How does everyone get their chalices to feed? I feed all my LPS at night when their feeders are out. Everything eats well except for my chalices. My Miami Hurricane used to eat like a pig, but not its acting just like my other chalices and not eating a thing. They have their feelers out, but they won't eat. Any tips, secrets, or advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Getting Chalices to feed better
- Thread starter xmetalfan99
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I cut a bottle in half and tried to use that to cut down flow. I feed PE mysis. I have tried reef plankton and cyclops as well.
dakotasreef
Prestige Worldwide
Do the chalices have some space between them? Could it be going after another chalice or coral?
I usually only feed with my tank lights on...so my chalices generally dont have feeders out. I use a baster to place food on some of the eyes...with flow turned off! Some of my chalices eat more than others but once it sits on the eye they will eat it.
There is about 3" of space between all of my chalices and the corals around them.
I thought it would work out well since the flow would be drastically reduced to almost nothing. I guess I need to try without the pumps on.
stylaster
Reefer since '90
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Pacific Northwest Reefers
What has been working for me is oyster feast, add a small amount to the tank and in about 30 mins the chalices feeding tentacles are out. I then spot feed them a mix of mysis, and brine shrimp. I usually do this during the am before the lights come on so the fish dont steal the food
I'll have to try that as well. That is another reason why I feed my corals after lights out. My fish are always wanting more food. They get fed 3 times a day too.
Wow 3 times a day is a lot - Do you notice the chalices eating any of the food then?? That might be why they do eat - might be full!! I tend to feed my tank every other day.
Alpha Aquaculture
Designer Clownfish Hatchery
Whatup! I don't feed PE Mysis anymore to my chalices. If you look at the thread linked below you will see I started feeding the PE on page 1 my small chalice frags can't eat it. Now I only feed smaller particles, the biggest being cyclops eeze and lps pellets. I add diff types of eggs, phyto and zooplankton mixes, amino acids, vitamins. Its all on page 6 of this same thread. When I first get some chalice frags they are unhealthy and don't eat. You have to coax the eating behavior out of them as they get healthy. If you've had your chalices for a while I'm guessing they don't like what your feeding them if they are not eating it. Good luck! Show us some pictures :)
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/ge...8-wow-my-chalice-hungry-target-feeding-6.html
When the water is very still and the mixture is put right on the chalice to sit for at least 30min or more, even small chalices can get a large amount of food in their mouths.
New frags eat less because they are still healing.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/ge...8-wow-my-chalice-hungry-target-feeding-6.html
When the water is very still and the mixture is put right on the chalice to sit for at least 30min or more, even small chalices can get a large amount of food in their mouths.
New frags eat less because they are still healing.
Viva'sReef
Valuable Member
My trick for the smaller 1/2" chalice frags is a bit tedious but it works great.
I take the feed(Mysis, pellets, etc.) and put it in a small glass or cup with some tank water.
I remove the frag to be fed and place it into the glass.
Swirl around the water so the feed becomes suspended in the water of the glass.
The food will swirl in the middle of the glass and fall ontop of the frag.
Leave the frag in the water for about 20 min to eat what it can.
Place frag back in tank
It can also be done with larger colonies that are unmounted, just use a larger container/Tupperware
I take the feed(Mysis, pellets, etc.) and put it in a small glass or cup with some tank water.
I remove the frag to be fed and place it into the glass.
Swirl around the water so the feed becomes suspended in the water of the glass.
The food will swirl in the middle of the glass and fall ontop of the frag.
Leave the frag in the water for about 20 min to eat what it can.
Place frag back in tank
It can also be done with larger colonies that are unmounted, just use a larger container/Tupperware
Viva'sReef
Valuable Member
FWIW I have been using the Hikari Mysis since it is much smaller than the PE mysis. This seems to work much better for the smaller frags
I used to use Sallys mysis but as my acans and other lps grew larger, i figured bigger would be better.
I tried this out on all of my chalices last night using Sally's mysis. Only one of them ate anything. On to alpha's way.
Akwarius
2500 Club Member
Tons of useful feeding info here. That glass method is crazy!
I noticed that when I feed finer particle foods to my chalices they excrete some sort of slime. Is this a positive feeding response or some sort of defense mechanism?
I noticed that when I feed finer particle foods to my chalices they excrete some sort of slime. Is this a positive feeding response or some sort of defense mechanism?
Not sure but usually any coral that starts to slime is a defense mechanism...maybe there is too much food or the chalice doesnt like it.
This happened to me with the cup method for all but one chalice. SLimed over and didn't tough a thing.
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