (when I spot feed right before lights out) (when I broadcast 30 min after light out)

Tautog · Dec 3, 2016

My blastos close up or in after lights out. They seem to feed better with lights on, but very picky. Eat when they want. I feed my fish and Anemonies in the AM. Most of my other corals like to feed after white lights were out. When I feed corals, I always feed fish first before sunset. I'm convinced that feeding encourages the corals to open under blue lights a short time after. At this time, my fish have eaten, and they won't eat in the dark, so my corals have a chance.

saltrookie53 · Dec 3, 2016

My concern is that I am not seeing polyp extentionon any corals. They all seem to be doing ok. Just concerned they are not in taking food..

Tautog · Dec 3, 2016

saltrookie53 said:
My concern is that I am not seeing polyp extentionon any corals. They all seem to be doing ok. Just concerned they are not in taking food..

Sometimes with some corals you won't see the extension. I use a magnifying glass, but encrusting corals are very hard to see.

Reefrookie220 · Dec 3, 2016

Also keep in mind that corals are mainly photosynthetic, meaning they make their own food source from the intake light. Supplemental feedings aren't a bad idea, however you shouldn't be "freaked" if they don't eat.

Also, polyps look different in appearance from coral to coral. After lights out wait an hour, then explore your tank with a flash light. You should see parts of your corals you won't under daylights. Some extend long sweepers, such as chalices. Others are very short and translucent and around the mouth, such as acan.

I've found that using something like Reef Frenzy nano blend to broadcast feed the entire tank, will Help you notice more feeding responses from corals so you know what your looking for.

A lot of corals won't latch on to a lot of foods and some critters steal it from the ones that do. Just keep in mind that if it's open, growing and heathly looking- it's not starving to death. And over feeding will bring your algae issue back to the fore front.

Hope this helps.

Waylon.

saltrookie53 · Dec 3, 2016

Ok thank you @Reefrookie220..

Joshua Hurst · Dec 4, 2016

For my blasto I turn off all the filters, and turn the lights on deep blue at least for an hour. After the good sits on the blasto for about a minute it looks like a purple grape! I feed my acros and anemones at night as well. Zoas I like to do while the lights are on as well. Supliment in the mornin

CastAway · Dec 4, 2016

Just some blabber (to be verified by the experts) but SPS corals "feed" in two ways: autotrophically, and, heterotrophically.

I like to think of autotrophic as kind of internal - getting nutrients and energy from internal zooxanthellae.

Heterotrophic is external feeding - catching and selectively feeding on what gets caught on polyps and/or mucus (including bacteria).

I think of it this way; just as light gives algae the energy to process its food, and just as carbon gives bacteria the energy to process its food, its my understanding that autotrophic processes (zooxanthellae), give coral its energy to consume its heterotrophic food (zooplankton).

I say all that to say this, that I think we over emphasize light as coral "food", and under emphasize the benefit of direct feeding of zooplankton.

Corals have some pretty elaborate, and even aggressive, means to catch and consume things from the water column! So much so that I myself would say that SPS is not mainly photosynthetic. I wonder if most of our SPS aren't in fact starving.

Anyway Nathan, I'm not suggesting you spot feed a single SPS.

FWIW.

Joshua Hurst · Dec 4, 2016

CastAway said:
Just some blabber (to be verified by the experts) but SPS corals "feed" in two ways: autotrophically, and, heterotrophically.

I like to think of autotrophic as kind of internal - getting nutrients and energy from internal zooxanthellae.

Heterotrophic is external feeding - catching and selectively feeding on what gets caught on polyps and/or mucus (including bacteria).

I think of it this way; just as light gives algae the energy to process its food, and just as carbon gives bacteria the energy to process its food, its my understanding that autotrophic processes (zooxanthellae), give coral its energy to consume its heterotrophic food (zooplankton).

I say all that to say this, that I think we over emphasize light as coral "food", and under emphasize the benefit of direct feeding of zooplankton.

Corals have some pretty elaborate, and even aggressive, means to catch and consume things from the water column! So much so that I myself would say that SPS is not mainly photosynthetic. I wonder if most of our SPS aren't in fact starving.

Anyway Nathan, I'm not suggesting you spot feed a single SPS.

FWIW.

mind. blown.