Is feeding sps necessary?

[sunnymau]

Hi gurus out there,

Would like to find beside additives like amino acid and color enhence solution, is feeding a must for sps?

As I read through some threads, some say yes and some say no.

If yes, what type of food is good?

[Evolutionz]

I would say it's not a must but definitely good to feed. I personally feeds reef roids and dr G claim max

[Guest]

I have known reefer who doesnt really feed their SPS, and still their coral look good and healthy, but i have also seen reefer's tank who feed their SPS and doing extremely well. My bet is really depend on your own tank / system and the number of live stock you have.

If you have a low bio load tank, amino acid and food is important, whereas for a high bio load tank maybe have to observe the coral respond / coloration to the food and amino.

[brojj]

IME, fish poo is the best natural food which does not contain perservative, artifical colorings. Serious, IME, i personally find reef roids to be very good. My SPS PE extend to feed when they sense this food particles float pass. But i dun know whether the size is small enough to feed acropora & montipora cos their polys are quite small. So, i feed oyster feast from reef nutrition too. Of cos, i separate them on different days. However, i feed coral vitalizer almost every morning, polylab amino acids & their coral food concentrate every night. Sometimes i skip reef roids & oysterfeast as i am worried about my NO3 might 'shoot up'. So far polylab genesis & fuel can keep my NO3 under control. But, fish poos still the best food for them. If u have a significant number of fishes, i believe the whole systrm can substain by itself. Feed, if u feel better & if u want to be on the safe side.

[sunnymau]

IME, fish poo is the best natural food which does not contain perservative, artifical colorings. Serious, IME, i personally find reef roids to be very good. My SPS PE extend to feed when they sense this food particles float pass. But i dun know whether the size is small enough to feed acropora & montipora cos their polys are quite small. So, i feed oyster feast from reef nutrition too. Of cos, i separate them on different days. However, i feed coral vitalizer almost every morning, polylab amino acids & their coral food concentrate every night. Sometimes i skip reef roids & oysterfeast as i am worried about my NO3 might 'shoot up'. So far polylab genesis & fuel can keep my NO3 under control. But, fish poos still the best food for them. If u have a significant number of fishes, i believe the whole systrm can substain by itself. Feed, if u feel better & if u want to be on the safe side.

If this is the case, I think I will prefer to stock up with more fish, let the poo feed the sps while I can enjoy the fishes

[sunnymau]

I am asking this as I find my spses quite pale in color, suspect the nutrient is too low.. Din check the para though..

[brojj]

How much is your NO3?

[sunnymau]

How much is your NO3?

Sorry din check since day one

[brojj]

Highly possible that the nutrient in the water is not enough. Maintain NO3 of ~2 to 5. During photosythesis of corals/ plants, apart from lights, CO2, some NO3 is needed to produce food ( we all have learnt that last time during science lesson in school, i believe some of us have forgotten). U can start to feed. Get oyster feast (mainly to feed SPS) & reef roids ( mainly to feed LPS, soft corals & zoas. Helps to feed some SPS and extend most SPS PE). This 2 will be sufficient. Feed them on separate days. Monitor your NO3, dun let it get out of control. And if u are running carbon, dun use too much. 1 full tablespoon for every 30 usgallon is more than enough to remove yellowing color in water.

[sunnymau]

Highly possible that the nutrient in the water is not enough. Maintain NO3 of ~2 to 5. During photosythesis of corals/ plants, apart from lights, CO2, some NO3 is needed to produce food ( we all have learnt that last time during science lesson in school, i believe some of us have forgotten). U can start to feed. Get oyster feast (mainly to feed SPS) & reef roids ( mainly to feed LPS, soft corals & zoas. Helps to feed some SPS and extend most SPS PE). This 2 will be sufficient. Feed them on separate days. Monitor your NO3, dun let it get out of control. And if u are running carbon, dun use too much. 1 full tablespoon for every 30 usgallon is more than enough to remove yellowing color in water.

Thank you for the detailed infor will give oyster feast a try. Any idea which LFS in the west carry them?

[sunnymau]

Actually I have been doing vinegar dosing, bio pellet and 30% wc weekly to control NO3 for the past 1.5 years. What I have observed is that the color of sps turn paler when I dose more vinegar. Now I have reduce venigar dose by 50%, and sps color are getting better. Thus thinking of feeding to further improve the color..

[brojj]

To further improve color, either u can reduce vinegar dosage further or use less biopellets. Feeding more might work but not for my case, which i have tried before when my NO3 is 0. (using D&D NO3 high sensitivity test kit). I have stopped biopellets completely & my SPS color up a lot, after stopping biopellets & my NO3 climb back to 5. Better than feeding more at 0 NO3. They have also stopped RTN & STN, for new frags.

[diverxxx]

i would definitely say yes...especially ones that have "polyps" like things on them