Most corals have photosynthetic zooxanthelae in their tissues, which utilize the sun (aquarium lights) to feed the coral. But all corals will benefit from feeding as well.
There are quite a few good coral foods out there, ranging from frozen, to bottled, to a dry powder. They will all work but I have used several that I know and trust.
This post is not about how to feed your corals, but rather which foods we recommend to beginners.
Personally, I try to target feed all of my corals about once a week, but other hobbyists do it a bit more or less.
There are some corals out there which are not photosynthetic, and those need to be target fed daily.
You can broadcast feed your corals, which means just pouring the food into your water column and letting the current carry it to your corals.
But you can also target feed which involves using some sort of baster or syringe to push a small amount of food directly into each coral.
Here are a couple options for target feeding.
5. Two Little Fishies Marine Snow
The term ‘marine snow’ is used in the marine biology field to refer to suspended plankton in the ocean. This “marine snow” is an important source of nutrition for all filter feeders, including corals.
Two Little Fishies is a company started by Julian Sprung, who has been at the forefront of the saltwater aquarium hobby for decades.
This product can either be broadcast fed or target fed, but I have often heard it is best fed at night when the feeding tentacles of corals are most likely to be out searching for a meal.
This is not a live food product, so you don’t need to worry about storing it in the refrigerator or using it quickly.
4. Coral Frenzy With Probiotics
Every hobbyist will have their favorite coral foods, but if we are being 100% honest, many of them are similar enough that we can’t notice much difference!
Who knows whether the addition of probiotics is helpful for your fish and water, but it sure sounds trendy right?
Coral Frenzy is a high quality powdered coral food that you mix with tank water to feed to your corals! It’s as simple as that.
I like to turn my return pump off and add a little to the tank to entice my corals. then I come back in 20-minutes and target feed each coral.
3. Feliz Reef Coral Food
I love this stuff! I have been working with Feliz Reef since before this food even hit the market, helping to test various iterations.
Here is what I love about this coral food:
- The primary ingredient is land based black soldier fly larvae that feeds on food diverted from landfills. That means it is quite environmentally friendly.
- My corals love it, and so does my feather duster worm.
- The entire package, including the label, is 100% biodegradable.
- And its made in the USA!
A little bit goes a long way with this stuff, so the 2 oz package will last and last.
2. Benepets Benereef Coral Food
This is another dry powdered coral food, and really the only reason it ranks higher than the others is because I have several hobbyist friends that swear by this stuff.
It claims to have more prebiotics, probiotics, vitamins, and superfoods than any other coral food on the market, and that may well be true.
At the end of the day the big question is, “Do my corals love it?” And from what I’ve seen, the answer is a resounding “yes!”
1. Polyplab Reef Roids Coral Food
The current heavyweight champion of the reefing world, in my opinion of course, is Reef Roids from Polyplab. This is probably the most used and well liked powdered coral food in the USA, and maybe abroad too.
According to Polyplab, what really differentiates their product from others is that they don’t use any processed fish meals which will break down over time and degrade the water column. Rather, they utilize several species of marine plankton.
While all of that is well and good, you just can’t deny that corals love this food, you will see a lot of polyp extension, it is affordably priced, and has a proven track record of success.
