Coral Feeding (in general)

awesome info!

 

Hopefully someone will see this since it been about a year since the last post, but its a simple Coral feeding question and I don't want to start a whole thread, when it comes to feeding Corals, are you feeding the Polyps as individuals or are you feeding the entire Coral? so lets say only half the Coral was getting food cus of current, does it mean the rest will starve to death?

 

Well, the answer to this question is not as easy as it may seem at first.

The word "coral" covers a WHOLE LOT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANIMALS. Foxes, Chihuahas, and St. Bernards are all canids (plural of canine) from the Canidae family but I think we can all agree that these animals are all very different and have different care needs.

Corals are complex. Some get most of their DCB (Daily Carbon Budget) via photosynthesis. Some only get a little from it. Some share nutrients a lot (colt coral) via a common gastrovascular system and some don't share at all (zoanthid). Some share a little like SPS corals. However, their connective tissue (coenosarc) is only one cell thick so the amount of sharing is highly limited. That's why people can't have linear flow with SPS. The down-current side of the coral will slowly weaken and then eventually die.

Take the following members of the Zoanthus Genus as an example;

Sea Mat; feeds a little of of DOM, POM and photosynthesis....shares nutrients with other polyps
Palythoa; looks just like a sea mat, feeds the same, but it doesn't share nutrients with neighboring polyps.
Yellow Polyps; a little DOM, a LOT off of POM (which is why the feeder tentacles are so long), hardly any from photosynthesis. It does NOT share nutrients with other polyps
Zoanthid; a LOT of DOM, very little off of POM, and a little off of photosynthesis.

The above is an example of why you have to think of the needs of each individual coral. The yellow polyps will do better in a tank with a wavemaker where every single polyp is getting it's own flow. Zoanthids get so much of their food from dissolved organics and less from particulate organics that it doesn't even matter that much what kind of flow is provided. Since sea mats share nutrients via their coenenchyme, they are less picky about flow.

To be honest, I don't know if I answered your question or confused you more.

 

What category of food would seachems aquavitro fuel fall under and is the addition of fuel and phytofeast a good combo for soft coral and lps coral health or is more needed?

 

fuel is actually just ammnio acids and other vitamins. Not really food but more of a supplement

 

isnt the amino acids and proteins what the corals get from breaking down food?? Do the corals even absorb them from the water from a source like fuel or is it a waste that is just going to cause a decrease in water quality?

 

Probably get skimmed out quickly.

 

I do not use a protein skimmer so I wonder if such products would be terrible for my water quality. I have been thinking of using fuel but have been hesitate to start since I do not know the benefit it would have. Having an unskimmed tank I like to be very careful about what I put in there and my feeding regimen

 

Nice info Thanks