How to target feed LPS with agressive eaters in tank?

[pammy]

How do you keep aggressive eaters (fish, shrimp, etc) from stealing the food when you try to target feed your LPS ? The only LPS I really target feed, is my Sun Coral and my Duncan.
I have a Coral Beauty that just goes nuts trying to steal the food from the corals when I target feed them. I target feed the LPS as soon as I put food in the tank for the fish, but the CB still goes nuts trying to steal the food as I'm giving it to the Sun Coral and Duncan. He'll ignore the food in the tank to get whatever I'm putting on the coral from the turkey baster, even when it's the same food. I try to stand guard and bat him away, but nothing deters him, and he's not afraid at all. Very bold feisty fish! I've tried covering the coral with a tupperware container with holes poked in it, but I can't even get it on fast enough after I put the food on the coral with the CB. I also have 1 shrimp in the tank....a peppermint shrimp. He has taken up permanent residency next to the Duncan. He knows I feed it every other day, and I can feed the duncan mysis, and the duncan closes up and takes the food, but the shrimp goes digging inside the duncan to steal it away. I even feed the shrimp itself with the turkey baster, and he happily pulls the food right out of it, but the second I turn around, he's still digging in the Duncan to steal the food. I tried once pulling the Sun Coral out of the tank and put it in a tupperware with tank water, and some food, but it didn't really open up and take any. And it's kind of a pain since I have the sun coral and duncan in a nice spot on the rocks. Anyone have any other tricks that might help? I did see a video where someone fed their Anemone using 1.5" diameter tubing, and I thought if I could find a really wide tube, that could work. That Coral Beauty drives me crazy enough when I try to feed the corals that I have thought about bringing him back to the LFS, but boy is he hard to catch!! He is really beautiful though and he doesn't bother any of my corals other than stealing the food at feeding time. I don't have a problem with my other fish when feeding my LPS.

Thanks!
Pam

[dkone]

You can try to get a plastic tube large enough to fit around/over your corals in question (I cut a coke bottle in 1/2 and use that - though make sure you wash/rinse it out well first). Take the lid off the bottle so air escapes as you lower the tube carefully over/around the coral. Using a gravel vac plastic tube can also work well. Then drop the food down in the tube onto them, or feed them down the tube with a turkey baster etc. That usually works in keeping others from stealing/munching their meal. I have 8 shrimp in my tank, 4 cleaners, 4 peppermints and they are notorious for teaming up on a coral to take the food from it. I have tried feeding them seperately their own food but they always seem to think that what im feeding my corals is obviously better than what I feed them.

The downside, it can take some coral a while to ingest all the food and you don't want your fish/inverts ripping a coral appart to retrieve a partially digested meal !

Warm Regards,

[CarmieJo]

I was also going to suggest a feeding dome like a cut off 2L bottle. I do this with my candy cane.

[Phurst]

I use half a 2 liter on my sun coral and duncan too. Works great. I just set it in place, then squirt food in the top with a turkey baster. My CB is a tenacious little thing too.

[pammy]

Ok, so I'm not the only one LOL. I'm going to try the bottom of a 24oz waterbottle with holes poked in it tonight rather than a 2 liter bottle that I tried before. The 2 liter bottle was much larger than the sun coral colony and awkward to try to place on the coral sitting on my rock, so fish were trying to get under it and there was too much room for the food to float everywhere but on the coral. The 24oz waterbottle will just fit , or possibly might be too small so I might need the next size up....maybe a 1 liter bottle. I guess my other option is putting the sun coral and duncan on the sand bed, then I can cover it with any size tupperware or a 2liter bottle, but I read that sun corals shouldn't be placed directly in the sand. If none of this works, I may try tubing. Thanks!
Pam

[lReef lKeeper]

when i had all of those sun coral frags (about 20) ... they were ALL sitting on the sandbed. they are not photosynthetic so it does not really matter where they are placed.

[Phurst]

Mine's on the sandbed, and my duncan is on a small rock on the sandbed.

[CarmieJo]

Forgot about my sun coral that is also sitting on the sandbed. For some reason the fish don't try to steal from it as much as from the candy cane, maybe because it eats faster.

[pammy]

I can see how using a dome with the coral on the sandbed, would easy, but I have both the Sun Coral and the Duncan in a great place on my rock. Makes it tricker. Tonight, I took a 24oz water bottle tonight, and took the top half and cut it in an odd shape, to fit the rock where the sun coral sits....kind of like a jig-saw puzzle. I took the cap completely off the water bottle, so I can fit the whole small turkey baster right into the bottle and place mysis on each head. Worked like a charm and the Coral Beauty can't get under it. What I did wrong before, is cut the bottle straight across, so I couldn't get it to stay in place very well on the rock over the coral. I had tried feeding the coral quickly before, and then placing the bottle over the coral, which was still a battle with the Coral Beauty. I also tried shooting a lot of mysis before into a hole in the bottle, but a good majority of it fell away from the coral and then out the bottom of the bottle. This way, feeding each head while it's under the bottle, the food goes where I want it, and the Coral Beauty can't get near it at all. Ok, now maybe the CB won't bug me so much! I didn't have as much luck cutting the bottle to cover the Duncan. I have to play with the shape of it. This will make feeding my sun coral a painless process. Thanks for the suggestions. Pam.

[absolutbill]

I usually wait until the lights are out the fish and my shrimp usually are resting or hiding? I think it works for me!

[CarmieJo]

Bill, after lights out is really the best time for feeding many corals. They are engaged in photosynthesis during the "day" and eat by "night". I feed coral food with lights out once a week or so. I prepare whatever I am feeding, unplug my return pump but leave the internal circulation on, gently squirt the mixture at each of my corals and then come back about 30 - 45 minutes later to plug the return back in. I believe that this time without the return running allows the corals to naturally catch the food as it floats by.