Making DIY coral food.

[+FluxCapacitor]

Does anyone here have experience with this? I was just watching a Tidal Gardens video where he fed a coral a large store bought shrimp:

This got me to thinking, while I do have some "reef chili" to feed my corals, I've been using frozen mysis. Would it be healthier for my corals to blend up some whole shrimp?

What other fish products at the store are good to add to something like this? I'm going completely out on a limb here wondering if this is even worth trying to do. If it's not I will continue to buy premade coral foods but I wanted to know if anyone here has made their own foods before.

Edited July 21, 2016 by FluxCapacitor

[Sascha D.]

Does anyone here have experience with this? I was just watching a Tidal Gardens video where he fed a coral a large store bought shrimp:

The video shows someone feeding an anemone a large shrimp. He didn't feed any corals that I noticed. I've fed anemones shrimp before, but they normally spit it out unless it fits completely in the mouth. The video makes it look cool, but it'll probably end up in the sand. I've tried homemade coral food recipes and I've seen people make their own coral foods. They feed the cyano and algae more than the corals.

[+FluxCapacitor]

It's not an anenome.

Also, that was my main concern. Meaty fish related products may not provide the complete nutrition that a coral may receive in the ocean. I'm guessing premade coral foods are best?

My orange plate and acans eat frozen shrimp like crazy. The fungias eat ridiculous amounts of shrimp during feeding time..... so this is what got me thinking that other corals may enjoy the ground up fish products.

Edited July 21, 2016 by FluxCapacitor

[Sascha D.]

I guess they're technically corals since they're in the order Corallimorpharia. This is the only species in the genius Pseudocorynactis. It's basically a SPS coral, without the skeleton, polyps like an anemone, and sticky like a Venus Fly Trap. The ocean is full of crazy stuff.

[mFrame]

Yes, you can go to seafood markets or the fresh counter at your grocery store to get ingredients to make your own fish food (that's how several of our sponsors got started). Items like squid, shrimp, and scallops make good raw ingredients. Make sure to get fresh, you don't want any preservatives. Once you have your mix, dice or blend to your desired size.

What this guy did, feeding an entire shrimp, is actually a really bad idea as foods should be fairly small. Our corals and anemones will eat large items, but it's not good for them. This is because a large item can rot within them before they can fully digest it. For years I've target fed my anemones specifically to provide the resources they need to grow larger and faster than they would using only photosynthesis. When they get hold of something too big to eat they'll often expel it, which takes energy and leaves a big piece of something in the tank. I keep a decent clean up crew, but hate the mess and extra nutrients ended up somewhere other than where I targeted them.

[+FluxCapacitor]

Thank you Mike.... I might try it out just to see how it works. I was also thinking with the coral's soft tissue it might become torn trying to swallow something big with a shell on it.