bad lfs info?

rxdoc_85

AC Members
Mar 9, 2008
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st. louis, missouri
so i went and checked out a new lfs a couple of days ago, and i don't think i'll ever go back. the guy that helped me was rude, had a filthy mouth, and was teliing me things that just didn't seem to jive. i told him that i was spot feeding my yellow polyps and zoas with frozen brine/mysis shrimp, and he said that polyps/zoas don't eat shrimp. i proceeded to tell him that mine always responded well and ate the shrimp. he then said that they were probably just shrinking up due to the irritation and not really eating anything. i then told him that when the polyps open up, i can see through the stalks that there is in fact something in them. is it rare for yellow polyps/zoanthids to eat spot-fed shrimp? i thought this was the norm... he told me that the only thing he feeds the corals in the store is phyto feast, and that's all i needed to feed mine. he also told me a lot of other things that just seemed fishy (sorry, no pun intended), so i politely thanked him for the advice and left. anyone have any ideas on this? thanks :)
 
heh ok man...wich store so i can stay out of there?... just dont tell me marine solutions, as its the closest one to me...lol
 
im gonna guess that hes a jerk or doesnt know what hes talking about haha. my polyps always eat mysis and basically whatever else touches them haha
 
Nope, sorry, I have to agree with the store on this one. I have never fed my zoas or star polyps anything but photofeast and zooplex. Definately never spot fed them at all. I only spot fed my anemone when I had it, and my frogspawn/hammer because they respond well to it, everything else just filter feeds what I put in the water. Now sun (coral) polyps are a completely different story, they require spot feeding. Not saying it isn't possible for zoas and other polyps to eat shrimp, it just isn't the norm to do.
 
so i went and checked out a new lfs a couple of days ago, and i don't think i'll ever go back. the guy that helped me was rude, had a filthy mouth, and was teliing me things that just didn't seem to jive. i told him that i was spot feeding my yellow polyps and zoas with frozen brine/mysis shrimp, and he said that polyps/zoas don't eat shrimp. i proceeded to tell him that mine always responded well and ate the shrimp. he then said that they were probably just shrinking up due to the irritation and not really eating anything. i then told him that when the polyps open up, i can see through the stalks that there is in fact something in them. is it rare for yellow polyps/zoanthids to eat spot-fed shrimp? i thought this was the norm... he told me that the only thing he feeds the corals in the store is phyto feast, and that's all i needed to feed mine. he also told me a lot of other things that just seemed fishy (sorry, no pun intended), so i politely thanked him for the advice and left. anyone have any ideas on this? thanks :)

His info is only composed of half-truths. As far as the zoanthids go, that is only partially true. Yellow polyps do indeed eat small bit of meat. Other brightly colored ones may eat some (doubtful, as they are largely photosythetic) of the same. Very few corals actually eat phytofeast, since the vast majority are carnivorous. You may want to inform him that he/they are mostly feeding the water and not the corals. The one benefit they may get is a greater abundance of filter feeders and, therefore, planktonic larvae.

You may want to look into some literature on corals, as that can save you a load on foods. Check out Eric Borneman's book, as well as Dr. Ron's pocket guide.
 
thanks guys! i'm going to keep spot feeding my zoas/polyps, because they take to it, and have grown so much faster since i started spot-feeding them (just like cpd said). my zoas have also become much more colorful (a beautiful neon green in the center and on the tentacles fringing each polyp), so i just don't see a reason to stop. i'm sure the color is photosynthetic in origin, but the polyps are multiplying at a very rapid rate, especially the yellow ones. i think the guy's attitude/language bothered me more than anything...at least his info wasn't completely wrong..but i'm still not convinced. my xenia and GSPs obviously don't take to spot feeding, but my others are doing fantastic on it, so i'm going to keep it up. i also put phyto feast in the water regularly, so i think i've got all my bases covered. thanks guys so much for the input:)
 
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