Best Coral Foods & Amino Supplements

The idea that corals live on light alone is one of the most persistent myths in reef keeping. While zooxanthellae photosynthesis does provide 70 to 90 percent of energy for most photosynthetic corals, supplemental feeding fills nutritional gaps that light alone cannot — particularly amino acids, fatty acids, and trace nutrients that drive growth, color intensity, and immune function.

The difference between a coral that merely survives and one that actively grows, colors up, and reproduces often comes down to feeding. The challenge is feeding effectively without dumping excess nutrients into the water column, which fuels algae and degrades water quality.

Types of Coral Foods

Broadcast Foods

Broadcast feeding means adding food directly to the water column so it disperses throughout the tank. This approach works well for soft corals, zoanthids, and filter-feeding organisms that capture tiny particles from the current. Popular broadcast foods include phytoplankton blends, powdered coral foods, and liquid supplements.

Reef Roids is one of the most widely used broadcast coral foods. It contains a blend of naturally occurring marine plankton particles sized for coral polyp capture. Coral Frenzy offers a similar powdered formula with a mix of rotifers, copepods, and phytoplankton. Benepets Benereef is a powdered food designed specifically for SPS, LPS, zoanthids, clams, and small fish — it dissolves slowly and releases particles over an extended period.

Target Feeding

Target feeding delivers food directly to individual coral polyps using a turkey baster, pipette, or dedicated coral feeding tube. This method is most effective for LPS corals with large polyps — torch corals, hammer corals, brain corals, and Duncan corals that are built to capture prey items.

Frozen mysis shrimp and brine shrimp are the most common target feeding options. Thaw a small portion in tank water, then gently squirt individual pieces onto extended polyps. The polyps will close around the food and digest it over the next few hours. Feeding after lights go out — when LPS polyps extend fully — produces the best response.

Specialized target foods like LRS Reef Frenzy (a frozen blend of seafood, rotifers, and fish eggs) and Fauna Marin LPS Pellets provide concentrated nutrition in formats designed for large-polyp capture. Pellet foods are especially convenient for brain corals and similar species with strong feeding responses.

Amino Acid Supplements

Amino acid supplements are absorbed directly through coral tissue without requiring polyp capture. They drive coloration — particularly the intense purples, blues, and greens that SPS hobbyists prize — and support tissue repair and growth. Brightwell Aquatics AminOmega, Fauna Marin Amino Acids, and Red Sea Reef Energy AB+ are popular amino supplement lines.

Dosing amino acids requires restraint. Start at half the recommended dose and increase gradually while monitoring for algae response. Excess amino acids feed bacteria and algae just as effectively as they feed corals, so the goal is consistent low-level supplementation rather than heavy periodic dosing.

Feeding by Coral Type

Soft corals benefit from broadcast phytoplankton and fine particulate foods one to two times per week. Most softies absorb nutrients directly from the water column. Heavy target feeding is unnecessary and can foul the water around delicate tissue.

LPS corals respond most dramatically to feeding. Target-fed LPS corals grow noticeably faster, develop denser tissue, and show richer coloration compared to unfed specimens. Two to three target feeding sessions per week is a reasonable frequency. Large-polyp species like open brain corals (Trachyphyllia), elegance corals, and plate corals can consume surprisingly large food items — pieces of raw shrimp, silversides, or krill several millimeters across.

SPS corals were long considered purely photosynthetic, but controlled studies and extensive hobbyist experience have shown that SPS corals do capture bacterioplankton and fine particulate food. Amino acid supplements, phytoplankton dosing, and ultra-fine coral foods contribute to improved coloration and growth in SPS-dominant systems. The effect is most visible in tanks running ultra-low nutrient (ULN) methods where natural food sources in the water column are depleted by aggressive filtration.

Practical Feeding Tips

Turn off protein skimmers and filter socks for 30 to 60 minutes during and after feeding. Skimmers and mechanical filtration remove food particles before corals can consume them, effectively wasting whatever you added. Powerheads and wavemakers can remain on at reduced flow to help distribute broadcast foods without blasting them past polyps too quickly.

Consistency matters more than volume. Small, regular feedings build coral tissue and color gradually. Large, infrequent feedings spike nutrients and stress the biological filtration. If you notice increased algae growth after starting a feeding regimen, reduce the frequency or volume before discontinuing entirely — the feeding is working, the dose just needs adjustment.

Track feeding alongside your parameter testing. Coral feeding increases the demand for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium as corals convert that nutrition into tissue and skeleton growth. You may need to increase dosing slightly to keep up with the accelerated growth that feeding enables.

Avoiding Overfeeding

Overfeeding is the most common feeding mistake in reef tanks. Excess food decomposes, releasing ammonia, nitrate, and phosphate — the exact nutrients that fuel nuisance algae, cyanobacteria, and dinoflagellate outbreaks. The signs of overfeeding include unexplained nutrient spikes, increasing algae despite good husbandry, cloudy water after feeding, and uneaten food accumulating on the sandbed or in rockwork crevices.

Start with less than you think is necessary. A small pinch of broadcast food for a 50-gallon tank is usually adequate — the goal is providing nutrition that corals can capture, not saturating the water column. If you see food particles still floating or settling on surfaces 30 minutes after feeding, you added too much. Reduce the dose at the next feeding.

Target feeding avoids most overfeeding issues because you deliver food directly to polyps rather than dispersing it throughout the tank. However, even target-fed food that is not captured by the intended coral falls to the bottom and decomposes. Use only what the coral will consume in a single feeding — typically one or two small mysis shrimp per polyp for medium-sized LPS corals.

DIY Coral Food Options

Homemade coral food blends are popular among experienced reef keepers who want to control ingredients and save money. A basic recipe combines raw shrimp, scallop, nori, fish eggs, and oyster in a blender, processed to a fine paste, then frozen in thin sheets for easy portioning. Thaw a small piece in tank water before feeding.

Oyster feast alternatives can be made by blending raw oysters with tank water and freezing in ice cube trays. The resulting cubes provide a dense dose of phytoplankton-sized particles when thawed and broadcast into the tank. These DIY blends complement commercial products rather than replacing them — commercial formulations often include amino acids, vitamins, and specific particle sizes that are difficult to replicate at home.

Regardless of whether you use commercial or homemade foods, the principle remains the same: feed consistently, feed small amounts, and monitor nutrient levels to ensure feeding enhances coral health without degrading water quality. The sweet spot where corals visibly respond — extended polyps, improved growth, brighter coloration — without measurable nutrient increase is the target every reef keeper should calibrate toward.

Feeding Equipment Worth Having

A dedicated coral feeding kit makes the process cleaner and more consistent. A long-reach turkey baster or pipette with a narrow tip allows precise delivery to individual polyps without disturbing neighboring corals. Silicone feeding tubes that attach to the end of a syringe provide even more control for reaching corals deep in the rockwork. A small mixing cup for thawing frozen food in tank water keeps preparation contained and prevents temperature shock from introducing cold food directly.

Automated feeding systems like dosing pumps loaded with liquid coral food can deliver consistent small doses on a timer — useful for reef keepers who travel frequently or want to maintain a feeding schedule without manual intervention. These systems work best with liquid phytoplankton and amino acid supplements rather than particulate foods that can clog dosing pump tubing. For most hobbyists, a few minutes of manual feeding two to three times per week is simpler and produces excellent results.