Fertilizing Coral

Is it a good idea to fertilize ( feed ) coral ? Mine looked better before I started. I have a 10 gallon nano & do a weekly water change. I'm beginning to think that, besides my water change, I'm better off to let Mother Nature do the rest.

Thanks,
Oceansurf.

 

You are correct. Feeding is usually not necessary and most are filter feeders and get what they need from the water column, not foods. Supplementing or feeding in a nano system can quickly lead to pollution and problems, stick with regular water changes with a good salt mix and let nature do its thing.

 

All I have is soft corals.

frogspawn
Kenya tree frag
mushroom
button
ricordea

Like I said, I do a weekly water change & give them 8 hours of light per day. 8 hrs./day may be too much. By that time, they are closed up & looking pretty sickly.

 

Thanks for your help. I was thinking, by the looks of my coral, I shouldn't be feeding it. I feel badly because I already fertilized them today, but NO MORE !

 

Those will all get what they need when you feed the fish and inhabitants.

Make sure the frogspawn is not close to any other corals, it has long sweeper tentaciles and can sting other corals to death. By long I have seen mine reach out 6" or more in all directions. Its probably not a good choice for a 10 gallon with limited room since it needs plenty of space.

Are you running some carbon in yoyr filter? You should be as many corals emit low levels of toxins that can affect other corals, especially species of leathers which can kill SPS and LPS corals such as your frogspawn. you may have some chemical warfare going on you don't know about and carbon will help.

 

I didn't have charcoal, but I do now.
I remember, when I first began salt water, I had the most beautiful frogspawn ! It was on a rock @ one side of my tank. It draped down over that rock & down to the substrate. Everyone commented on it. Now the poor thing has tiny bubbles on one side & nothing on the other.
By stopping the fertilizing & putting in the charcoal, I hope I can save it.
Thanks for your help.

Ocean Surf.

 

Do a series of water changes using RO/DI or distilled water and making sure the temperature and pH are very close to what is in the tank. You probably have water quality problems and as we all know "the solution to pollution is dilution".

 

You must have read my mind. ( lol ) I usually do my weekly water change on Saturday, but I am going to do it this afternoon. I figured that may dilute some of the chemicals I have been adding.

When you say a series of water changes, exactly what do you mean ? How many ? How often ?

 

10 to 20% maybe every other day for a week or so should improve things.

Make sure the parameters like pH and temperature are very close though, it doesn't take much to really alter 10 gallons of water.

 

How long do you leave the bright lights on ? I leave mine on for 8 hours.