Do you know that most coral polyps have a distinct mouth, except soft corals and xenia corals, which absorb the nutrients instead of eating them? It is sometimes easy to forget that corals are living creatures with a complete digestive system and require food to live. For a long time, people used to believe corals aren’t alive at all!
One of the main confusion points in reef keeping is understanding what to feed the corals and how to keep them alive and healthy. There are so many food options available, but to find out the best food for a reef tank, it is necessary to go through food requirements and the role of nutrients for corals.
Here is everything to know about nutritional requirements; use the best coral food to feed your reef tank. Let’s dive right in!
What is Coral Nutrition?
Designing coral nutrition is a unique combination of science and art, where you get to pick the best food options for your reef tank. There are so many misconceptions regarding how to feed coral reefs, but with some good research, you’ll find that it’s no rocket science at all. You’ll end up with a reasonably well-maintained aquarium, even without professional help, just by going through the research we’ve done for you.
Previously, arranging a closed saltwater aquarium was nearly impossible. How can you imitate an oceanic environment in a small fish tank? Turns out, it can be done, more or less. All one needs to do is understand how to take care of corals, especially lighting systems, water currents, and dietary guidelines. Knowing more about these points makes maintaining corals in tanks easier. Although it is not possible to 100% replicate the oceanic environment in the tanks, planning a specific feeding regime and food and exposing the tanks to controlled lights can help.
Different Corals Have Different Nutritional Requirements
Corals are of different sizes, shapes, and types, and the nutritional requirements for each one of them are different. Every coral polyp has a mouth, which is large and singular or small in size- some even have multiple mouths. Because of this different mouth size, the size of the food particle matters a lot. So, when you’re planning what to feed your corals, you need a complete analysis of the types of corals and their preferred food type.
The Primary Classification of Coral Food
The most basic classification of coral food is; bacteria, zooplankton, and phytoplankton. Certain types of bacteria, probiotic bacteria, are the best coral food for SPS corals, for example, Acropora. These corals use bacteria as food, or it helps in triggering a natural feeding reaction in the corals, helping them live.
Next is phytoplankton, which somehow looks like greenish water. Usually, corals with small, multiple polyps, such as soft corals and SPS, are fed on phytoplankton. These types of corals can also live on small invertebrates such as copepods.
Zooplankton is the last option for feeding your corals. These are microscopic crustaceans such as copepods, Mysis, or even krill. In a natural marine ecosystem, zooplankton is the most important food, feeding small corals to massive blue whales. Interestingly, zooplankton itself feeds on phytoplankton. And this phytoplankton naturally grows in sunlight and other indirect sources. All this creates a perfectly natural cycle, but things are different when it comes to a small coral tank.
What to Feed a Coral Reef Tank?
There are many options to feed your corals, but the best coral food for a reef tank is mostly phytoplankton or very small-sized zooplankton. Small polyp corals prefer eating phytoplankton mainly because they can easily pick it up. At the same time, the massive polyp corals prefer zooplankton more.
If there are mixed corals in your reef tank, feed them on a mixture of phytoplankton and zooplankton obtained from various foods. This different sized feed will be sufficient for all coral to get its nutritional requirement.
Don’t ignore the fact that just like fish and other pets, the corals in your aquarium also need certain nutrients for their growth and life. This feeding corals process may be complicated, but once you know which type of corals you possess and their nutritional requirements, planning their food gets easy.
Direct and Indirect Feeding
There are two ways to feed corals; direct and indirect feeding. Usually, corals get their necessary nutrients from sunlight, but if you keep them in a tank, they might become malnourished. In that case, you have to feed them extra nutrients! Either a natural food or company-manufactured coral food will serve the purpose well. While you feed them, don’t forget to change the tank speed to low (or better if you can turn it off entirely). It will help corals to feed themselves.
If you have a spacious aquarium with good biodiversity, following an indirect feeding routine is a better idea. In this method, corals receive their nutrition from the food that you give to other organisms in-tank such as fish. Once the fish consumes the food, corals feed on their organic compounds to sustain themselves. This includes small scarps of food, bacteria, or the leftovers.
For this indirect feeding, having large size fish such as tangs is a feasible option. This way, both fish and corals can co-exist, like in the marine ecosystem.
Importance of Sunlight
Coral reefs require sunlight for their survival. The vibrant colors of these reefs are given to them by the zooxanthellae algae which live on them. These algae need sunlight for photosynthesis and thus their survival. In the absence of light, the algae will most probably die, and corals will lose their colors. Experienced aquarists tend to replace solar light with artificial light, or they place their tank in a position where it can get plenty of sunlight for a few hours every day.
The light should never be ignored while installing an aquarium at home. Or else, the reefs and algae are most likely to bleach out or turn brown, losing its natural colors.
How Often to Feed the Corals?
Corals show an interesting feeding response when brought closer to the food. If you happen to put the food near these corals, you may notice the small feeding tentacles coming out from LPS corals, which are otherwise invisible.
Now turn the pump off when you feed corals so that the food can directly fall on the coral, and it doesn’t have to struggle for it. These tentacles will hand over the food particles to the mouth. If approaching corals is a problem for you, try the target feeding using a small feeding pipe. Give at least 10 to 20 minutes for the corals to eat, after which you can turn the pumps on. Feed them daily, just like your fish and other pets.
Food Options for Corals
The natural food options for corals are zooplankton, which is loaded with fatty acids, trace elements, and enzymes. Usually, large public aquariums prefer feeding live zooplanktons to their fish and corals. But these living zooplankton need cultivating first along with algae. However, baby brine shrimps are the best coral food for reef tanks, whether commercial or personal. Some people even hatch the brine shrimps’ eggs at their homes to feed their corals.
The second option is to go for commercially prepared coral foods. These foods are a proprietary blend of essential nutrients required by corals. It may contain amino acids, vitamins, enzymes, and even oyster eggs or zooplanktons such as rotifers or copepods.
The third option is to prepare DIY coral foods at home using a combination of food sources.
Whichever food you choose for your corals, make sure to feed them correctly and if you are unable to do it by hand, try the target feeding. Don’t waste too much food by throwing it into the tank. Only feed a small amount of the selected food through a small feeding pipe without polluting the tank.
In Conclusion
Feeding corals is a lot trickier than how it looks. Based on the size, type, and the number of the corals, you may choose the best coral food for a reef tank, which is feasible and budget-friendly for you. Don’t feed them based on your tank size or the amount of water inside.
Feeding too much food can cause algae to bloom, where algae will take over your entire tank. Eutrophication will destroy your beloved aquarium, so aquarists beware! Feed a small amount of food a couple of times a week and check the response of corals. Keep a close eye on sanitation, water quality, and lighting. Eventually, you will see that the right type of food will end up showing beautifully colored corals growing and enhancing your tank’s beauty.
We hope this article was useful and informative for you! Corals are unique, beautiful additions to aquariums, indeed. Share this article with your aquarist friends if they’re confused about feeding their corals!
