Going Dark - Feeding azooxanthellate corals

Against what may be considered better judgment on my part, I’ve been picking up a few azooxanthellate corals as of late. Having recently plumbed in an additional display area to the main tank, it needed to be filled with something. Some of the current resources available (articles / info from Stottlemire, Kallmeyer, Torsten, Matthews, Dame, the Fauna Marin & Reef Nutrition products, etc…) are very encouraging, as is the feeding response I get from a mix made based on Danny Dame’s recipe. More photos / info later as time permits, but please follow the links at the end of this for some very good information on these animals & their care.

I used 1/8 of Danny’s recipe - so in 500 mL I put 1 capful of UltraPac. You have to mix it in slowly if mixing by hand otherwise you end up with a single gelatinous clump, not a nice syrupy concoction. When that mixed I added 3 ml of MinS. He uses a blender, but my wife would have my ass were I to be caught blending this stuff in her kitchen…

The Ultra-Pac (artificial coral mucus) gets pretty ‘blobby’ once mixed up. It’s pretty gelatinous,Danny Dame’s non-photosynthetic coral food recipe a similar consistency to your standard Jell-O mix. Be sure to add the Pac SLOWLY to the water while mixing. DO NOT put the Pac in first then add water, or you end up with a big clump of gel.

In another container, I put the following:

• 3/8 tsp frozen cyclopeeze
• 1/8 tsp DT’s oyster eggs
• 3/8 tsp Fauna Marin UltraLife
• 3/8 tsp Fauna Marin Ultra MinF
• 3/8 tsp FM Ultra Sea Fan
• 3/8 tsp FM Ultra Clam
• 1 ampoule Prodibio’s ReefBooster
• A few drops of Fauna Marin UltraBio
• 5ml of Reed’s Roti-Feast
• 5ml DT’s phytoplankton
• 2.5ml FM’s MinS (Amino Acid)

SMELLS DISGUSTING!

Continuing to follow Danny’s method, mixed it up, and let them sit overnight in their separate containers. The next day, they were mixed together and let to sit another 24 hours. I found some cool mini ice cube trays on Ebay, 90 mini cubes per tray, so then poured the finished mixture into the trays and froze them. So far, I’ve just been tossing in a cube or two before work, then after work and a couple times through the evening / before bed.

Here’s a photo of the Dendro when I was just trying to feed it Reed’s rotifeast and DT’s phyto… you can see very little polyp expansion.

This is what the dendro looks like now that I am using Danny’s recipe. I will try for better photos later, but the polyps are expanded 24/7 (yes, even at 4am what reef keeper hasn’t checked the tank then?)

I’ll work on a way I can feed it constantly. Check out Dame’s conversion of a kalk reactor at the bottom of the marineaquarium.nl page. I don’t have the space or means to do this, so am exploring other options. I’ve also looked at a syringe pump, but that also requires considerable space.

Eric at Glassbox Design suggested a similar set up to the kalk reactor involving a Nalgene-ish size bottle - that may be better suited to my space constraints. For the meantime, I am hanging a 30cc tapered syringe upside down so I can just toss a few cubes in and have them melt / drip as I leave for work, and before bed.

Will attempt some better photos soon. In the meantime, please check out these articles & resources. Any additional links or information is appreciated - feel free to add them.

• Progress in Azooxanthellate Reef Aquariums, Part 1- Dendronephthya Husbandry by Charles Matthews, Chuck Stottlemire & Amy McBride Van Sickle
• Maintain Non-photosynthetic Corals - Danny Dame’s method& recipe
• Danny Dame thread on ZEOvit.com
• Marineaquarium.nl Forum (Azoox forum)
• Reef Central new non-Photosynthetic Forum
• UltimateReef Azoox Coral Forum

Here are a couple more photos