Is there such a thing as "over feeding coral"?

Redneck19261

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I spot feed my coral brine shrimp once a week and the day after I broadcast reef roids and phytoplankton. I was just wondering if it's possible to over feed your coral. Thinks in advance.
 

intricate_reefer

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I feed my lps mysis, Benereef, and a 5 in 1 product with proteins, amino acids, fatty acids, carbohydrates & vitamins every other day, I mix it all together. Mostly chalices and acans, I have never see them spit anything back out and I get good growth. I’m sure it’s possible to over feed but I don’t thinking just from the broadcast feed it will hurt any of your corals. I like to give the corals a break from eating to process stuff so I don’t normally feed two days in a row though. Nutrients are something you have to keep a close eye on when feeding corals. I test twice a week and dose phosphate E for po4, my nitrates always stay stable. I really only feed this much because my fish don’t eat a whole cube of mysis, I find it easier to just feed the whole thing everyday rather than cut it in half and save it.
 
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ScottR

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Corals only eat when they want to. Some types do eat more than others and they may try to take in food but won’t if they don’t want to eat. But keep in mind, you’re feeding other unwanted things in the tank as well. Also, spiking nutrients.
 
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Redneck19261

Redneck19261

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Corals only eat when they want to. Some types do eat more than others and they may try to take in food but won’t if they don’t want to eat. But keep in mind, you’re feeding other unwanted things in the tank as well. Also, spiking nutrients.
Seems like my coral wants to eat all the time. But I manly feed twice a week
 
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Redneck19261

Redneck19261

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I just wasn't sure if I was feeding to much if possible or if I wasn't feeding enough
 

BloopFish

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Overfeeding can be worse than underfeeding due to nutrient issues that it can cause if you go overboard.
 

ScottR

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I just wasn't sure if I was feeding to much if possible or if I wasn't feeding enough
Non photosynthetic corals usually need daily if not multi feedings per day. But others can photosynthesize enough energy and don’t need to be fed much. What corals are you feeding btw?
 
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Redneck19261

Redneck19261

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I feed my yuma, acan, torch, rock nem, blasto and candy cane brine shrimp. I broadcast reef roids and phytoplankton for the zoas the day after. I only do this once a week.
 

ScottR

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I feed my yuma, acan, torch, rock nem, blasto and candy cane brine shrimp. I broadcast reef roids and phytoplankton for the zoas the day after. I only do this once a week.
Once a week wouldn’t be considered overfeeding. I was assuming you were feeding 3x a day or something like that
 
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Redneck19261

Redneck19261

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No I was just courius about the consequences of it and if I was feeding to much or could I feed more stuff like that.
 

ScottR

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No I was just courius about the consequences of it and if I was feeding to much or could I feed more stuff like that.
You’ll first realize you’re overfeeding when algae and nitrates take over and kill your tank. If everything looks normal and heathy, nothing to worry about. I feed my NPS corals daily and rarely feed the others. I use reef roids twice a month maybe. I’m sure most corals get enough food when I feed frozen to the fish. So I don’t even sweat feeding them really.
 

HawaiianReef

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You can't hurt your corals by feeding them too much. They only eat what they need. On the other hand, you could hurt your tank by adding too much organics through overfeeding. So, your overfeeding will be to the tank not the corals, that is if you dont have adequate nutrient export to keep up with your feeding. If your changing your filter floss/socks regularly and your skimmer can keep up with your demands. Or your fuge is adequate, your algae reactor is large enough... You get the idea. Import lots of food - export lots of waste.
 
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Redneck19261

Redneck19261

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You can't hurt your corals by feeding them too much. They only eat what they need. On the other hand, you could hurt your tank by adding too much organics through overfeeding. So, your overfeeding will be to the tank not the corals, that is if you dont have adequate nutrient export to keep up with your feeding. If your changing your filter floss/socks regularly and your skimmer can keep up with your demands. Or your fuge is adequate, your algae reactor is large enough... You get the idea. Import lots of food - export lots of waste.
Thats why I only feed once a week. I have a 13g all in one with no skimmer. And I do a 1g water change every sunday
 

HawaiianReef

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It's going to depend on how much of the food is actually being eaten by your livestock, this includes cuc. The only way to know if your overfeeding, is by testing your water from time to time. But you need to keep testing. You cant just test for a few weeks. You have to keep checking up on it later on as well.
As your tank progresses and the animals grow, their demands for nutrients will change. So keep checking your parameters. Keep a log detailing the food and frequency of your feeding along with your test results. That will give you good insight to your nutrient build up before you run into problems like, hair algae, cyano, etc.
 

LDJ

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I fed my beginner corals reef roids and the following day all we’re closed up and have been that way for several days. I wonder if they couldn’t handle being dosed in the food. I usually feed reef roids one day per week and 3 days later with some AB+. Your thoughts ? I’m checking my water levels daily and do a 15% water change weekly. 32 Gallon AIO.
 

Double monti 61

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I add some pe Calanus,mysis and a combination of dry food that I grind up on a daily basis to feed my one fish and coral usually between 6 and 8pm my hermit crabs, peppermint shrimp and sexy shrimp like to eat them I give calanus one night and mysis the next but I will mix them at times along with some dry food or just dry food and I will skip feeding once and a while no problem!
 

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