What Type of Food Do You Feed Your Tank?

[DKoKoMan]

Hey folks,
With the large variety of fish food products on the market these days I'm wondering what people are using as their primary food selection. I understand that a variety of different foods is beneficial to our tanks, but I am curious what people's "go to" food choice is.

What type of food are you feeding your fish in your Reef?


Flake
Pellet
Frozen
Homemade
Other

[Bblinks]

You need to make combos available...

[Myka]

I feed mainly homemade mash supplemented with NLS pellets that are soak in Salmon Oil. A few times a month they will get some Mysis, Spirulina Brine, Plankton.

[DKoKoMan]

How much is the Reef Frenzy!?

[Myka]

How much is the Reef Frenzy!?
$30 for 8 ounces.

[ReefMadness]

$30 for 8 ounces.
you can't even get beef tenderloin for that price :lol:

[DKoKoMan]

Ha ha, my fish would cut through the food and my wallet.

[DKoKoMan]

You need to make combos available...

Lol this is true! What is your primary staple food for your tank? Do you mix it up or maintain some sort of schedule with the variety your feeding?

[Myka]

you can't even get beef tenderloin for that price :lol:
Where are you shopping that you pay $60/lb for beef tenderloin??? :lol: I've only seen Organic tenderloin that high.

I make my own homemade mash out of human grade seafood only. Costs me around $60 per batch and makes 2 or 3 pounds. Takes me about 40 mins to make it once a year. I developed it for aquaculture broodstock diet.

[duncangweller]

I make my own homemade mash out of human grade seafood only. Costs me around $60 per batch and makes 2 or 3 pounds. Takes me about 40 mins to make it once a year. I developed it for aquaculture broodstock diet.

That sounds interesting. Is there a recipe that you would share?

Dunc



Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[DKoKoMan]

Myka do you just freeze the mash in to portion sizes? Seems like a worthwhile task for the quantity you get :smile:

[Myka]

All the seafood is sourced from human grade suppliers and is 100% TSP free food.

This is a USA marketing tool. In the USA, phosphates in food are not required to be labelled. In Canada, meats with added phosphates must be labeled. That said, I never buy food packaged in or sourced from China (or other third world countries). :lol:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/labelling/food-labelling-for-industry/meat-and-poultry-products/eng/1393979114983/1393979162475?chap=17#s29c17

Lots of info if you hunt around a bit. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/labelling/food-labelling-for-industry/food-additives/eng/1468420159039/1468420338039

[DKoKoMan]

I'm currently feeding PE Mysis frozen and NLS algae pellets. I have recently ventured in to the Vitalis products, I have only been using the Marine Grazers so far. I ordered the marine pellets and anemone pellets. I will have to see how the tank responds once I start feeding these products :biggrin:

[Dearth]

Frozen mysis shrimp here

I keep flake and pellet food around for people who want to see fish eat and when I go on vacation easier to teach people to feed flake food than frozen (believe me I have had people panick when I show them how to feed frozen)

[WarDog]

:pop2:

[DKoKoMan]

So... I fed the tank some of the Vitalis Soft Pellets and the fish loved them. So they look promising for now.

[acepumping]

So... I fed the tank some of the Vitalis Soft Pellets and the fish loved them. So they look promising for now.

i use vitalis pellets and love em..

[DKoKoMan]

I also fed my ritteri anemone the Vitalis anemone pellet and it immediately swallows it up. So far I am very impressed with them. The smell of the food is nice and strong so it appears the ingredients are promising.

[Myka]

There we go, all cleaned up. :)

I just fed my fish some pellets. Interestingly, in aquaculture, if Clownfish are fed only pellets (can't say what brand) their nests get real bad and their eggs shrink.

[DKoKoMan]

That's why I still feed PE Mysis and as a treat Eco Eggs :smile:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I voted pellets only because that's what the big tank with all the big fish mostly get. I feed lots of frozen and some flakes as well to my tanks.

[Rog]

That sounds interesting. Is there a recipe that you would share?

Dunc



Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

+1 on the recipe share question. :)

[Myka]

That's why I still feed PE Mysis and as a treat Eco Eggs :smile:

You'll get the same effect from feeding Mysis - it is less complete of a diet than pellets. Feeding a complete frozen diet like a good quality homemade mash, Larry's Reef Frenzy, or any of the Ocean Nutirtion "Formula" foods would be better.

[Myka]

Oh, sorry, here's my recipe:

White shrimp (shells on) 500 g (this one is tough to find good quality)
Wild Pacific salmon 200 g
New Zealand Green Lipped mussels 200 g
Squid 100 g (can't be more than 10% of total mix) (be careful on the quality of this one too)
Flying Fish Roe (masago) 15 g (you could use Doc's Eco Eggs or Reef Nutrition R.O.E. instead)
Nori (green, dry) 8 g
Florida Aqua Farms Spirulina powder 2 g (a little goes a long way!)
Florida Aqua Farms vitamins 10 g
Wild Salmon Oil 5000 mg
Hawaiian Astaxanthin 600 mg (optional, I've been leaving this out and coating pellets instead)
Florida Aqua Farms Gelatin 50 g

As already said, be careful which products you buy. Generally, the cheap brands are not the good brands! The ingedients on the label should say ONLY the seafood that you are buying. There should be nothing else in the ingredients. CFIA requires all food additives to be on the label.

I thaw out everything in the fridge except the squid. Rinse each meat in RO/DI water then use a food processor to blend each meat ingredient separately and finely, worry about blending it too little rather than too much (tiny pieces are better than large chunks), and add to a large bowl. Keep the large bowl in the fridge while you're processing so the meats don't warm up.

The squid it tricky to process because it is VERY tough. First I thaw it out just enough so I can cut it into 0.5-1" squares or so, then refreeze it just to the point where it was before you cut it - mostly frozen, but not super solid, then blend it in the processor and add it to the bowl. This is something you'll have to get the hang of.

My fish won't eat chunks of nori, so I wet the nori in saltwater, blend it up into paste and add it to the meat mix. Then add all the oil, vitamins, and astaxanthin if you're using it.

Mix everything VERY well.

Use about 50 mL saltwater, heat it up to near boiling, add the gelatin, mix until dissolved. Pour the gelatin water into the meat mix and stir it up really well, QUICKLY. As soon as the gelatin cools it will stiffen up and will make gelatin chunks in the mix if you didn't stir it up fast enough or good enough.

After all is mixed thoroughly I weigh out 4 ounces into sandwich bags, flat them out with a rolling pin while removing the air. Then I put two sandwich bags into a medium freezer bag. They last a few years this way. To feed I break off a chunk, that it in a shot glass in the fridge (dry), and use a small spoon to break it up into pieces (squash it).

I just bought a french fry cutter, and I'm going to experiment with cutting the sheets into squares. I think I will spread the food on a cookie sheet and cover it with plastic wrap then roll it out with a rolling pin (wrap keeps pin clean), freeze it, then cut with french fry cutter. I do think this will make the food much more susceptible to freezer burn, so I'll have to work on packaging - maybe use my vacuum sealer after I lay the pieces out flat or something.

It sounds like a lot of work, but once you get the hang of it it doesn't take long.

[DKoKoMan]

Awesome recipe Myka! Thanks for sharing.

[xandraescape]

Oh, sorry, here's my recipe:

White shrimp (shells on) 500 g (this one is tough to find good quality)
Wild Pacific salmon 200 g
New Zealand Green Lipped mussels 200 g
Squid 100 g (can't be more than 10% of total mix) (be careful on the quality of this one too)
Flying Fish Roe (masago) 15 g (you could use Doc's Eco Eggs or Reef Nutrition R.O.E. instead)
Nori (green, dry) 8 g
Florida Aqua Farms Spirulina powder 2 g (a little goes a long way!)
Florida Aqua Farms vitamins 10 g
Wild Salmon Oil 5000 mg
Hawaiian Astaxanthin 600 mg (optional, I've been leaving this out and coating pellets instead)
Florida Aqua Farms Gelatin 50 g

As already said, be careful which products you buy. Generally, the cheap brands are not the good brands! The ingedients on the label should say ONLY the seafood that you are buying. There should be nothing else in the ingredients. CFIA requires all food additives to be on the label.

I thaw out everything in the fridge except the squid. Rinse each meat in RO/DI water then use a food processor to blend each meat ingredient separately and finely, worry about blending it too little rather than too much (tiny pieces are better than large chunks), and add to a large bowl. Keep the large bowl in the fridge while you're processing so the meats don't warm up.

The squid it tricky to process because it is VERY tough. First I thaw it out just enough so I can cut it into 0.5-1" squares or so, then refreeze it just to the point where it was before you cut it - mostly frozen, but not super solid, then blend it in the processor and add it to the bowl. This is something you'll have to get the hang of.

My fish won't eat chunks of nori, so I wet the nori in saltwater, blend it up into paste and add it to the meat mix. Then add all the oil, vitamins, and astaxanthin if you're using it.

Mix everything VERY well.

Use about 50 mL saltwater, heat it up to near boiling, add the gelatin, mix until dissolved. Pour the gelatin water into the meat mix and stir it up really well, QUICKLY. As soon as the gelatin cools it will stiffen up and will make gelatin chunks in the mix if you didn't stir it up fast enough or good enough.

After all is mixed thoroughly I weigh out 4 ounces into sandwich bags, flat them out with a rolling pin while removing the air. Then I put two sandwich bags into a medium freezer bag. They last a few years this way. To feed I break off a chunk, that it in a shot glass in the fridge (dry), and use a small spoon to break it up into pieces (squash it).

I just bought a french fry cutter, and I'm going to experiment with cutting the sheets into squares. I think I will spread the food on a cookie sheet and cover it with plastic wrap then roll it out with a rolling pin (wrap keeps pin clean), freeze it, then cut with french fry cutter. I do think this will make the food much more susceptible to freezer burn, so I'll have to work on packaging - maybe use my vacuum sealer after I lay the pieces out flat or something.

It sounds like a lot of work, but once you get the hang of it it doesn't take long.

Sounds like a good option, but my Clownfish are a bit of a picky eaters.

[Myka]

Sounds like a good option, but my Clownfish are a bit of a picky eaters.
Wild fish are so accepting of the mix that I use it for fish in my QT.

[tang daddy]

50% pellets
30% brine, pei mysis, hikari mysis, ocean Pacifica and krill.
20% marine algae flakes

I feed my corals pellets and krill.
Fish get it all....

[TimT]

When I ran my wholesale fish system I would feed Pacifica Plankton for omnivores and Nori for grazers. For tiny fish I would use a tiny pellet. I prefer not to feed saltwater fish a freshwater based food source.

[DKoKoMan]

Great information guys /gals. Keep the posts coming.

[604reefer]

Newb reefer here, only 4 months in, been an interesting read.

Right now I feed my fish:

1. New Life Spectrum - Small Fish Formula Pellets, a pinch 2x per day
2. Omega One Marine Flakes with Garlic - few times a week, they go crazy for this stuff!!!
3. PE Frozen Small Mysis Shrimp - use chopsticks to feed LPS coral and fire shrimp/emerald crab, my fish are so small and don't seem to eat much of this

Fish are small - 2 clowns, a chromis, and a midas blenny.

When you feed frozen food do you let it thaw and chop it up, then toss it in?

I'm never sure if I'm feeding enough! The fish don't seem to have grown a lot in the few months I've had them, but I see them everyday so it's hard to tell!

P.s. I love this place, everyone has been awesome.

[DKoKoMan]

Welcome :welcome:

When I feed my frozen pe mysis I will let it thaw in a cup with a little garlic. I'm sure people toss them right in as well. As far as feeding, watch your nitrates and phosphates to guide you if there is too much food leftover. As well if you see everything sitting on the bottom not being eaten, this is a good indication that it was too much. If the fish are eating everything then they are hungry! My fish will generally shy away when they are full :smile:

[BC564]

I go to no frills or T&T and they sell a frozen product called Seafood Medley. In this package is shrimp, squid/octopus, scallops, oysters, fish etc. The package itself is Approx. $3. I buy 2 or 3 at a time but only prepare one package every 2-3 weeks as needed. I bought a little salsa/ food processor for about $15. I take out the frozen package and place it in the sink for the day to thaw. That night I slowly put in processor and chop it up to the consistency I want. I also add mashed garlic to the mix. I then place in ice cube tays I bought at dollarama and usually get about 3 trays full. I feed them one of these cubes per day. Holding the cube in the tank and slowly thawing chunks off. I do also feed algae grazer fish pellets and some flake whenever I feel like it. Also put one sheet of Nori on a clip daily for the grazers. All the fish love the home made mash.