If you want to know what do soft corals eat, read on. You’ll discover that this coral will feed on algae, zooxanthellae, snails, dissolved organic matter, and more! Learn more about what they eat and why you should feed it to achieve a healthy, colorful reef! Here’s a quick guide to soft coral diets! Listed below are some of the most common foods for these corals.
Contents
zooxanthellae algae
Soft corals are known to live off the tiny algae called zooxanthellae. These algae live within coral tissue and are vital to the coral’s health and reproduction. Unlike most corals, they cannot grow without the help of zooxanthellae. The algae help corals remove waste, providing oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nutrients. The zooxanthellae are found in the photic zone.
Coral polyps are the host of zooxanthellae. The algae create organic matter by photosynthesis and transfer it to the coral host. This organic material meets 90% of the coral host’s nutritional and energy needs. The remaining 10% comes from external sources, such as plankton. Inorganic carbon is available in seawater, and zooxanthellae feed on these by-products.
Soft corals also contain a high number of zooxanthellae to help them survive. These organisms live in the water column and enter coral polyps through their gastrodermal tissues. They communicate with each other through translocation of metabolites. Corals also secrete calcium carbonate. These two substances help corals survive and thrive in different environments. So the right combination of zooxanthellae and soft corals can help a reef grow.
Snails
If you keep soft corals in your aquaria, you may have noticed that your marine snails are eating your soft corals. Snails are predatory, and these snails chomp on the coral polyps, leaving visible scars and sucking up their fluids. It has been known for some time that predatory snails can cause damage to corals, but scientists have missed the evidence until now. For instance, one study compared corals with and without snails. Researchers estimated that the snails reduced coral growth by 20 to 40 percent.
Some snails are stronger than others, and many snails can climb onto and off rock work. Some snails are not sturdy enough to climb, and some can even fall off rock work. Keep an eye on your snail if it does not move for a few days, as it may be dead. You may want to remove it and keep it away from the aquarium until you are sure it has died. A few days of observation may be enough to determine if the snail has died.
Oyster-Feast
If you’re looking for an excellent food supplement for your soft corals, try Dr. G’s Oyster-Feast. This food is a unique blend of oyster ovarian tissue and oyster eggs. It’s an excellent choice for small corals, since it is size-appropriate and contains high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and protein. Unlike many other soft coral feeds, this product is not heat-treated, meaning it will remain in suspension until you’re ready to use it.
Oyster-Feast is best used in aquariums with soft corals in the first few weeks after you purchase it. It’s a natural food, but it should be refrigerated to maintain the highest quality. When you’re first starting out with soft corals, you can buy commercial products or try a homemade version. You can also use natural foods, such as garlic, to add additional flavor to the food.
TDO Chroma Boost
TDO Chroma Boost is a pelleted or granulated fish food that top-dresses soft corals with Haematococcus algae, which are good sources of astaxanthin. The food can be broadcast or directly pipetted onto the corals. The recommended dose is one teaspoon per 100 gallons of water. The formula is suitable for both small and large fish.
This food is highly digestible and fast-growing, which means that it can be added to the aquarium without causing any problems. Reef Nutrition’s Oyster-Feast contains concentrated oyster eggs and ovarian tissue, a food that triggers a strong feeding response in soft corals. TDO Chroma Boost for soft corals contains Haematococcus pluvialis, a hardy algae that is right-sized for targeted feeding. Corals are among the longest-lived species in the world, some of which can live up to 4,000 years.
Reef Nutrition offers highly concentrated zooplankton feeds, and their two Little Fishies brand produces shelf-stable powdered phytoplankton food. The company also sells Shellfish Diet, a powdered live food with high diatom content for non-photosynthetic soft corals. Another company, Seachem Laboratories, produces Reef Phytoplankton, which is a shelf-stable live food.
