How to Feeding for Reef Keeping - Step by Step
Step-by-step guide to Feeding for Reef Keeping. Includes time estimates, tips, and common mistakes to avoid.
Feeding a reef tank is more than dropping in food - it is a balancing act between nutrition, coral growth, fish health, and water quality. This step-by-step guide shows you how to build a practical feeding routine for fish, corals, and invertebrates using target feeding, broadcast feeding, and nutrient control.
Prerequisites
- -A fully cycled saltwater reef aquarium with stable salinity of 1.025-1.026 SG
- -Basic test kits or digital checkers for nitrate, phosphate, alkalinity, and pH
- -A mix of suitable foods such as frozen mysis, pellets, nori, reef roids, phytoplankton, or coral-specific feeds
- -Feeding tools including a turkey baster, pipette, target feeding syringe, algae clip, and thawing cup
- -Knowledge of your livestock's feeding style, including herbivores, planktivores, LPS, SPS, filter feeders, and scavengers
- -Return pump and powerhead controls or feed mode to temporarily reduce flow during feeding
Start by listing every fish, coral, and invertebrate in the tank, then group them by how they naturally feed. Tangs, rabbitfish, and some blennies need regular algae-based foods, while wrasses, clownfish, and anthias usually do best on meaty foods such as mysis, brine, copepods, and quality pellets. LPS corals like acans and scolys can accept target-fed meaty foods, while many SPS rely more on dissolved nutrients, fish waste, and occasional broadcast coral foods.
Tips
- +Use the mouth size of the fish or coral polyp as a guide for food particle size
- +Feed a varied diet instead of relying on one food source every day
Common Mistakes
- -Assuming all corals need direct feeding when many do not benefit from large meaty foods
- -Ignoring herbivores and underfeeding algae eaters, which often leads to aggression or weight loss
Pro Tips
- *Feed frozen mysis and similar meaty foods through a strainer when phosphate control is a priority, since excess thaw liquid can contribute avoidable nutrients.
- *If you keep anthias or other high-metabolism planktivores, use an auto feeder for a small midday pellet feeding to maintain weight without overwhelming the tank.
- *For LPS target feeding, start with food pieces about 2-4 mm wide for medium polyps, then scale up or down based on how quickly each coral closes and swallows.
- *Run a feeding test by measuring nitrate and phosphate before a new coral food routine, then again 24-48 hours later to see how strongly that product affects your system.
- *If fish are healthy but nuisance algae is increasing, reduce total food by about 10-15 percent and increase export through skimming, filter sock changes, or refugium maintenance instead of stopping feeding abruptly.