How often do you feed your Dendro's?

[MikeD88]

Is once every 3 days good enough? I used to feed them every day and got amazing growth, but I felt like it was causing me to over-feed the tank. What do you recommend for feeding schedules on Dendros?

 

[seascape]

i do mine every other day,but every 3 days is fine as long as you feed them good.

 

[subielover]

Usually at least twice a week for my colony.

 

[stunreefer]

Yes, every 3 days is fine.

Do you only have one colony (the one in your avatar)?

Feeding a few polyps every day shouldn't harm any system... I have 50 + polyps (between five colonies) - I used to feed everyday but nutrients shot through the roof when I downsized my tanks so now I'm down to every 3 days or so.

 

[MikeD88]

Yes, every 3 days is fine.

Do you only have one colony (the one in your avatar)?

Feeding a few polyps every day shouldn't harm any system... I have 50 + polyps (between five colonies) - I used to feed everyday but nutrients shot through the roof when I downsized my tanks so now I'm down to every 3 days or so.

Yes, this is my only colony. That picture is old... its 8 heads total now, 5 full size, 3 medium. How much do you feed each polyp? I was doing half cube of mysis for the colony and the other half cube to the fish.

 

[subielover]

Yes, this is my only colony. That picture is old... its 8 heads total now, 5 full size, 3 medium. How much do you feed each polyp? I was doing half cube of mysis for the colony and the other half cube to the fish.

What size tank was that?

 

[MikeD88]

What size tank was that?

Its a 29 gallon biocube

 

[subielover]

Yeah that is a small tank to be feeding a cube of mysis every day. Like others said every 2-3 days should be fine, the growth will slow but your water chemistry should be more balanced.

 

[stunreefer]

How much do you feed each polyp?

I feed each polyp at least one P.E. Mysis shrimp. If you're not familiar with P.E. Mysis they're huge compared to other brands.

I feed more than one cube of Mysis to my ELOS Mini (20 gal display), however cube sizes do differ based on brand. I break off (from a flat pack) a 1.5" x 1.5" piece of P.E. for the large polyped meat eaters, and a 1" x 1" piece of Hikari Mysis for my Tubastrea faulkneri colonies.

 

[reefdan]

you can always feed them pellets if you don't want to foul the water.

my buddy showed me a cool trick of sinking pellets down to them by dropping them down a piece of 1/2" PVC pipe.

 

[Leishman]

Never feed mine

 

[Zoacrazy]

This thread remines me just what I
needed to do. LOL

 

[stunreefer]

you can always feed them pellets if you don't want to foul the water.

True, just make sure they don't contain copper (Spectrum does). Just for feeding fish, not a big deal, but I'm skeptical feeding a food with copper in it directly to coral.

However I rinse the heck out of the P.E. Mysis, and every piece that goes into the tank goes into a corals mouth, therefore there's really no "fouling" persay of the water.

 

[subielover]

Definitely, just make sure they don't contain copper (Spectrum does).

What????!!!!???:neutral:

 

[MikeD88]

I feed each polyp at least one P.E. Mysis shrimp. If you're not familiar with P.E. Mysis they're huge compared to other brands.

I feed more than one cube of Mysis to my ELOS Mini (20 gal display), however cube sizes do differ based on brand. I break off (from a flat pack) a 1.5" x 1.5" piece of P.E. for the large polyped meat eaters, and a 1" x 1" piece of Hikari Mysis for my Tubastrea faulkneri colonies.

Never seen PE mysis, but it sounds like it would make everything alot easier. Ill try to find some tonight. You just do 1 per polyp?

 

[subielover]

True, just make sure they don't contain copper (Spectrum does). Just for feeding fish, not a big deal, but I'm skeptical feeding a food with copper in it directly to coral.

What????!!!!???:neutral:

Nevermind, I just read up on it a bit and not nearly as concerned. You did have me worried there for a minute though.
Copper Sulfate - New Life Spectrum Fish Food Forum

 

[JR's Reef]

I need to feed mine more but I forget about the poor guy :(

 

[stunreefer]

What????!!!!???:neutral:

Yes it's in there, but really nothing to be worried about. The amount is to ensure proper fish health and won't hurt your reef... how many times have people seen shrimp devour Spectrum? They never have ill effects... I just don't risk it with my coral.

Here's a quote from NLS website:

"In order for the fish to thrive all nutrients have to be met in the correct proportions, such as: Calcium, Iodine, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Iron, Copper, Zinc, Manganese, Selenium, Chorine, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Vitamin A, B6 & B12, C, D2 & D3, E, K2 & K3, Pantothetic Acid, Niacin, Biotin, Thiamin, Riboflavin, folic Acid, Myoinositol, Omega 3 & 6, all amino Acids: Arginine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Trytophan, Valine."

Quote taken from: Basic Fish Nutrition

Nevermind, I just read up on it a bit and not nearly as concerned. You did have me worried there for a minute though.
Copper Sulfate - New Life Spectrum Fish Food Forum

LOL, yep you beat me to my post. As Pablo mentions in that thread, Copper is even in the salt we buy, just in very small amounts. Call me crazy, but I just don't like feeding it to my coral ;)

 

[stunreefer]

Never seen PE mysis, but it sounds like it would make everything alot easier. Ill try to find some tonight. You just do 1 per polyp?

Yep, they're huge, you'll see...

Here's their site that might help you locate someone that sells it: Piscine Energetics Inc - PE MYSIS - fresh water shrimp

Just make sure to rinse it well... it's VERY oily. I generally thaw it in cold tap water under the faucet, then rinse in RO/DI water. Then I'll toss it into a cup with tank water and use my Kent SeaSquirt to feed it off.

 

[sexycorals]

I feed my colony 3 times a week ... and they are doing great .. !!