During the early years of the reefkeeping hobby, the emphasis on the need to create a nutrient poor reef environment, lead to the impression that reef aquariums should not be fed very much. The fact that live rock with its resident plant and animal populations provides a source of foods to fishes helped this idea. So did the fact that many zooxanthellate corals could be maintained without much food input provided they had sufficient light. Furthermore, the perception that excess feeding would lead inevitably to problems with algae made the notion stick. Thus for many years, many reef aquariums had low fish populations and low inputs of food. ... Aquarists should not maintain anorexic tanks, was our position, as we had seen many exhibits with fishes that looked thin and hungry!
As we now have come to the point where methods for managing nitrogenous wastes and phosphate are well known and easy to employ, the fear of feeding is outdated and the benefits of high food inputs are becoming realized. Borneman (2002a,b), Joshi (2000), Shimek (1999, 2003), Sprung (1999, 2001) and Toonen (2003) discuss feeding invertebrates heavily with various types of liquid foods, something once considered taboo by many aquarium hobbyists. When feeding any organism the key is variety. Do not get into the habit of always feeding the same food ... to your fish and invertebrates. By offering a variety of foods, you will provide a more balanced diet and complement any deficiencies in one type of food.
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The Reef Aquarium. Science, Art, and Technology
Delbeek and Sprung, p. 569, 2005
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Live food for marine aquaria has traditionally meant one thing: live brine shrimp, Artemia sp., either newly hatched Artemia nauplii or adult shrimp. There are nevertheless many other live food options for marine aquariums, such as blackworms, bloodworms, mysid shrimp, grass shrimp, rotifers, copepods, Daphnia, and mosquito larvae, to name just a few. Live foods also include live plankton ... .
A benefit of live foods is that they may contain an abundance of some types of amino acids, fatty acids, and vitamins that are depleted in frozen or prepared foods. Furthermore, live foods can also be enriched by feding them live or preserved phytoplankton, or microencapsulated feeds ... to increase their nutritional value. In addition, live foods also stimulate natural hunting behaviors in fishes and offer challenging activity compared to standard prepared foods. However, live foods do carry a risk of introducing pathenogenic bacteria or protozoans, but the risk is quite low, with some exceptions.
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The Reef Aquarium. Science, Art, and Technology
Delbeek and Sprung, p. 573, 2005
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Reef building corals are heterotrophic organisms that actively feed on many different types of food. They are also symbiotic organisms, which have symbiotic dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae living within their tissues that synthesize organic food utilized by the coral. Their dual mode of feeding is called mixotrophy. Studying modes separately, it can be shown, on the one hand, that many symbiotic corals survive and grow in aquariums given sufficient light and inorganic minerals, with very little in the way of food inputs (Atkinson et al., 1995; Franziskeit, 1974). Yonge and Nicholls (1931) showed, on the other hand, that many species of zooxanthellate corals could survive indefinitely in the absence of light when given adequate amounts of zooplankton. There are exceptions to this that skew the equality of the two modes of feeding. ... Ferrier-Pages et al. (2003)also discuss the relative importance of zooplankton to some symbiotic corals. In general, when nutrient accumulation is managed in closed system aquariums, the benefits of feeding can be quite measurable. It has been shown, for instance, that feeding zooxanthellate corals results in calcification rates 50-75% higher than control corals that are not fed, and that feeding does not affect the light-enhancement process of photosynthesis on calcification (Witting, 1999; Fanny et al., 2002; Ferrier-Pages et al., 2003).
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The Reef Aquarium. Science, Art, and Technology
Delbeek and Sprung, pp. 573-574, 2005
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The concern about damage to zooplankton by centrifugal pumps used for water circulation is, for the most part, without merit ... . Most zooplankton passes through pumps unharmed. However, they do not pass through mechanical filters, protein skimmers, and many types of plankton don't effectively escape the feeding surfaces of corals, anemones, and other filter feeders. Therefore, if these exits exist in your system, the concern about pumps has a diminishing return. A system designed exclusively for the culture of zooplankton, however, would best be managed without centrifugal pumps. Such culture systems exist or can be built for home aquaria.
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The Reef Aquarium. Science, Art, and Technology
Delbeek and Sprung, pp. 576-577, 2005
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One of the most promising techniques is food drips from reactors and refugiums. Metered or continuous food drips with live prey are becoming more popular in reef aquariology. Reactors and refugiums are becoming an integral part of many marine aquarium systems. Furthermore, increased awareness of coral nutrition is fueling the refinement of husbandry techniques to feed reef invertebrates at large. Experimentation is recommended and may be necessary for the successful propagation of some animals. The days of striving to maintain "sterile" reef displays are long gone.
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Book of Coral Propagation. Volume 1, Version 1.0. Reef Gardening for Aquarists.
Anthony Calfo, p. 220, 2001-2003.
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Active feeding techniques involve the physical carriage of food particles to coral directly. Most often, this is accomplished by a feeding tube or syringe. Other techniques involve tweezers, tongs, foreceps or blowguns (OK ... just kidding on the last one). I have never favored actively imposed feeding techniques. It is unnatural and most corals seem to know it, as evidenced by their behavior. The clumsy intrusion of water flow with an instrument is more likely to trigger a flight response. The same holds true for unnatural bursts of food-ladden water from a turkey baster, syringe, or feeding tube.
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Book of Coral Propagation. Volume 1, Version 1.0. Reef Gardening for Aquarists.
Anthony Calfo, p. 222, 2001-2003.
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Coral tissue is composed of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids (fats). The carbohydrates are used as food and stored for energy with lipids. Underfed or straved corals quickly deplete carbohydrates and this a fact of great significance to aquarists striving to culture coral. Aside from the understanding that a certain amount of fats and oils are necessary for maintenance, it is believed that lipid levels are instrumental in spawning and preparedness for reproduction. It has been demonstrated that corals spawn in the wild when lipid concentrations are elevated.. It stands to reason that any attempt at coral propagation should involve properly fed animals, if not for scientific reasons, then out of common sense.
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Book of Coral Propagation. Volume 1, Version 1.0. Reef Gardening for Aquarists.
Anthony Calfo, p. 211, 2001-2003.
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Comparatively little metabolic waste is excreted by corals. Most of the nitrogenous waste from coral polyps is taken up and recycled by the zooxanthellae. Corals may synthesize a number of other products not used by the algae, and these are released into the water. One such product is riboflavin. Apparently, corals release this vitamin into the surrounding water at an appreciable rate, where the vitamin is important to the health of the surrounding microorganisms. Riboflavin is either obtained from the ingestion of phytoplankton, or it is manufactured by the zooxanthellae. Many corals also secrete a variety of compounds that are used for competition, reproduction, immunity, and other functions.
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Aquarium Corals. Selection, Husbandry, and Natural Selection.
Borneman, p. 63, 2001
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Corals are animals, whether or not they are zooxanthellate, and they will appropriate useable nutrients from their environment. First and foremost, these include organic nutrients that are dissolved in the water, particularly amino acids, vitamins, and sugars. The coral absorbs these nutrients through the epidermis of its body surfaces. For example, dissolved free amino acids (DFAAs) are absorbed independently of the external concentration of ammonium (Hoegh-Guldberg and Williamson 1999). Similar observations have been made in giant clams in genus Tridacna (Ambariyanto and Hoegh-Guldberg 1999). Once again, observations such as these emphasize the importance of distinguishing between inorganic (easily measured) and organic (hard to measure) nutrients. It is very likely that both are processed at the same time and independently from one another.
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Coral. Volume 1, Number 3.
Nutrients in the Reef Aquarium - Part III. Feeding Zooxanthellate Corals.
Jorg Kokott, June/July 2004.
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Another important consideration is the possible importance of bacteria in the heterotrophic feeding of corals. A study conducted in the early 1970s revealed that SPS corals were able to process more phosphorous from bacterioplankton than from inorganic phosphate that was present in the water at an equal concentration (Sorokin 1973). In the mid-1980s there was a report published that confirmed the hypothesis that various sea anemones would grow bacteria within their gastric chambers and digest them once their population reached a certain concentration (Herndl and Velimirov 1985). A year later, another publication stated that bacteria would proliferate many times faster in the mucus layer covering the surface of a coral than in the surrounding water (Paul et al. 1986). ... Because they are relatively "sticky," bacteria, microalgae and fine sediments are caught in the gelatinous matrix, and bacteria find these conditions favorable for growth. ... .
Whatever the mechanisms by which a coral acquires food, it is certain that the diets of corals include more than just the products of their zooxanthellae. They probably include the bacteria associated with corals, as well. The synthesis of a multitude of bacteria may provide the coral with some important organic nutrients, such as vitamins, rare amino acids, or fatty acids. The coral may also benefit from the production of natural antibiotics by the bacteria, which make the coral resistant to various pathogens.
... feeding phytoplankton and bacteria is particularly helpful when it comes to SPS corals, and the supplementation of sources of carbon in the form of ethanol or acetate favor the proliferation of heterotrophic bacteria. These may eleiminate the existing deficiency of nutrients for the corals. ... . The reefkeeper needs to experiment a bit to determine which feeding regime improves or worsens the situation, and how much of which type of food is best suite for the needs of the animals he or she is keeping.
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Coral. Volume 1, Number 3.
Nutrients in the Reef Aquarium - Part III. Feeding Zooxanthellate Corals.
Jorg Kokott, June/July 2004.
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The word "nutrient" is often misunderstood. The terms "high nutrient" and "low nutrient" can be taken in many contexts. In general, nutrients are those organic and inorganic compounds necessary to sustain life. While this comprises a very large group of potential compounds, nutrients are often simplified in terms of those elements that are major "building blocks" for fats, amino acids, and carbohydrates. Furthermore, they are frequently those elements which tend to limit further growth by their availability and ability to be procured. In general, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus are often used to describe the "nutrient" condition of reef organisms (and others, as well). Plants and animals with photosynthetic symbionts tend to be nitrogen and/or phosphorous limited under normal conditions, since photosynthesis usually provides non-limiting carbon source material. Coral reef waters are typically "nutrient poor" as they contain very low levels of nitrogen and phosphorus (they are both precious commodities and any excess is usually taken up quickly). In nearshore areas where there is significant organic loading from land runoff, waters tend to be rather nutrient rich. Both types of environments sustain their own flora and fauna with varying amounts of habitat overlap in terms of the organisms that can exploit the continuum of nutrient conditions. The nutrients available in water to coral reefs can be dissolved in the water, in the form of particulate material, or as living biomass.
...
Coral reef food sources, then, are largely produced by the ocean. Bacteria, detritus, phytoplankton, zooplankton, small benthic fauna, mucus, and dissolved organic and inorganic material of various types and sizes are what comprise the majority of food on a coral reef.
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Reefkeeping Online Magazine (July 2002)
Coralmania with Eric Borneman
Reef Food
Borneman 2002
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It has been known for some time that corals and other coral reef animals must feed. Eric Borneman has been discussing the various aspects of feeding in corals for the last several months in his column in this magazine, and some of those data are applicable to reefs in general. Nonetheless, it is hard to get a good handle on the feeding dynamics of many reef animals. Interestingly enough, however, what we do know about feeding on a reef, as a whole, indicates that aquarists, generally, go about feeding their animals in the wrong way and with the wrong foods. By examining the types of available food, and the processes of feeding on a reef, I think it will become apparent that many of the problems we have with reef aquaria, such as excess nutrients, excessive growth of undesirable algae, and the inability to keep some animals alive and healthy is simply due to the feeding of inappropriate foods, compounded by feeding in the wrong manner.
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Reefkeeping Online Magazine (February 2003)
Feeding the Reef Aquarium, A New Paradigm
Dr. Ronald L. Shimek 2003
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ext, let me start with saying that I think a lot of the debate over the use and benefits of phytoplankton for feeding reef tanks comes from people being unclear about exactly what the topic of discussion is. Before any reasonable discussion can take place, it is important to define some terms and outline the scope of the questions to be discussed. Before you can make any decisions about what is best for your aquarium, you first have to determine what the goals are for your aquarium, and what philosophy of aquarium keeping you plan to follow. For example, are you trying to maximize the diversity of critters in your aquarium, are you trying to minimize any potential problems with nutrient export, or are you aiming for a happy medium? Are you trying to recreate a particular reef habitat and incorporate as many of the organisms as possible from that habitat into your aquarium, are you trying to create a pretty collection of animals from around the globe that catch your eye at the LFS, or are you trying to generate the perfect set of conditions to maximize the growth of a couple of specific species, such as Acropora or Montipora? Depending on your answers to these questions, the decisions that you should arrive at with regards to feeding will likely be quite different, and if you have never given any thought to such issues, I would suggest that you do.
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Advanced Aquarist (talklog archives)
Phytoplankton feeding of reef tanks: Has the pendulum swung too far?
Bob Toonen (2000)
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Do you prefer mixing a blend of live, instant, and spray dried phytoplanktons, along with the golden pearl clusters/rotifers in one feeding, or alternating feedings of each product? can you elaborate?
It depends on the tank -- at home with my own aquarium, I alternate. At work, where I have several reefs and one is a large display tank, we mix all the products together and dose them simultaneously. I use both the SDMP and golden pearls as a "rotifer" replacement rather than a phytoplankton replacement. Then we dose phytoplankton at the appropriate amount to get a final concentration of about 10,000 cells / ml every second day. I don't consider this ideal, and it's not what I do at home, but it's easier and I think it's better than nothing. At home I feed phytoplankton at 10,000 cells / ml every morning and then rotate a blend of SDMP, golden pearls and enriched baby brine about an hour later....
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Advanced Aquarist (talklog archives)
Phytoplankton feeding of reef tanks: Has the pendulum swung too far?
Bob Toonen (2000)
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However, the sand bed is not the only reef aquarium component that may be utilized in this manner. Many aquarists have discovered, in one way or another, the concept of the refugium, a predator-free area that may function to produce animals that are food for other aquarium animals. Such refugia are not difficult to establish, and they may become a very important part of the aquarium system. They provide a way of producing a different type of food than does the sand bed. The food exported from the refugium to the main tank is typically larger and more mobile, and is more often eaten by fish rather than by sessile invertebrates such as corals.
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DT's Plankton Farm
Feeding Begets Food, 2 ... or … Food Production By Design, Using A Refugium To Produce Food For Reef Inhabitants.
By Ronald L. Shimek, Ph. D. (Date unreferenced in this source)
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round the middle of the last decade, many hobbyists finally realized that for their animals to grow, they needed to be provided with high protein foods. One way of doing this was to feed the corals and other zooxanthellate animals directly. A second way was to feed the tank, as described in the first article in this series, Food Production By Design, How A Deep Sand Bed Can Produce Food For Reef Inhabitants. A third method for providing protein-rich food exists. It is a way that is particularly useful when the aquarist is trying to maintain or raise animals that need food larger than either bacteria, or protozoans, or invertebrate larvae. This way is specifically useful when the necessary food must be either continually added or must be alive. That third way, of course, is to set up a refugium and to let the refugium do the feeding.
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DT's Plankton Farm
Feeding Begets Food, 2 ... or … Food Production By Design, Using A Refugium To Produce Food For Reef Inhabitants.
By Ronald L. Shimek, Ph. D. (Date unreferenced in this source)
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In its simplest concept, a refugium may be nothing more than an area in the reef tank from which predators are excluded. Such in-tank refugia are often accidental developments of rock or ornament placing. However, they may be specifically designed into the aquarium rockwork. With some planning, it is relatively easy to set up some rocks in such a way as to create a volume while excluding "large" predators. In my first in tank refugium, these large predators were a pair of mature maroon clowns, Premnas biaculeatus. After arranging the rocks to limit fish access, I further enhanced the refugium by providing it with various algal substrata, in the form of stiff algae such as Halimeda and Chaetomorpha. Halimeda is calcareous and well-growing clumps can effectively be used as a fence to exclude fishes. Chaetomorpha forms tough tangles of thin tubular structures, looking and feeling much like tough, green, monofilament fishing line. In addition to providing protection from predation, such tangled webs of tubes provide a LOT of habitat space and variability for the crustaceans to live on and in.
In tank refugia are, however, limited by their very nature to being relatively small and, consequently, their production of food exported to the rest of the tank is small. To increase that production, an external refugium is necessary. As these are limited only by the space available and the finances of the aquarists, the refugia may become quite elaborate and some cases very large indeed.
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DT's Plankton Farm
Feeding Begets Food, 2 ... or … Food Production By Design, Using A Refugium To Produce Food For Reef Inhabitants.
By Ronald L. Shimek, Ph. D. (Date unreferenced in this source)
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any aquarists set up a refugium in their sump. They stock this with algae for nutrient export, and sometimes put a deep sand bed in it for biological filtration. In some cases they expect this multipurpose portion of their system to process excess unused food, detritus, and feces in the biological filter, grow algae for export, and produce animals to feed their main tank. In most cases, such multipurpose refugia fail miserably at all three of these goals. It is next to impossible to move sufficient detritus and excess food out the main tank to keep the refugium well fed, and the refugium deep sand bed "foot print" is often so small as to be a negligible factor in the overall biological filter. With little food and nutrients available, the refugium animals starve and their populations slowly vanish.
...
What the aquarist does NOT want to create in the refugium, is a site of active export of nuisance algae or animals to the main tank. This may be avoided by careful monitoring of the system, with the removal of undesirable organisms. Refugia need to be periodically monitored carefully and closely, at least on a weekly basis. This system component generally works quite well to disperse beneficial organisms through main aquarium, however, should the refugium become contaminated with a pest organism, for example, Aptasia, this can be just as efficiently spread throughout the system.
Refugium animals need good foods just like any other animal, and they will benefit from regular feeding. The feedings should be tailored to the refugium both in their size and their content. As many of the animals targeted for the refugium are detritivores, detritus from the main tank would be a good food. Unfortunately, there are detritivores in the main tank too, and they tend to get to the detritus and process it – as they should – before the material can be moved to the refugium. This means the refugium needs to be fed with other more "traditional" foods.
Of all the common animals in refugium, the sand bed animals, and suspension-feeders such as feather duster worms, will likely benefit directly from phytoplankton feedings.Mysids, and to some extent amphipods and copepods, will also derive significant nutrition from direct phytoplankton feedings. The mysids will take the phytoplankton from the water colum directly, the amphipods and copepods will eat aggregated phytoplankton particulate material as it settles out of the water. They will respond as was described the deep sand beds in the first article in this series Aquarists often find it difficult to determine how much food should be added to a tank containing no fish, but that shouldn’t be a problem. For example, the aquarist can roughly estimate the "mass" of all the visible animals in their refugia in "Chromis equivalent" units. This involves scanning the refugium periodically and carefully observing the visible animals. Roughly estimate their total cumulative volume in terms of the size of an average green or blue Chromis, rounding to the next larger number. Then double this value to account for those animals out of sight in the sediment. When feeding, add the amount of food that would normally be added for that number of fish, and disperse it through out the refugium. So, for example, if your refugium looks to have about one Chromis worth of bugs visible, then add one more Chromis equivalent for the buried or hidden animals and feed as if there were two Chromis in the refugium. Feed once or twice weekly. This will help maximize the production of live food for your main tank by providing enough food to keep the animals in the refugium reproducing at full speed.
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DT's Plankton Farm
Feeding Begets Food, 2 ... or … Food Production By Design, Using A Refugium To Produce Food For Reef Inhabitants.
By Ronald L. Shimek, Ph. D. (Date unreferenced in this source)
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Ocean researchers have only recently recognized that bacterioplankton make up a significant amount of the carbon fixation in the sea, since they make up about 11% or more of the microbes found near the surface of seawater (Kolber et al., 2003). This fact suggests that their importance as a food source for coral reefs has probably been underestimated, though early and recent work on the subject does recognize bacteria as a food source (Sorokin, 1973a and b, Bak et al., 1998).
Purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) may be a useful food for such notoriously difficult creatures as Dendronepthya and other filter feeders that specialize in eating microscopic plankton. ... PSB are a non-taxonomic group of several different organisms that have a versatile lifestyle, being able to grow as photoheterotrophs, photoautotrophs, or chemotrophs, depending on the existing environmental conditions. PSB can switch from a metabolism based on the consumption of organic carbon to one based on its production by photosynthesis, depending on the concentration of organic matter in ocean water. In environments that are rich in dissolved organic matter, PSB stop making photosynthetic pigment and simply consume organic matter.
In the aquaculture industry, PSB are raised to help condition water and boost the health of shrimp and other aquaculture products. ...
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The Reef Aquarium. Science, Art, and Technology
Delbeek and Sprung, p 585, 2005
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For many years the conventional wisdom was that overfeeding led to high nutrient levels in the water and algae blooms, both of which were bad for corals. I am finding it hard to reconcile the idea of heavy feeding with the goal of low nutrient levels.
The problem with the conventional wisdom is that it basically treats corals as plants, and unfortunately they are animals. Indeed amongst predators, they have the largest percentage of their bodies devoted to food capture of all predators. You would think this would tell folks something...
While the dissolved nutrients in the water over a coral reef are indeed low, particulate nutrients are not, and most corals, particularly the so-called SPS corals (SPS is a term that really has no biological meaning), are adapted to catch small microplankton. There is a lot of this stuff hitting a reef - estimates range from about 100,000 particles to about 1,600,000 particles with a total weight of between 2 - 15 ounces of wet weight per square meter per day. Most of this blows by any given coral in the breeze but the entire reef top pretty well cleans it out of the water.
Bottom line corals are adapted to feed, and need food for complete nutrition.
Our problem is to balance food input and export ...
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Heavy Feeding, Vacuuming, and Sand Beds
Eric Borneman, Bob Mankin, and Ron Shimek
RDO Library
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Just so people don't get confused, may I underscore the differences in the term "Nutrients" and the various ways corals and other animals get these substances
Nutrients that are the products of photosynthesis. The common symbiotic relationships found with animals and photosynthetic algae and bacteria are an adaptation to this "low nutrient" water. This is typically high carbon content stuff, and a source of metabolic quick energy and much is lost in the production of mucus (which then feeds other things).
Dissolved nutrients; these are things that we measure like NO3-N, NH4, PO4, etc. On the reef, most N is ammonia as nitrate is so low. The levels are very very low. Not so in most tanks, even when measurably low by test kits. If reef waters were higher in dissolved nutrients (excluding some turbid areas), then you would have proliferation of phytoplankton and algae. Corals are successful where dissolved nutrients are low because they both feed heavily on 3 (below) and have the advantage of the phostynthetic symbionts. When nurient levels get high, coral reefs start to lose diversity, eventually disappearing. However, where dissolved nutrients are higher, prey is also high though light is low. In such cases, corals still exist, but they don't form reefs and they are mostly if not totally asymbiotic.
Nutrients derived from prey capture; this is what we are lacking and where corals get such a large percentage of their nutrition. Capturing food. Particulate matter (detritus, mucus, etc.) is dead and a valuable food source. It is less desirable than living plankton other prey organisms because it gets acted on quickly by decomposition which tends to increase dissolved nutrients. However, if the dead particulate matter is not too much (like when sedimentation from storms,e tc. occurs) and remains in the water column, the many mouths will eagerly consume and convert to biomass before degradation occurs. It is also typically high carbon content, but is enriched by bacterial biomass that grows on its surface Live prey is considered "nutrients" in that its consituent matter is part of total organic stores, but does not degrade water quality.
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Heavy Feeding, Vacuuming, and Sand Beds
Eric Borneman, Bob Mankin, and Ron Shimek
RDO Library
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I am often asked questions about fish nutrition and live foods for the reef aquarium, so I wanted to try to write a general overview article on the subject. Therefore, instead of giving you a list of recommended foods to feed your fish, I have decided to take a more general approach and talk about all the different options for feeding a living miniature reef aquarium. The main reason for me doing this is that although fish are certainly an interesting an integral part of many reef tanks, there are a whole suite of other animals that require food as well. Many of the foods that are most important to a reef aquarium are rarely discussed, and are quite often inappropriate or impractical for a fish-only tank. That is not to say that if you have a fish-only tank that you should stop reading this article. Quite to the contrary, I hope that this article will provide some important information to everyone who owns a marine tank, regardless of what you chose to keep in it: fishes, corals, or other invertebrates. However, as I wrote this article, I quickly discovered that to do any justice to the subject was well beyond the scope of a single article, so I will try to cover the subject very briefly in a two part series. Just so that you know what to expect, my next installment of this column will be the conclusion of the article.
So why am I taking the time at the beginning of this article to point out that feeding is not just about fish? Well, because there are entire groups of coral reef invertebrates that feed on things too small for a fish to even see, let alone capture and eat. Those animals are typically called "filter-feeders" and most feed on tiny plants and animals (called plankton) that spend their entire lives floating freely in the water column. ...
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Nutritional Value of Live Foods for the Coral Reef Aquarium, Part 1
Dr. Rob Toonen
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine (December 2003)
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These two general classes of essential fatty acids are Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, which are an essential component of cell membranes, and particularly important in the normal development of eye, nerve and heart tissue (I'll come back to this in more detail below). The difference between these two classes is unimportant (the name denotes their chemical structure), but the fact that they are required for normal growth and development, as well as immune function, is an important thing to know (both for yourself and for your pets). Omega-6 fatty acids are primarily derived from animal sources, while Omega-3 fatty acids derive primarily from plants. Omega-6 fatty acids are generally fed far in excess of their need, because animal fats are commonly included in any commercially available food added to our tanks. Omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, are frequently lacking in the diets of both humans and our pets, and the ratio of the more abundant Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids is typically 4 or 5 (and sometimes as high as 25) times what it would be in nature. Because fatty acids cannot be converted from one basic structure to the other, a proper balance of both classes of fatty acids is important to the health and proper development of all animals, although the exact nutritional requirements vary by species (and most are not known exactly for aquarium species).
... The two Omega-3 fatty acids of primary interest to fish breeders for the past 20 years have been the highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA for short) DHA (docosahaxaenoic acid: 22:6 n-3) & EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid: 20:5 n-3) which are synthesized almost exclusively by marine algae. In fact, one of the major breakthroughs in the aquaculture of marine animals was the discovery that certain highly unsaturated fatty acids were an essential part of the diet, and without them, nutritional deficiencies or arrested development are common problems (reviewed by Watanabe et al. 1983).
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Nutritional Value of Live Foods for the Coral Reef Aquarium, Part 1
Dr. Rob Toonen
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine (December 2003)
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he widespread success of culturing and breeding many marine animals has come only since the discovery of the importance of including these essential fatty acids in the diet. DHA has been shown to be important in the normal growth and development of the central nervous system, and in particular the brain, eyes and reproductive organs, while EPA is important to cardiovascular health and plays an essential role in certain immune responses. Among the common symptoms of EPA/DHA deficiency in marine animals are1) Sudden fright syndrome - shock, convulsion or even death when the animals are frightened; 2) poor vision, and reduced ability to locate prey; 3) worn or mysteriously eroding fins; 4) poor growth rates or sudden massive die offs during early development; 5) low egg viability or infertility; 6) high mortality and disease rates, particularly when under stress (e.g., shipping or acclimation), and 7) inability to properly heal after being wounded (reviewed by Rainuzzo et al. 1997; Masuda et al. 1998; Fredalina et al. 1999; Furuita et al. 1999; Sargent et al. 1999; Ishizaki et al. 2001; Holt 2003). By "enriching" food items such as Artemia with phytoplankton prior to feeding them to the marine animals being raised, the amount of EPA & DHA is often increased to the point that die-offs and developmental problems previously encountered are completely avoided (reviewed by Rainuzzo et al. 1997; Sargent et al. 1999; Holt 2003).
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Nutritional Value of Live Foods for the Coral Reef Aquarium, Part 1
Dr. Rob Toonen
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine (December 2003)
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Well, I've been talking about enrichment throughout this article, but I haven't really given you any guidelines for how exactly to accomplish that enrichment. Let's use brine shrimp as an example, and go through how to enrich your food before feeding it to an aquarium. When Artemia nauplii first hatch (Instar I), they do not have a complete gut, and it is not until they develop to Instar II that the baby brine start to feed. The time of development to Instar II depends on a variety of factors (most importantly temperature, but also salinity), but occurs within 6 to 30 hours after hatching. At 28°C (roughly 82°F) it takes about 8 hours for the newly hatched nauplii to begin feeding, and as the temperature drops, that time becomes much longer. As soon as the nauplii hatch, they begin to digest their yolk and become less nutritious with time after hatching, however, once they reach the second instar, they can begin to feed, and you can enhance their nutritional value by feeding them a highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) supplement that provides high concentrations of essential fatty acids for the health of most marine animals (reviewed by Coutteau and Mourente 1997; Rainuzzo et al. 1997; Sorgeloos et al. 2001).
Many people seem to have the idea that you're trying to soak the nauplii in the stuff to coat them before feeding. While that may be true of frozen foods, it is not particularly effective, and most of the enrichment solution ends up floating freely in your aquarium as dissolved nutrients (just as if you had dumped it into the tank directly) rather than getting into your fish. In this case, what you're really trying to accomplish is to get the baby brine shrimp to eat the stuff, so that they are basically swimming grocery bags full of those nutrients when you feed them to your reef tank. The problem is that baby brine shrimp are very inefficient feeders, and it takes a long time for them to ingest enough of the HUFA supplement that they become "enriched" (e.g., Evjemo et al. 1997; Han et al. 2000; Han et al. 2001). For newly hatched brine at the second instar, it takes at least 12 hours to get decent enrichment - in fact, its much better to enrich your Artemia nauplii for two 12 hour periods (with a water change between them to limit the growth of bacteria in the culture water). To clean the nauplii, simply pour the culture through a "brine shrimp net" (one of the fine, white mesh nets available at any pet shop) and rinse them a couple of times before setting them up in clean water and adding new HUFA. After the two 12-hour feedings of the HUFA supplement, the nutritional value of the nauplii is typically much greater than when they are newly hatched (reviewed by Coutteau and Mourente 1997; Rainuzzo et al. 1997; Sorgeloos et al. 2001).
The same is true of adult brine: they are largely devoid of nutritional value when you purchase them at the local petshop, and it is important to enrich them before feeding brine shrimp to your fish. For live adult brine shrimp, it is relatively simple to enrich them with a HUFA supplement (such as Selcon or Zoecon), and that greatly enhances the nutritional value of these animals as a food for your aquarium pets. Brine shrimp become more efficient feeders as they grow, and as a result, larger Artemia can be enriched in shorter times due to that increased efficiency of filter-feeding. In fact, although live Artemia can benefit from periods of enrichment equivalent to those of the nauplii, adults can be significantly enriched in as little as about 1-2 hours of feeding in a HUFA supplement. Be enriching live brine prior to them being introduced to your reef aquarium, you not only provide a popular treat to your animals, but also gain the maximum nutritional benefit from feeding these foods to your pets.
sakset fra
Nutritional Value of Live Foods for the Coral Reef Aquarium, Part 2
Dr. Rob Toonen
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine (January 2004)
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Reef Aquarium Food
Idea of this is to make a food mixture that will feed everything in a reef tank in one go. Fish (herbivores, omnivores, carnivores), shrimp, large polyped corals, small polyped coral, anemones, brittle stars, fan worms, sea squirts, and so on. It is also very convenient, with a batch lasting a month or two being made at the one time and it just has to be thawed and added to the aquarium.
What actually goes into the food mixture depends on what is available and the type of animals that are in the tank. There is a list of possible ingredients below. The more herbivores there are, such as tangs, then the more vegetable matter you put in, the more suspension feeders then the more small food particles etc. Just adjust to the needs of your reef. As you go along, you will learn what they like, and which you have success with. The great thing about it is that there are so many different foods within the one food source. Therefore there should be something for all the organisms in the reef aquarium, and it also ensures that it is meeting all the nutritional needs of the organisms too.
The easiest way to make it up is in a blender, but you could also do it using one of those hand 'Bamix' type blenders. Make sure though, that it is not reduced to a really fine paste, otherwise there will be no larger food particles for the larger organisms in the reef aquarium. So judgement has to be used which ingredients to add at a particular time in order to keep them from being turned into mush. What I have also done is cut up some shrimp meat up after it has been blended, and the stirred this in to give some larger food chunks. So of the foods it is best to add after the rest has been blended, or chopped up before the rest is added. Points about when each should be added are below in the ingredients list. It is a good idea to add a little water to help it form a thick slurry.
Now you have a wonderful reef food. To keep it as such, so it will last a long time, and can be conveniently used freeze it. There are several ways to do this: in ice cube trays, baking trays, or a plastic bag. The idea is to make it into a size that you can feed to the aquarium for one feeding. Depending on the size of the ice cube trays, you may have to split them in half once they are frozen. Or alternatively just water them down by adding more water to the cubes before freezing. If you do it on baking trays then put down a bit of baking paper first, spread it out around 10-15mm thick and freeze. Then you can either cut it up into the sized required, or break it off as need. With the plastic bag, just lay it out flat and follow as per the baking trays.
This I usually fed once or twice daily to OZ REEF. I place the frozen food into a small glass of water from the aquarium and allow it to thaw. Then using a baster, it is dispersed into the water and then injected into the aquarium. Using the baster it can be directed at specific organisms if the need arises, such as shrimp, corals, shy fish, brittle stars etc.
A list of possible ingredients are as follows, with the amounts that I place in a typical mixture:
Nori
This is dried seaweed, and herbivorous fish absolutely love it. It is used to wrap sushi, so it can usually be found in the Asian section of the supermarket. When you buy it, it is in thin sheets, just a bit thicker than a sheet of paper and is a dark green colour. Get the plain version, not flavoured. The best idea is to shred this first, before adding the other ingredients, when it is dry. And then remove it, blend the other things, and stir into the mixture when it is finished. Add one sheet.
Shrimp
Good stable food for all carnivorous organisms. A few larger pieces are a good idea for larger fish, large polyped corals and anemones to have. This is usually the largest component of the meat part of the food, adding about 10 shrimps.
Scallop
Another good stable food. The good thing about this is that it can be minced up really fine, into a paste. So can be a good suspension and fine food particle feeder to small polyped corals, fan worms etc. Add about 6 scallops.
Squid/Calamari
Most likely cheaper to use squid, but if you can only get calamari then that will have to do. Have to be careful, as this can be difficult for the blender to chop up, and may get wrapped around the blades. Add about 6 rings.
Crab
Another good meat to put in. I have not been able to find any decent crab meat at the market, only the 'seafood mix' stuff, which is really just a mix of cheaper, lower quality stuff.
Octopus
The small entire octopuses are quite handy. They blend up really nice, and because it includes the entire organism, there is a lot of different nutritional value in it. Add about 4 octopuses.
Mussel
Another good food variation. Add about 4 mussels.
Fry Food
This is the small bottled product that is used to start a culture to feed fry. It is a good food source for the fine suspension feeders, such as clams, sea squirts etc. Add one of the small bottles of this, about 10ml.
Yeast
Another good fine suspension feeder food. About 1 teaspoon per mixture.
Flake Food
This will ensure that they are getting all that they require. Add the flake at the end, by stirring in, it does not require blending. It will absorb all the moisture in the mix before being frozen and disperse into small pieces when it is thawed. Add about half a handful.
Bait Fish
Last time I was at the market, I spotted a small, white bait fish so I gave it a try. It seems like it was a good move, as the fish relish these food fragments in the mix. Add about a handful of this.
Vitamin Supplement
This is just to make sure that they are getting all that they require. It is likely this is not required, but I am just making sure. I use a bird multi-vitamin and it is very cheaper than anything directly for an aquarium. Add about a teaspoon.
Brine Shrimp
I plan to use this in the future. Just stir some in after the mixture has been blended. If it is frozen, then thaw out first. Can also use newly hatched brine.
Fish Eggs
I have heard of a few people using these in their mix, just don't use Russian Caviar.
This makes sense though, as an egg has a lot of nutritional value and it is meant to feed a growing organism and tend to all its nutritional needs until it can feed itself. Shrimp Eggs
Saw this mentioned around the traps also.
Mysid Shrimp
Fish absolutely relish this food source, so if you can get them they make a wonderful addition. Stir in after the mixture has been blended.
Chicken Egg Yolk
Another good type of egg to put in. Cook the egg yolk, then just add to the blender. Add towards the end as it does not have to be cut up, just stirred well in. Once again, the egg is to act as a source of nutrition for the growing chicken, so it has a lot of vitamins and minerals in it. Another type of food for the suspension and filter feeders again, as will quickly break up apon injection into the aquarium.
Zooplankton
If you have access to this, they are usually sold as a frozen food from the local aquarium store, then another great food to add. Thaw first, then stir in after the mixture has been blended. If you happen to have your own cultures of this type of stuff, then that can be added.
Bloodworm/Earthworm
Many people like to feed these type of things to their tank, personally I don't like feeding anything that is non-marine to my reef. But, if you feed this, or are comfortable with it then it can be quite easily added. Best idea might be to cut it up and stir into the mixture after it has been blended.
Spinich/Romaine Lettuce/Broccoli/Pea
Same as with the last ingredients, I don't particularly like to feed a terrestrial food such as this, but many swear by it. Might be a good idea to shred these up separately, then stir in at the end so that you have more control over the resulting size.
Anything Else You Normally Feed
Add anything to the mixture that you would normally feed to your reef. And use your judgement to deterime whent to add it, how to cut up etc, so that the correct food particle sizes are aquired.
As you can see, this is quite a list of possible foods that you can put it. But you do not have to put them all it, this is just some examples of what to put in, and some is what I personally use.
So give it a go. You will find it very convenient, and your reef inhabitants will love you for it. Let me know if you think of some other foods that you have tried, I will add them to the list, and the success you have had.
kilde
http://ozreef.org/diy_plans/additives/reef_food.html
