Which corals need additional foods?

Ok so I am new to reefing and its a bit confusing with the conflicting info. I have received with regards to feeding corals additional foods.

Some say they just need a good light source with trace elements and your coral will be happy, but yet some corals need to be target fed shrimp and such.

Is there an article I can read up on the needs of different corals? Is it mainly LPS that need additional foods?

The world of saltwater makes my head spin sometimes...lol

Thank you in advance!

 

it varies coral to coral. i would give you a link if i had one, but the best think to do is research each individual coral you get

 

But I don't want to!!!!!!

I want to buy everything and not have to research!! LOL J/K I am a research freak with my tank.

I agree.. research THEN buy...

 

Research each coral is vital....that way you know what type of lighting it requires, paremeters etc.

I go to the different sites that sell corals (saltwaterfish.com and vivid aquariums are some that I normally look at) I just look at the different corals that they have and read the description on it. Then if I am more interested in the coral I will google the particular coral. I also have couple books that describes corals...I am constantly re-reading those books, various magazines etc.

And finally, I figure if it has a mouth..then I know it requires extra food. Candycanes, acans, brains, duncans, etc...all get fed krill. I add coral freenzy in the tank a couple times a week also...and then target feed the suns

 

Thank you Schackmel for the helpful information..

I actually did google the corals before I bought them, but it doesn't actually say if it has a mouth or not at Saltwaterfish, LiveAquaria, etc. or if it should be target fed. I am brand new to reefing.. I am learning..
I also asked the fish store when I bought the corals if they needed additional food and was told no just good water parameters, light, etc. When your just learning you trust what they tell you..

Can someone recommend some helpful Coral books?

Thank you..

 

I am with schackmel. If it has a mouth, I feed it a little extra. My anemone and donut coral have rather large mouths....so I give them silverside pieces every once in a while. Otherwise, I just feed with Oyster Feast every third day or so.

But yeah...the research thing is huge. There is no standard answer to your question.

 

Which coral do you have the question about specifically? I would have to disagree about the mouth. Mushrooms, zoa's, etc have mouths and shouldn't need to be fed. Just having a mouth is way too unspecific of a description on feeding.

 

I have a book by Julian Sprung that is really good...it is "Corals A quick Reference Guide" There are many other books out there that are good, but I cant think of the names. I get Coral magazine to read. But again the most informative I have found is to look at the sites...then google the other coral..or come on here and ask away! If you dont know about a coral..before you buy it ask the store to hold it for a couple days. Then come home, research it, ask on here etc...to make sure you can care for it

 

Packleader, I was wondering about my Colt coral, read it has a mouth(s) but can't find the darn thing(s)? Also my Fox coral, it has several mouths, do I give them both additional foods? When I turned off powerheads and filtration this morning to target feed, it didn't seem that either the colt or fox took any of the mysis shrimp? My Torch on a consistent basis seems to grab any food I feed the tank without a problem (brine, mysis, I've even caught it eating pellets).

Thanks for the book suggestion Schackmel..