Hard lesson learned in reef tank care

Last night I fed zooplankton by target feeding for the first time and had some very bad results from it. Hopefully the coral loss will be minimal and they heal up nicely. I usually feed reef roids.

Hard lesson learned in reef tank care sentiment_very_dissatisfied 55

Reef tank 9 years ago 102,858 views

Last night I fed zooplankton by target feeding for the first time and had some very bad results from it. Hopefully the coral loss will be minimal and they heal up nicely. I usually feed reef roids.

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Most popular comments
for Hard lesson learned in reef tank care

Brian Miller
Brian Miller - 7 years ago
From Seachem's website
Q: Can I spot feed with Reef Zooplankton or Reef Phytoplankton?
A: With any supplements that are concentrated such as Reef ZooPlankton or Reef PhytoPlankton, it is best to disperse them into the aquarium and “blanket feed” rather than direct feeding as the components or even force applied from spot feeding can induce stress in sensitive coral tissue. They are really designed to be dosed into the tank itself and for the plankton sources to be taken in by the coral polyps from the water column versus target feeding.
gotboost15psi
gotboost15psi - 7 years ago
man you have to get in the habit of reading instructions carefully. No were on the instructions it says to target feed. You do not target feed that product. Nothing wrong with the product at all. ...it is simply user error. Would be a good idea for the company to put a warning label to not target feed.
Jen Mel
Jen Mel - 8 years ago
Ignorance, not arrogance.
World Reef Tank
World Reef Tank - 8 years ago
Nice work I have a Red Sea reefer 450 that is 7 months old now and am enjoying it! I have voice commands to turn on and off devices on the tank!!
prit mak
prit mak - 8 years ago
how hard is it to get the point real quick?
Daniel Weinstein
Daniel Weinstein - 7 years ago
prit mak that's the lesson. How hard it is to get to the point. Duhhhhh
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 8 years ago
+Anthony Parente it is okay to use, but just add to water, not direct feed.
Vee P
Vee P - 8 years ago
do you have some for sell?
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 8 years ago
+Vianey Posada no, sorry
R e e f f r e d
R e e f f r e d - 8 years ago
Like!!
Northwestern Reefer
Northwestern Reefer - 8 years ago
Thanks will do

10. comment for Hard lesson learned in reef tank care

Northwestern Reefer
Northwestern Reefer - 8 years ago
hi I set up my 75 gallon tank about a year ago and I was wondering how do I get started on making videos for it? Any tips.
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 8 years ago
+jeff gilbreath Well I would suggest the first video to be a general, but not too detailed look at the system, then a video showing equipment, then a livestock one, then maybe a maintenance one after that, then continue with semi regular updates on new additions, changes, what you have learned, etc. Enjoy!
Basel Melhem
Basel Melhem - 8 years ago
just buy 5 in 1
Jake Walsh
Jake Walsh - 8 years ago
cyanano bacteria
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 8 years ago
+Tainowarrior00707 Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out.
Me Me
Me Me - 9 years ago
Ps most of the corals i see in there dont need to be feed and will do better without i If you must supp something use fuel and in about have the does they list on the bottle they will thrive
Me Me
Me Me - 9 years ago
Dude i have seen this twice before once because it wad left ouut of the frig to long then returned after it and spoiled found out his refrig door didnt keep things cold enough too the other was old past the freshness date and probebly had been left out too spot feeding this is like a phos amonia douche and will burn more sensitive stuff your trash or scavenger corals dont mind as much
John Lucero
John Lucero - 7 years ago
Me Me it doesn't expire tho and the bottle said refrigeration isn't required I think it wouldn't work as well if it was exhausted or expired but not damage corals you think?
TrapCodes
TrapCodes - 9 years ago
Wow thats weird I use that same product and I been doing great I get a new head every 3 or 4 months on my corals now i feed my corals once a week and target feeding like u did
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 9 years ago
+TrapCodes Maybe I just got a bad batch or used too much.
Cjx0r
Cjx0r - 9 years ago
I'd stop feeding them all together. I'm not familiar with every species of coral you have in that tank, but from what I understand through all the information I've gathered, they don't really have to be fed directly. On top of that, I think you'd have less algae growth if there was a smaller excess of uneaten food. I've also heard that when feeding coral, you'd want to sprinkle it with a dab of food (about 1/10th of what you intend to feed them) and then several seconds later when they start to react to the food, you hit them with the rest.
Erick Montiel
Erick Montiel - 9 years ago
Thanks for sharing your experience, learning from others mistakes makes you to take good decisions in reefing. Liked and subscribed!
Scxrs- 6
Scxrs- 6 - 9 years ago
plz subcribe me and check out my channle

20. comment for Hard lesson learned in reef tank care

AbstractXD
AbstractXD - 9 years ago
Wait so how did the corals die?

Expired food?
Ammonia burns?
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 9 years ago
+BoredYetCA Not 100% sure, but pretty sure it was from spraying them directly with zoo plankton.
Tyler Mikos
Tyler Mikos - 9 years ago
this explains why my palys and zoas look like theyve been burned, you should email seachem and bitch for some money. id be so pissed.
Tyler Mikos
Tyler Mikos - 9 years ago
i target fed my chalices, and it burned a hole right through them while the pumps were off. BAD ON YOU SEACHEM
Tyler Mikos
Tyler Mikos - 9 years ago
DAMN same thing happened to me. They make phyto and zooplankton. GOOD VIDEO
Cactinae Co
Cactinae Co - 9 years ago
If I were you I would not dose with the flatworm treatment. I would pick up a blue sapphire damsel and toss it in. You won't have any flat worms after the little BSD gets in there.
itcha tit
itcha tit - 9 years ago
I also target fed my montipora frag with the same product Seachem Zoo-plankton. Same results "burn" or "bleach" the following day. I emailed Seachem suggesting to revise the labeling. They replied with an apology, said it was a concentrated product and would consider revising the lableing.
Reefer Nanoman
Reefer Nanoman - 9 years ago
I target feed reef chili three times a week on both my 28g and 10G tanks, with no issues. What looks like what happened in your case was probably an Ammonia spike, since you probably fed too much. Or maybe the food was expired. Did you check your levels? Because you didn't mention it. So, target feeding can be done, but it has to be done carefully. Who's the tank doing anyways?
gil
gil - 9 years ago
This is highly likely not an issue of the food especially the Phyto, likely it's something else like a lighting issue. I target feed my corals all the time with the same stuff and have never had an issue with any type of coral.
Miami_Guy
Miami_Guy - 9 years ago
I had the same problem with that exact product. I was talking to a lfs owner and he told me the PH on those products of phytoplankton and zooplankton is like acid. Target feeding will burn and melt the coral tissue. Dosing straight into the water column is better. I target fed high end Zoas and palys and a lot of them melted over night and others lost color and did not open for months and they were never the same after that.
Terri Viola
Terri Viola - 8 years ago
+Miami_Guy Thanks for sharing... didn't know that!
ibepressin
ibepressin - 9 years ago
Leave me alone!! Baitin!!

30. comment for Hard lesson learned in reef tank care

Alex Kingcole
Alex Kingcole - 9 years ago
Too much food at once,caused a shock. P04 and N03 raised to rapidly and highly to cause them to close up. Check your skimmer make sure its rated for your feeding.W.C. 20%. good luck been there done that.
Jeremy B
Jeremy B - 8 years ago
+Alex Kingcole  Yeah makes sense...
kevin helfrich
kevin helfrich - 9 years ago
this is good to know. learn from other's mistakes. i had a similar experience with target feeding Reef Nutrition's "Oyster-Feast". it burned several of my corals. my chalice looked like it actually had tissue burned off, but healed up in a couple weeks. my Jason Fox Jack-O-Lantern Leptosaris got some white patches that aren't really recovering. I blame myself and didn't read the instructions. it says to dilute in tank water and i fed full strength and squirted onto the corals and let it sit there, causing the burning.
mitelefonoes
mitelefonoes - 9 years ago
Hello how your corals doing ?same happen to me with the same product my bird nest a green montipora and a devil hand look burn
mitelefonoes
mitelefonoes - 9 years ago
+cdnstudman ok waiting for update
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 9 years ago
Hey, most things healed up nicely with no lasting effects. My finger leather has some scarring but could be due to magnesium crystals getting on it. I will be doing a main tank update this week, so stay tuned to see my system.
Reefphreak
Reefphreak - 9 years ago
Good info. Thanks for the share. Maybe it's a be careful what you target feed? Seeing as some corals did fine and not others. Weird.
TheFishTank Doc.
TheFishTank Doc. - 9 years ago
Looks strange. Can't see how any thing would cause that over night. Hope things recover.
REEFER JAMES
REEFER JAMES - 9 years ago
Wat up Stud Man,    Say, Doesn't look like burning, looks like they are all bleaching out. Just curious bro, what kind of lighting are you using above? you never really show your lights. Are the lights too low? are they 4 bulb T-5's ??? A four bulb T-5 fixture is a very powerful fixture and should be used with caution over 55 gallon tanks and lower. Have you tried raising the lights farther up? Also, I do not think it's the plankton, however, like you stated, most corals are photosynthetic and really do not need nothing but light and elements soley from the water itself. If you must target feed, the recommendations from sea chem are highly over-rated. Cut down your target feeding to once a week or every two weeks and use half of what your using. I realize some time has past, perhaps you have already figured out what was wrong?    
REEFER JAMES
REEFER JAMES - 9 years ago
+cdnstudman Could very well be that the plankton was bad or had something in it and not the lights but was just wondering. Yes, a lot of people say there is no need to target feed, That statement, (As you obviously know), is not 100% politically correct. For it is a known fact that there are many corals that have feeder tentacles for a reason. I was just wanting to know how you were feeding, not implying you didn't know what you were doing my friend. I am also in the process of setting up a 33 long frag, questioning is high on my list right now for that reason alone. Hey!  hope you stay out of trouble with that darn frag tank!   :-)  
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 9 years ago
Hey, thanks for the comment. I am quite sure it was the zooplankton as it happened within hours of the target feeding with it, and the corals were fine before doing it. The lights are a cheap Chinese light with the name SeaWorld on them. These lights are LED and could not burn corals, but even if they could, they had already been over the tank for several months with great reaction from the corals. I doint target feed very often as I am always reading online about people that never do and their corals do great without it.
Buddy Sheroka
Buddy Sheroka - 9 years ago
That sucks happy reefing
sbazain
sbazain - 9 years ago
good to know!
Freddy Delgado
Freddy Delgado - 9 years ago
I used this product all the time .. Actually very often and never had a problem .. I'm pretty sure is something else
Freddy Delgado
Freddy Delgado - 9 years ago
What did u mix it with ? Acid lol ?
Garry Thomas
Garry Thomas - 9 years ago
Don't think its the food, have you checked your Alk?
Dingo2031
Dingo2031 - 9 years ago
THANK YOU FOR UPLOADING MORE <3 <3 <3 Lol no homo
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 9 years ago
Thanks, no homo taken
Gene Alameda
Gene Alameda - 9 years ago
Seems weird the target feeding would have that affect. I've used the same product for target feeding with no issues, but you got me freaked out now. Glad I switched to coral frenzy pellets. Bernie looks at home in there
My Little Hobby
My Little Hobby - 9 years ago
I am actually wondering if this is what happened to my big plate coral that got damaged on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHx6JaW3S98 back in June. I can't recall if I fed with this or not, but one thing for sure is that I will never make that mistake again. On a side note, I sometimes feed good old regular marine pellets to some corals and that seems to make them happy.
NYCity Cichlids
NYCity Cichlids - 9 years ago
Bernie looks good in there.
NYCity Cichlids
NYCity Cichlids - 9 years ago
Hope everything goes back to normal.

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