Dendronephthya sp. Discussion

[KeithM]

Thought it is about time we started a discussion on Dendronephthya sp. corals. There are few of us trying to keep these corals and currently on this board with Chuck Stottlemire currently holds the title for being the most successful (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-02/feature/index.php), so it would nice to have a thread to collect everyone's thoughts and experiences. There are still a lot of unknowns and guess work, but hopefully we will be able to get to a stage where we will know what these animals need to thrive.

I'd like to hear opinions from all reefers whether you have kept these corals or not. However, please say where you got your info from (book, your own thoughts, other discussions etc) so we can also see what myth/truths are floating around.

So to start things off, and probably the question that everyone asks is: What do Dendronephthya eat?

[Kreeger1]

my dendros seem to eat and like reeds shellfish diet. my oldest dendro is 8-9 months now in my tank
Erik

[KeithM]

Hi Erik, thanks for replying.

Would you mind expanding a little? I have a few thoughts on the Reed Shellfish diet but I'd like to hear a few other opinions first.

What is inside the Reed shellfish diet? Do you know the species of phytoplankton and what size they are?
As a preserved product, what is used to preserve it?
Do you know if this product is sterilised?

[sandfordb]

Iused to feed mine on a mixture of coral vibrance, UltraminF, Ultraseafan and ultrapac to bind it all together, for me it worked very well the red dendro grew to a good size. I kept it for around 6 months but then i passed it on due my water quality slowly getter worse by the constant feedings. If i was using the ULNS method and had a better simmer at the time i probably would of kept it.

Good idea on the thread Keith.

[KeithM]

Hi sandfordb, I want to actually move away from talking about specific food products and talk more about what they actually eat. In the products you used, what parts do you think the coral actually ate? why did you use those products? what were you trying to simulate?