Week 39: Feeding corals - Do the claims meet expectations? | 52 Weeks of Reefing

It's Week 39 of 52 Weeks of Reefing, and this week we are feeding our corals, and sharing with you why you may want to do the same.
#BRS160
Corals are unique in that many can have both autotrophic and heterotrophic traits. Meaning they can produce their own energy utilizing symbolic zooxanthellae. Zooxanthellae are single-celled protozoans which live within the corals and utilize nutrients abundant within the corals tissue like carbon dioxide and light. There are also various ways corals can commonly capture nutrients or prey. The polyps, tentacles, or sweepers directly capturing the prey and ingesting it. They can uptake dissolved organic matter directly through their soft tissues cell walls and the corals mucous membrane can capture prey or even stream out a mucus into a larger array to capture prey.
So do corals require direct feedings in the reef tank? I think the most basic answer is generally no. Most common corals will survive just fine off good lighting and particulate foods generated from feeding the fish. However simple survival isn't the only goal in the reef tank. Most of us want to maximize growth, health and support general metabolic function like tissue repair and ability to fend of disease or parasites.
So the real question isn’t do you need coral foods to have a successful reef tank because I think we all know that not to be the case; It’s can we use foods to promote healthier, faster growing and disease resistant reef tank?
Follow along to find out on this week's episode of BRStv!
Do you feed your corals? If so, let us know in the comments area down below!

[@ameenalyousef2336]

These guys are the best.. I recommend them if u r a newbie to the hobby

[@lunes-1]

I concur👍🐟😇

[@tsurro8086]

Who doesn't luv to watch their corals eat? Feels like feeling my kids when they were baby's!!

[@hadee1768]

T Surro what do you feed your coral?

[@ezcompany]

Shrimps = bane of coral feeding.

[@phorce01]

Doesn't miss a beat, I'd imagine this took one take too. Brilliant brother, brilliant...

[@reborngarage1]

Damn man so much information!! I feel that after I see the brs160 I will be able to call my self a marine biologist 👨‍🔬 😂

[@InappropriateReefer]

Another amazing video. It'd be awesome if you guys could tackle some of these topics in the future: - Coral Compatibility, which corals can be placed in close proximity and which combo would cause issue - Cleanup crew selection, which type of snails and do we want hermits in our tank? - Experimenting on what causes Bubble Tip Anemones to bubble, seems to still be a mystery

[@reeflivebeareraquatics8180]

I think id appreciate more what make bounce shrooms bubble hahahaha.

[@FishOfHex]

BRS Reef Chili every week, I like to use Julian's Thing. Great video as always.

[@jennifera.anderson7649]

I agree with Coral feeding 100%. In my last tank I used Julians Thing for target feeding. I saw amazing results in growth and color intensity. I'm in the process of setting up a new tank and plan to feed on a regular basis once I start stocking the tank. Thanks Ryan for all the valuable information you provide for us. BTW Reef Chili is my favorite go to food and the Red Sea Vitamins are a great addition.

[@3DEditor]

on my first reef tank over a decade ago I was a beginner in the hobby. I made the mistake of having the skimmer off only while feeding, then turned it back on after 20-30 minutes. I didn't target feed, and I failed to turn off the hob filter. I also never turned off the u.v. sterilizer of which I never knew I didn't need in the first place. The results were a short lived life for starving corals. If I were to try coral aquarium again, I'd do a lot of things differently.

[@3DEditor]

+BulkReefSupplyCom 40 gallon with full spectrum compact flourescents and actinic when those kind of lights were pretty expensive. I ran a cheap hob bacpak skimmer too. there wasn't much choices in quality skimmers back then either. I even tried miracle mud with callurpa. I sure didn't know what I was dping then, even when feeding them wet coral food.

[@3DEditor]

+BulkReefSupplyCom I've been thinking about trying another reef tank, no larger than 40 gallons. Right now I have 150 acrylic setup just sitting without fish, because our neighbor caused a major flood in our entire building, negligently placing heavy items on a shelf next to his hot water heater, shelf buckled, heavy items came toppling onto of the heater, busting pipes. Long story short, had to drain my tank and sell my fish asap. I was very upset since I had my tank running for 4 years without any physical problems and invested $600 in the fish I had to sell and got only 3rd from what I invested in. I enjoy having larger fish in a FOWLR aquarium system, but it is a lot of work. If I was to keep my current setup, I may try the vinegar dosing method to help keep nitrate levels down, because 3rd water changes every two weeks, biopellets and sufficient enough skimmer and water flow wasn't working. although I had only 3 medium size carnivores in the tank and several chromis they still were very active with healthy appetites. I only fed once to twice a day, just enough to keep each fish happy and full.

[@NickSLZT]

Have you guys done any videos on adding phytoplankton and how it effects the growth of corals?

[@imaboarder182]

@bulkreefsupply please do phytoplankton

[@Wkegge]

I hear "Hello my name is Ryan" in my sleep now.

[@sultanmehmoodghaznavi6312]

LOL

[@kgrea9296]

Lol

[@AcuaTV]

Loved the tips for target feeding, will use them with my Reef Chili I got from you guys last week!

[@karennation3580]

I have been using reef roids and reef chili sometimes adding oyster feast. I feed them yesterday with chopped up scallops and man what a difference in my acans and duncans. Today the acans are about 2 to 3 times the size they were! No lie! Whenever I gave the chili or roids i dont think they really ate it! When I added the oyster feast it made it kind of buoyant as well! I I wll only use those types of food for certains corals now! Its scallops all the way! My fish like it to and very easy to chop up!

[@akhilennium]

This is very informative.... Super like 👍

[@kristupasvanagas1342]

Sure is educational, regards from Lithaunia!

[@robertmcgraw9208]

Feed my hammer, frogspawn, chalice and others 3 times per week. Most of the time they get enriched brine shrimp and all the microscopic particles produced when thawing the block. Since I started target feeding, growth has exploded. I went from 2 heads on the torch and frog to 4 and 5 respectively in 5 months. They are also budding at the trunks now. I have to say, it wasn't just the food. Pushing the harness to 11 made the biggest difference. Like you said, water quality and light are first. They are the fuel and engine. For most, food is just a turbo.

[@Jstn190]

I have noticed after using Red Sea A+B increased PE and growth on my sps along with my acans. For the price you can't go wrong, and its much more affordable than the blue bottle solutions!

[@Collins811]

I love the reef nutrition a/b but the recommended dose is waaay to much. I noticed my nitrates went up by 5-8 ppm after a couple recommended doses

[@marinela591]

Hoy often you use the ab+??

[@SarahMSexton]

Thanks for the great tips! I would really like to know if you lost any of the corals that you added to the tank in weeks 35, 36 & 37. There's nothing more frustrating when you acclimate multiple corals at the same time and some thrive while others seem to die overnight.

[@sastre308]

Combine the Reef Roids or Reef chili with fuel works really good.. I normally do fuel wait about 15mins and add in the coral food before the lights turn off

[@alexserrano7138]

What is fuel???

[@aquawhitereef]

I loved to use "Reef Bugs" but will also have to look at the others now too.

[@sillysalmon110]

BRS, you guys seriously need an online store that provides to Australia. Even a shipping service. Funnily enough with the amount of coral and fish we can get here for our reef tanks the supplies of general aquarium bits and pieces do not nearly match anything you have on your website.

[@lauraholmes9353]

Canada too!

[@NYCityCichlids]

Thanks for the info.

[@ramhemi75]

I use to use "snow" my corals loved it. Even the fish ate it

[@michaelknight1939]

HAHA! I ordered some reef roids and brs chilli from y'all earlier this week! Should be getting it Monday! My corals just aren't growing as well as they used to in my older tank that ran 5ppm No3 and 0.03 po4. My new tank (same corals) runs "undetectable", so I've been really feeding alot of LRS, Coral frenzy, rotifers, cyclopeeze, mini mysis, etc.. but I just didn't have the "right" stuff... My colors are decent kinda pale, but growth is lacking under my Leds supplemented by t5's (pretty much the same arrangement of lights that BRS runs over the 160... Floating canopy and all!!). Right at 200 par on the Sand bed in a 24" deep 150g mixed reef, and after watching 52 weeks of reefing I'm thinking about dialing them back some... Maybe there is too much light for the amount of nutrients available in the tank? Hoping feeding more helps me my corals out!!!

[@johanngarcia7290]

good video ryan...AWSOMEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! KEEP GOINGGGG!!!!

[@turbocpt1]

ALRIIÌIGHTYYYY THEEEEEN. what's up with the repeating characters? Face palm..

[@richardstanley7897]

Hi BRS, Great video! Loved seeing the trick with the two liter bottle. I will need to use it on my open brain coral. On that note I cannot get my Trachyphyllia radiata to open up to feed. I have had it for about 5 months now and have tried target feeding and broadcast feeding with it and no luck. All my other corals are thriving. I use a combination of Seachem Fuel and Reef Roids. Any ideas on how to get it to eat?

[@dennyr123]

I think coral feeding is great depending on the species of coral.. For example I have seen in the past a lot faster growth from duncan coral when fed vs not fed. Feeding zoanthids I don't see that much growth increase over just supplying good flow and lighting.

[@dougdstecklein]

I didn't feed my corals for the first 3 years my tank was running. I started feeding them every night about a month ago and everything seems more colorful and so much happier. Reef roids, mysis, super brine.

[@bobbyrodgers2211]

WEEK 1 OF A NEW 180 GAL TANK NEW CORAL FEEDING REEFROIDS,OYESTER FEAST, MIXED WITH PHYTO. WILL UPDATE IN A FEW WEEKS. BY THE WAY THIS IS MY FIRST SALT WATER TANK AND IT IS 5 MONTHS OLD WITH ALL BABY FRAGS

[@ModForez]

I've been building my tank along with you guys.....I got a good look at costs. I also can not thank you guys enough.... I have a 40 gallon innovative marine.... I got the tank last and stand for 50$ 10$ in silicone..... 50$ return pump... 20$ tubing and fittings, 200$ Ai prime 120$ hydor skimmer 80$ dry Rock 50$ live sand Reef energy a&b 20$ Reef mature pro 35$. Water @ .89 c per gallon 40$. Mount for Ai prime 35$.... Three 5 gallon water jugs 30$ Two 5 gallon buckets home Depot 5$ Water test kits 35 each for saltwater Master and Reef Master. Food 10$ flakes 10$ frozen shrimp 10$ pellets Power strips 20$ Turkey baster 2$ Power heads x2 80$ Heater 50$ Two clowns 50$ 10 hermits 19$ 5x5 trocus and asarius snails 30$ Two touch coral frags 50$ Two Kenya Trees 20$ Favia frag 25$ Zoas 3 kinds 30$ Yellow head blennie 25$ Activated carbon 8$ Media bags 12$ Phosphorus Media 12$ Towels x3 10$ Calcium & alk buffer 12$ Ph buffer 12$ Misc ~100$ 1357 for a 40 gallon tank (i got the tank and stand for 500 less than retail.) Sitting in front of my tank and watching my creation....... Priceless.

[@jessicahuffman743]

Thats awsome! how did you get that tank so cheap????

[@ModForez]

+Jessica Huffman it had a small leak in the back corner... I slapped some silicon back there and it's fine

[@jessicahuffman743]

+Matthew Redmond Thats awsome!!! You got a great deal!

[@ModForez]

+BulkReefSupplyCom no thread, I will post a video once the kids go to sleep.

[@zoeith6]

BRS is the best.

[@janeneimgrund6211]

I'd sure like your opinion on feeding Alveopora and keeping them alive.

[@freddy-b]

I use Red sea and my corals are doing fine.

[@NickSLZT]

Have you guys done any videos on phytoplankton reactors?

[@TheGroove834]

I have a starry blenny that loooooves those LPS pellets.

[@cryptobulldog2563]

First another great video with an awesome beard. Your still lacking in the facial beard theme of BRS. What are your nitrates and phosphates at. I bought the marinepure block from you guys and i am struggling to get nitrates over 0. I see this tank has a ton of those bricks in the sump. Are you dosing nitrates? My sps have lost color due to no nutrients in the water. I have started dosing amino acids and that has helped bring some color back. Thanks for the reply good sir!

[@bif24701]

The Zeovite method keeps phosphate so low? Just the media in a reactor? Wow

[@zebrapleco7895]

Are you guys keeping all of the frags that you showed in the previous videos in this tank?

[@PP-rq7ly]

Hi, I currently have a 13-gallon reef tank, upgrading in a few more days to a 40-gallon one. My little aquarium is packed of soft and LPS corals. I used just 5 of times "reef-roids" but I've seen that it pollutes the water making algae to come aggressively. What alternative could be best for me?? I'm new into the hobby.

[@jessicahuffman743]

I wish you guys would have tested coral frenzy. I have tried every coral food on the market and get the best results from coral frenzy. Also, I love shopping at brs. I buy everything I can from you guys. Are you guys ever going to sell Seachem products? I use a lot of Seachem and I would love it if you guys started selling them so I can get all my reef supplies from brs!!!!

[@jessicahuffman743]

+BulkReefSupplyCom I have a mixed reef, but mostly sps.

[@jessicahuffman743]

+BulkReefSupplyCom Thank you for answering me!!! If you guys do start selling Seachem try fuel. It is one of my favorites.

[@wmkbmk9895]

So if I have a bottle of reef chilli but I don't have the little spoon that comes with it to measure how much to add to the water. Is there another way to mix it. Or do I need to buy another bottle ?

[@jeremyb5740]

When he talk about how long to keep the pumps off while feeding. He mentions something about longer the better and that 15 minutes isn't realistic around the 12 minute mark? Is that saying you need to have to pumps of longer than 15 minutes....

[@nonfunctionalslackfill]

What would be the VERY fist coral you would recommend for a new hobbyist(me)?

[@Mcrichalot12]

Cauliflower colt coral, a type of soft coral. That was my first coral and it's been through a lot with my tank as I was learning. It's now massive and takes up a good portion of tank - fast grower

[@douglaslee1990]

How often do you guys feed your corals? I am always afraid of over feeding the tank.

[@dol13fan]

what's you favorite food to use with auto feeders for fish & corals? BTW Is the inverted pyramid hand sign your company logo? heh

[@SPL-6]

Please do a video on Josh's tank.

[@SPL-6]

***** That's the "Clownfish Harem Tank" video! I didn't see Josh's tank.

[@andrewhales9771]

+BulkReefSupplyCom Wrong link.

[@evaneversole8546]

I mix reef roids with water in a very concentrated manner so it is thicker consistency and put it on my acans is that good? They seem to eat it but I don’t know if it would help

[@ldballoon4]

Live shrimp walking on coral. Here we go -a no no. See the diatoms coming out on the sand edge!

[@ldballoon4]

+Alex Kingcole Is that a peppermint shrimp?!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[@rleclerc87]

Big words

[@rgvreefers4865]

Coral at 4:56? just curious cuz I got a similar piece at a frag swap.

[@rgvreefers4865]

BulkReefSupplyCom thank you!!!

[@flyboysmb]

How are you using the KZ nano, how often, how much?

[@beej1254]

I actually watched the really old video on reef chili earlier. Now this one is out...what ever happened to the other guy?

[@gb3496]

Do frogspawn and hammers "eat food"?

[@googIereallysucks]

Are there any studies about feeding acro's?

[@moayeedahmed]

This guy doesn't blink; does he?

[@KennethCherisol]

has anyone had experience with dr. g's coral food and caviar?

[@sultanmehmoodghaznavi6312]

I never feed corals. feed them with expensive lights and readymade dosing. most LPS just need good light and reef salt

[@jt411]

But if you spend $200-500 on high quality lights, what's another $20-$30 to have them grow even better adding foods.

[@irishlad7458]

Dude do I have to feed my corals everyday like reef energy plus its costing me a fortune and reef pulse I use 100 micron socks and they are brown every day I change them

[@BRStv]

A vast majority of corals are photosynthetic and do not necessarily require regular feeding.

[@wildwelshpete]

wish the reef chilli was available in the UK :-(

[@wildwelshpete]

Hopefully, it looks great stuff from what I've been reading I'm new to keeping marine aquariums after many years of just tropical freshwater, your videos have helped a lot Thank you and keep up the good work :-)

[@sobisas]

hey, i just inherited a 120gal reef tank and i would like to perform my first water change on it. I do not know what brand of salt was being used before. is this an issue?

[@sobisas]

ok, thank you.

[@josephhathaway1151]

What kind of crab is that moving across the front of the tank at 8:10?

[@josephhathaway1151]

+BulkReefSupplyCom ahh cool, I actually had an emerald crab in my tank but had to get rid of him because he was munching on my coral!

[@jamesharden158]

What type of lighting is this?

[@jamesharden158]

BulkReefSupplyCom thank you, y’all are so helpful, I’m planning on setting up the tank very soon

[@ehehehehe2815]

do you need a sump to start a marine aquarium ? can you use a canister filter for a marine aquarium ? plssssssssss answer !!!

[@KennethCherisol]

You might get away with a canister, but if you want to add other equipment to your setup it would be difficult without a sump. I would recommend a sump so you can have a decent protein skimmer and experiment with different set ups.

[@ezcompany]

not necessary at all, but definitely recommended. do some reading and research on all in one tanks and compare it to tanks that are drilled/plumbed.

[@ehehehehe2815]

***** well i started my reef and it is 3 gallons !!! i do every week water changers and i have a tiny tiny protein skimmer and a filter for a 20 gallon tank and bio balls !!!! will it work???

[@KennethCherisol]

If you manage to keep a 3 gallon reef tank going well for a year I'll be extremely impressed. The smaller the less forgiving. I have a 30 biocube and it requires as much attention as kid. Is it a fish bowl? Good luck

[@ehehehehe2815]

+Kenneth Cherisol nope it is not a fishbowl!!!if you want to see my reef check out my channel ,this is my channel!!! My led light broke and we ordered a new one thanks got i did not aded any corals!!! And plss subscribe !!! Plsss

[@johnnysxc1073]

How often do u feed corals?

[@shanefernandes846]

Zooxanthellae is a type of algae and not a protozoan as mentioned at 1m 44s in the video

[@milkspotscausemetospazzout6813]

What's the coral called at 4:59 ??

[@BRStv]

I can't recall exactly, but looks like a Leptoseris of some sort.

[@thecritter5589]

What is the coral in the close up at 4:00?

[@thecritter5589]

Thank you....thought it was a chalice.....it is a stunner!

[@pointnozzleaway]

pretty sure they have forgotten this video now

[@BRStv]

Nah... we still like it. :P

[@KennethCherisol]

Heres a link. It comes in a bottle and you keep it refrigerated. Seems convenient but wanted some feedback before I try it. www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/caviar-max-detail.cfm

[@milkspotscausemetospazzout6813]

These guys are good but they never answer my questions ..

[@BRStv]

👋

[@milkspotscausemetospazzout6813]

Thanks lol

[@motoflatdrag]

Ge some decaf dude.

[@JeriDro]

You're a simple blend!! >:( jk :)

[@davidcoombes-pearce4533]

Mices ??? Singular is mouse, plural is mice. Maybe it's an American thing.

[@BRStv]

Lol. We're talking about "mysis" shrimp. Sometimes KZbin auto captions are silly. 😜

[@adamferguson506]

This content is great but my lord it just feels so abrasive with the semi-yelling production.

[@popeyechrist9541]

>o0

[@adatewithnature8333]

why is e yelling at me?