RECOMMENDED CORAL FOOD

[TwinsReef]

Hi everyone, I know I've been inactive for a while, but I'm finally able to focus more on my reef. I want to start feeding my corals, and wanted to know what you guys recommend. I currently have a mix reef , with lps ,sps,and softies

 

[tribbitt]

Reef roids works well for me - definitely saved a couple corals that wouldn't otherwise have made it. It does raise phosphate a little though.

I've also tried Benereef, which LPS corals seem to quite enjoy, but it does have some larger particles, meaning SPS or other small things might not like it very much.

 

[TwinsReef]

Reef roids works well for me - definitely saved a couple corals that wouldn't otherwise have made it. It does raise phosphate a little though.

I've also tried Benereef, which LPS corals seem to quite enjoy, but it does have some larger particles, meaning SPS or other small things might not like it very much.

Thank you for your input, I'm looking into reef roads and ab+ , but I still want to know plps opinion

 

[B the Nano Reefer]

Roids + restor

 

[TwinsReef]

I'll look into the other option

 

[CaseyP]

Easysps Evo, because I'm lazy and can hook up a 1500ml bag to a doser which lasts 5 months . I've seen it have a bigger impact on my lps than my sps.

 

[H2OPlayar]

Fish poop is my favorite!

Next is a variety of ref roids, benepets, and amino acids.

 

[Alexander1312]

I use integr8 and invigor8. You can buy smaller sizes at high tide or saltwateraquarium.com

Shop | Captiv8Aquaculture

Captiv8 Aquaculture. U.S.A.-based and -produced, privately-owned by scientists.

www.captiv8aquaculture.com

 

[MichaelB]

I use to use reef roids great feeding response, but the big downside i was limited to using it once every other week or po4 spikes like crazy. I've sense switched to benepets once a week, and I don’t have the issues with p04 with the reef roids. I could probably use it more than once a week. But the corals also get bits of food left over from fish feeding.

I would worry about causing a bloom in spoinard worms/ vermatids if I feed alot often.

I will also occasionally use a 3-4 squirts of a bottle of phoytofeast from reef nutrition. I really notice no difference when I feed corals or don't as mentioned earlier they get some food from me simply feeding the fish once daily.

 

[tribbitt]

Rich Ross has vids showing feeding golden pearls and reef roids to newly settled acropora, so if you’re into that or care about feeding sps, take a look at those. Not sure what micron golden pearls tho

Edit: bbs also, but rinse

 

[richiev]

+1 the comments on reef roids. Cool coral food, major feeding response, but everyone says it spikes PO4, and in my experience as well that's true.

I have done benereef as well, and don't have any real data on it being better at PO4 spike than roids, but I think it was better.

I had good luck with the easysps evo as well, but I stopped using it recently for no particular reason. Extremely easy to feed through a doser.

 

[ReyDeFarts]

Hi everyone, I know I've been inactive for a while, but I'm finally able to focus more on my reef. I want to start feeding my corals, and wanted to know what you guys recommend. I currently have a mix reef , with lps ,sps,and softies

Feeding corals is one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately, I have made mistakes and caused excessive nutrient loads at times. Then I back off for a bit to let things settle down.

I enjoy making concoctions. I use frozen items. Powdered coral foods. And various pellets. When I'm defrosting or soaking foods prior to feeding, I like using live phyto. I also pre-feed my tank phyto and it seems to "wake" up the corals and get them ready to be fed. I've also been using the Reef Nutrition 'Oyster Feast' to get everything in my tank excited and ready to eat.

Another thing to consider is making your own coral powdered food by smashing up some Reef Nutrition TDO pellets. Almost all my corals love it!

 

[TwinsReef]

Fish poop is my favorite!

Next is a variety of ref roids, benepets, and amino acids.

 

[TwinsReef]

Hi everyone, I know I've been inactive for a while, but I'm finally able to focus more on my reef. I want to start feeding my corals, and wanted to know what you guys recommend. I currently have a mix reef , with lps ,sps,and softies

Thank you everyone , I decided to go with reef roids and ab+. I'm thinking about roids once a week and ab+ every other day. I will be monitoring my phosphate and nitrates

 

[Darkxerox]

Helps to leave your return off when (I leave mine off for 20 min during feed mode, with my vortechs nearly as well). Also I've adjusted my flow to where the "dead" spots where food collects is where my fleshy LPS like bowerbankis, lords, and wilsonis are, so they're always ready to get food. Again somewhere having a Hydros controller is really nice since you won't accidentally crash your tank by forgetting to turn everything back on since it will go back to the on status based on programming.

However I don't add anything that I don't already feed my fish minus live phyto from RN. Fish get 1x daily Rod's food (soon to be Brine Shrimp Direct mysis/fish eggs/cyclops/calanus). Pellets/spirulina go in 3x daily through my autofeeder. However I keep a LOT of fish in a 29 gal tank (1 yellow wrasse, 1 pink streak wrasse, 1 carpenter's flasher wrasse, two perculas, one spotted mandarin).

If you want to "prime" the corals to eat ~5-10 min before, the PolypLab polyp booster (it reeks but the corals love it) or RN Oyster Feast work amazing to train the corals to eat during the day.

Not a fan of Red Sea AB+ (when I've used it regularly, I haven't seen any benefits) or any amino acid dosing. There's lots of anecdotal notes coming out from Aquabiomics testing and ReefBuilders community testing that hypothesize it could shift the bacterial population towards pathogenic species. Again, we'll need more information here, but I personally haven't seen a benefit ever. After their carbon dosing testing, AAs could be next: https://reefbuilders.com/2024/04/18...robiome-a-community-project-with-aquabiomics/

Haven't seen any obvious benefit from powdered foods either (my Christmas tree worms grew faster under phyto feeding and more "meaty" food feeding vs. Reef Roids or Reef Blizzard-O) other than unchecked vermetid snail growth and aiptasia. Plus my phosphates went out of control even with phosphate removers.

 

[BAYMAC]

Feeding corals is one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately, I have made mistakes and caused excessive nutrient loads at times. Then I back off for a bit to let things settle down.

I enjoy making concoctions. I use frozen items. Powdered coral foods. And various pellets. When I'm defrosting or soaking foods prior to feeding, I like using live phyto. I also pre-feed my tank phyto and it seems to "wake" up the corals and get them ready to be fed. I've also been using the Reef Nutrition 'Oyster Feast' to get everything in my tank excited and ready to eat.

Another thing to consider is making your own coral powdered food by smashing up some Reef Nutrition TDO pellets. Almost all my corals love it!

The smallest TDO is fine for SPS.

TDO-A

TDO CHROMA BOOST™ A

Several different size granules or pellets, and packages sizes are available for TDO Chroma Boost ™, excellent food for creating healthy animals and eye-popping color in a wide range of animals.

reefnutrition.com

 

[Alexander1312]

Helps to leave your return off when (I leave mine off for 20 min during feed mode, with my vortechs nearly as well). Also I've adjusted my flow to where the "dead" spots where food collects is where my fleshy LPS like bowerbankis, lords, and wilsonis are, so they're always ready to get food. Again somewhere having a Hydros controller is really nice since you won't accidentally crash your tank by forgetting to turn everything back on since it will go back to the on status based on programming.

However I don't add anything that I don't already feed my fish minus live phyto from RN. Fish get 1x daily Rod's food (soon to be Brine Shrimp Direct mysis/fish eggs/cyclops/calanus). Pellets/spirulina go in 3x daily through my autofeeder. However I keep a LOT of fish in a 29 gal tank (1 yellow wrasse, 1 pink streak wrasse, 1 carpenter's flasher wrasse, two perculas, one spotted mandarin).

If you want to "prime" the corals to eat ~5-10 min before, the PolypLab polyp booster (it reeks but the corals love it) or RN Oyster Feast work amazing to train the corals to eat during the day.

Not a fan of Red Sea AB+ (when I've used it regularly, I haven't seen any benefits) or any amino acid dosing. There's lots of anecdotal notes coming out from Aquabiomics testing and ReefBuilders community testing that hypothesize it could shift the bacterial population towards pathogenic species. Again, we'll need more information here, but I personally haven't seen a benefit ever. After their carbon dosing testing, AAs could be next: https://reefbuilders.com/2024/04/18...robiome-a-community-project-with-aquabiomics/

Haven't seen any obvious benefit from powdered foods either (my Christmas tree worms grew faster under phyto feeding and more "meaty" food feeding vs. Reef Roids or Reef Blizzard-O) other than unchecked vermetid snail growth and aiptasia. Plus my phosphates went out of control even with phosphate removers.

Second on AB+ not to to use. Anecdotally also a dino trigger.

Most coral food pushes nutrients too high IMO, except the captiv8 stuff. However, if no nutrient issues or if you like your nutrients high like many members here, then go for it. I would not pay that price just to edge out the remaining 10% of growth.

 

[derek_SR]

I'm with @Darkxerox, I've never noticed a single bit of difference when feeding coral or aminos or any other additives really. Jake Adams said he's never personally even witnessed an SPS polyp capture any food - which I found pretty interesting. Has anyone here seen their SPS physically consume anything? Obviously LPS is another story.

I feed the fish like crazy, and trust in the ammonia (people are even dosing ammonia now..) and fish poop. I never feed my corals anymore and I have pretty good growth and color. I imagine the corals get fed pretty well by all the fish food and fish poop that's in my tank. I don't run mechanical filtration anymore either.

Of all the common husbandry activities now - dosing po4/no3, dosing ammonia, adding coral food, adding bacteria - you can accomplish all of this by simply feeding your fish more. AND you get fat and happy fish as a bonus.

Note that these opinions and this approach are specific to SPS dominant systems with plenty of fish.

 

[L/B Block]

Helps to leave your return off when (I leave mine off for 20 min during feed mode, with my vortechs nearly as well). Also I've adjusted my flow to where the "dead" spots where food collects is where my fleshy LPS like bowerbankis, lords, and wilsonis are, so they're always ready to get food. Again somewhere having a Hydros controller is really nice since you won't accidentally crash your tank by forgetting to turn everything back on since it will go back to the on status based on programming.

However I don't add anything that I don't already feed my fish minus live phyto from RN. Fish get 1x daily Rod's food (soon to be Brine Shrimp Direct mysis/fish eggs/cyclops/calanus). Pellets/spirulina go in 3x daily through my autofeeder. However I keep a LOT of fish in a 29 gal tank (1 yellow wrasse, 1 pink streak wrasse, 1 carpenter's flasher wrasse, two perculas, one spotted mandarin).

If you want to "prime" the corals to eat ~5-10 min before, the PolypLab polyp booster (it reeks but the corals love it) or RN Oyster Feast work amazing to train the corals to eat during the day.

Not a fan of Red Sea AB+ (when I've used it regularly, I haven't seen any benefits) or any amino acid dosing. There's lots of anecdotal notes coming out from Aquabiomics testing and ReefBuilders community testing that hypothesize it could shift the bacterial population towards pathogenic species. Again, we'll need more information here, but I personally haven't seen a benefit ever. After their carbon dosing testing, AAs could be next: https://reefbuilders.com/2024/04/18...robiome-a-community-project-with-aquabiomics/

Haven't seen any obvious benefit from powdered foods either (my Christmas tree worms grew faster under phyto feeding and more "meaty" food feeding vs. Reef Roids or Reef Blizzard-O) other than unchecked vermetid snail growth and aiptasia. Plus my phosphates went out of control even with phosphate removers.

I’ll have to read up on the Red Sea AB+. Good to know. Interesting.

Besides dosing that -where I may stop -is oyster feast , ROE, phyto -all auto dosed..

I was doing the TDO as well however it was jamming the auto feeder as it was congealing due to the heat of the lights. Unfortunately I can’t put the feeder somewhere else so I switched back to freeze dried..

 

[Darkxerox]

The ammonia thing can be dangerous of course if your nitrifying bacteria aren't up to the levels (Mike Paletta finally made that comment recently since not everyone has 50% of their tank mass as live SPS).

We also forget that fish expel ammonia through their gills. Imagine if we peed while breathing. Figure it would save a lot of time!

Benepets supposedly has a low phosphorus containing powdered food but I haven't personally tried it yet. As for SPS eating powdered food, @Thales for sure has videos of his baby corals eating golden pearls and reef roids:

But you can see the ratio of eaten vs. uneaten is pretty high, you need some good predation or filtration if you want to do this.