sps night feedings?

[Nano_Steve]

ive heard in the past and now i am seeing that my polyp extension on my sps is at least twice as much as it is during the day. am i correct in thinking they do this so predators wont pick off the polyps?

im wondering if target feeding after lights out would be a good idea? i figure they look really ready for a meal and just wondering if it makes a positive or negative difference(if one at all).

thanks, steve

[BA]

hey good Q, i was wondering the same thing for a while now,hopefully someone can answer

[matt]

In nature, corals typically feed at night through predation and during the day through photosynthesis. There's a great chapter in the Borneman book on this very topic. There are a number of reasons for this; there's much more food available at night due to planktonic uprising from depth, and it's more energy conserving for them to use photosynthesis and not feed at the same time. Also, there is much less competition for food capture at night while the fishes are not feeding.

Feeding a plankton substitute at night is a common way to feed corals in an aquarium.