Feeding Questions

[circlek]

Hello All,

I'm looking for some advice. I have a 29 Gallon Biocube that is about 3 months old. The tank was started with live rock and a few small corals. Everything is going fine, and about three weeks ago I added my first fish, a Pygmy Angel. I have been feeding the fish Mysis, and he has been eating well.

Last weekend I added a Toadstool Leather. I understand that the leather is a filter feeder, and I want it to grow so i have been feeding a small pea sized chunk of Cyclopeeze a couple of times a week. I don't know if the leather is eating any of it, but the Pygmy loves it and happilly chases it around the tank gobbling it up. I don't feed Mysis on the days that I feed Cyclopeeze.

I guess my question is, should I continue this mixed diet, or should I just feed Cyclopeeze every day? Does the fish get everything it needs from cyclopeeze?

The other corals in the tank are Xenia, Hammer, Candy Cane, and Pipe Organ. I do not target feed any of these. Should I? I noticed that the Candy Cane only seems to put out its sweepers (?) at night, so should I do night feeding occasionally as well?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Karl

 

[kevin]

night feeding is a good thing for coral. your toadstool should fiter what is already in the tank... THe cyclopeeze should be fed to all the coral in the tank. They will LOVE it! You can feed it about 30 minutes after your lights go out and the sweepers are out.

 

[glxtrix]

the best time to feed most corals is about an hour after the lights go out, thats when most of their tenticles are out, tho some times thats hard for some of us to do, so day time feeding is ok as well, just put a lil bit of food in there to get the corals ready for food, then dose about 5 miuntes later. A mixed diet is really good for both fish and corals so I would keep that up. I wouldnt feed the cyclopeeze everyday cuz your nutrients will shoot thu the roof and you'll get unwanted algea. With all corals and fish you dont need to feed them everyday, I feed everyother day, some people only feed a few times a week. I usually only add cyclopeeze twice a week, and feed mysis/brine on those off days.

 

[vettesarebest]

I also have a question i bought a red lip blenny and it isnt eating flakes so what should i try? i havent tried any frozen yet

 

[circlek]

Its interesting, because the corals don't seem to react too much when the 10,000K lights turn off, and the actinics remain on. But when the actinics turn off, their reaction is quite different. The Candy Cane extends it's tentacles at that time, but sometimes the toadstool completely retracts it's tentacles so that it's totally smooth.

Karl

 

[glxtrix]

yes but your also talking about a different type of coral, most sps and lps corals all eat the same type of way, with polyps, and they generally tend to extend more at night to feed. The toadstool being a leather coral will have it polyps out most of the day and usually retract at night, which its basically sleeping. Those polpys are energy killers to it in a sense, so at night where light isnt available the polyps suck in to store energy. This is a real hack job at describing it, but hopefully it kinda helps

 

[vettesarebest]

is there a difference between cyclop and dt's live marine phytoplankton. and is one better than the other

 

[glxtrix]

yes, dt's is a lot smaller particles and easier for most filter feeders to eat. Cyclopeeze as you can see is a larger particle size with makes it a bit more difficult for some corals to filter. I'm not sayin that they cant eat it, just not as easy to consume. I use both Cyclopeeze and dt's, tho I dont use dt's as much, I personally think cyclopeeze is better; but I add both to give a nice range of diet. If you want to go with one, you cant do any harm with the cyclopeeze, corals and fish will eat it and its very nutritious. Scrape your glass every now and then to get what ever algea is on it, thats basically dt's right there.

 

[jessezm]

The other difference between those two products besides their particle size is that cyclopeeze is composed of zooplankton, whereas DT's is phytoplankton (read: animal vs. plant matter). Lee's point about a variety diet is important because not all corals, especially leathers and other softies, readily consume zooplankton, and many LPS (like your candy cane and hammer) don't readily consume phyto in the way they like their meat. So keeping a mixed diet serves the different dietary needs of different types of corals. (ed. note: these are only generalizations, and I know the jury is still out on what corals do and do not consume different types of plankton)

 

[glxtrix]

jessezm wrote: The other difference between those two products besides their particle size is that cyclopeeze is composed of zooplankton, whereas DT's is phytoplankton (read: animal vs. plant matter).

good point jesse, I totally forgot to put that :doh:

 

[vettesarebest]

thanks guys for the replies. alos how often and how much should i feed the corals with both cylops and dt's as well as mysis?
should i feed mysis one day then the next day feed cylops then the next day feed formula one then feed dt's is that tooo much because i do not have a bunch of corals yet..

do muchrooms benefit from this??

 

[glxtrix]

mushrooms get most of their nutritional requirements through photosynthesis, they will also feed on other matter in the tank as well as mysis but you'ld have to spot feed and I dont think its worth it. I typically dose dt's once ot twice every 2 weeks, the cyclopeeze is about 3x's a week and mysis is every other day. I typically feed durring the day around 3pm, occasionally when I'm at work late I'll do night feedings (1/2 hour after all lights go out) I'll spot feed my LPS with mysis and spot feed the SPS with cyclopeeze. Well not really spot feed, as much as expell it in the general area. Do make sure your skimmer if turned off if you are running one, other wise youre just wasting food. Also your feeding schedule may vary, I know some people who feed everyday, I know people who feed once a week. I'ld say do every other day, and you dont need to give them a bit of everything, you can feed cyclopeeze and a lil bit of mysis one day....mysis and flake 2 days later....cyclopeeze the next time....there is no real method to the madness, as long as corals and fish are eating then everything is good Just try not to over feed the tank, thats when problematic algea starts to form due to high nutrients in the tank.

 

[vettesarebest]

thanks glxtrix i think im going to make a feeding schedual now so i can keep everyone happy.

 

[glxtrix]

anytime, a simple one that I follow is feed mon, wed, fri, and maybe a treat on sun, but a small amount.

 

[ms_ k]

I agree. I wouldn't feed more than every other day. I generally only feed a couple of times per week, but my tank has been set up much longer than yours so that may make a difference.