Getting Chalices to feed better

[Alpha Aquaculture]

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?

definitely a positive feeding response. the chalices cant just suck in a lot of water to filter the water for food like sponges. they try and only suck in the food. when i feed smaller particles and let a cloud of food sit on top of my chalices they will catch this food cloud with their slime coat. then they slowly pull their slime coat web of food into their mouths.

 

[Akwarius]

definitely a positive feeding response. the chalices cant just suck in a lot of water to filter the water for food like sponges. they try and only suck in the food. when i feed smaller particles and let a cloud of food sit on top of my chalices they will catch this food cloud with their slime coat. then they slowly pull their slime coat web of food into their mouths.

I thought thats what was happening. Do you see more positive growth from feeding smaller particles or large?

 

[fsu1dolfan]

definitely a positive feeding response. the chalices cant just suck in a lot of water to filter the water for food like sponges. they try and only suck in the food. when i feed smaller particles and let a cloud of food sit on top of my chalices they will catch this food cloud with their slime coat. then they slowly pull their slime coat web of food into their mouths.

Wow i didnt think that a slime cloud was a good thing but i guess that makes sense...i gotta see if i can find a pic of that.

 

[xmetalfan99]

definitely a positive feeding response. the chalices cant just suck in a lot of water to filter the water for food like sponges. they try and only suck in the food. when i feed smaller particles and let a cloud of food sit on top of my chalices they will catch this food cloud with their slime coat. then they slowly pull their slime coat web of food into their mouths.

I always thought the slime coat was a defensive measure and took that as a bad sign when feeding my corals. I need to retry the cup feeding trick since that is what happened when I fed that way.

 

[Akwarius]

Wow i didnt think that a slime cloud was a good thing but i guess that makes sense...i gotta see if i can find a pic of that.

That's why its good to ask questions and not assume things. Especially when you witness your chalice ingesting its own slime.

 

[Rayzback]

+1

I've been doing that with my smaller frags as well.... no uneaten food (specifically dirty cyclopeeze) ends up in the tank.

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