Feeding for corals lets them build up energy reserves, stored as carbs, lipids, and as various proteins. Unlike lipids and proteins, corals cannot create their own carbs - they have to eat. They can't get them from the sun, or from our reef tank lights. In some heavily stocked tanks fish poop might provide enough food of the right particle size, but the vast majority of us need to supplement that natural food source with one more specifically intended for our corals.
Carbs in particular provide a long lasting energy reserve for our aquarium corals. These are provided by all our usual reef tank coral foods - Reef-Roids, MarineSnow, Polyp Poppers, they're all good if your coral will eat them. Particle size is particularly important, so if your Acropora isn't eating something perhaps try something finer. What your Acropora eats your Chalice will probably just ignore. The food needs to match their mouths!
Sources:
Kochman, NR., Grover, R., Rottier, C. et al. The reef building coral Stylophora pistillata uses stored carbohydrates to maintain ATP levels under thermal stress. Coral Reefs 40, 1473-1485 (2021). doi.org/10.100...
Cumbo, Vivian & Baird, Andrew & van Oppen, Madeleine. (2012). The promiscuous larvae: Flexibility in the establishment of symbiosis in corals. Coral Reefs. 32. 10.1007/s00338-012-0951-7.
The ATP molecule is from Wikimedia.
en.wikipedia.o...
A genomic approach to coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis: studies of Acropora digitifera and Symbiodinium minutum
Shinzato Chuya, Mungpakdee Sutada, Satoh Nori, Shoguchi Eiichi
www.frontiersi...
The Symbiodinium cells photo is from Wikimedia.
commons.wikime...
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13 ноя 2021