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So lets kickoff the next century of posts with a unique topic, food for corals.
Food for corals is essential, just like the lights in your tank. What you would feed is the symbiotic algae known as polyps. These polyps would in turn provide nutrition and energy to secrete calcium carbonate.
For the most part, polyps feed on zooplankton, the tiny critters that roam your tank. But they also get their nutrition from prepared foods that are found on store shelves. Things like Cyclop-Eeze, oyster eggs, Reef-Roids, Reef Chili, Coral Frenzy, Rod’s Food, and different forms of bottled zooplankton.
But, I have a better self-sustaining ‘product’ that I will experiment with to feed my polyps. Is it Phytoplankton? Nope. Enhanced Zooplankton? Nah. How about live shrimp eggs. Bingo!
You see, shrimp in captivity produce eggs all the time. They are hermaphrodites, which means any pair of shrimp can reproduce eggs. Includes are most known shrimp that we house; cleaner, blood, coral banded, peppermint, with possibilities in other types of shrimp. The frequency of their production depends on the size of the shrimp. So the bigger the shrimp, the bigger the clutch of eggs. These eggs could be easily seen on the underside of the shrimp, near his little legs.
So theory on all of this is to use shrimp as a great coral food source. By having 6-20 different types of shrimp in my system, I can attain consitent source of nutritious food for my corals. For example, if one shrimp can release eggs on one day of the week, the rest of your shrimp could ‘work’ the remaining days. So in theory you can have eggs release on every day of the week. Your corals would love you! You should look at your shrimp if you have a pair. There is a good chance that they are holding eggs.
So while my shrimp are young, I am getting them plump and ready for their adulthood. Because its hard labour for them the rest of the way! I hope PETA didn’t read this last comment!
Anyway, happy reefing reefnecks!
Trained by the thirteenth ring master of the Sian Xiuang Coral Temple. Currently is apprenticing the art of Acropora shaping in the ancient tradition of Ninja Fragging. Known as the SPS hero!
Are you using a kit? Looking forward to the next update.
Not really. I developing a method to house them in a refugium and display tanks. This way when they release eggs, the corals will have instant food.
Are you going to post on this topic again? We’ve done this in the office a couple of times but didn’t have the benefit of using refugiums at work.
Oh yes I will. I am gut loading my shrimps right now. I do have to collect other species of shrimp, so its still pending. I will also try to take some pictures of the fat and eggfull shrimp.