Reef Roids

[Pier Pressure]

Hi, everyone. I bought some of those "reef roids" for a 28 gallon saltwater reef tank that has a little bit of everything, fish, corals, live rock, live sand, etc.

How often do you feed these to your reef tanks? I do not want to overfeed!

Thanks for any replies.

[Midknight]

Thinking of getting some myself so will join the ride if you don't mind.
And free bump:wink:

[Pier Pressure]

Oh, sure - free bump when we are still at the top! Just kidding.

I am sure the knowledgable people on this forum can help us out. I was feeding that phytoplankton live stuff they keep in the fridge but that gets really expensive so I thought I would try out the reef roids. The directions tell you to add a teaspoon for every hundred gallons of water, but not now often to do it.

I am sure they would say daily, as they are trying to sell you as much as possible, but I believe most people are getting away with less. Any ideas, fellow fish loving people?

[Chin_Lee]

I feed 2-3 times per week. I turn off all pumps, take some tank water in a container, mix in the reefroids, dump it into the tank, turn on some pumps to circulate the food around, then turn off circulation for about an hour. i'll usually turn the pumps on every 20 minutes or so to stir up the roids that get to the ground. my brains and filter feeders usually swell up like crazy.

FWIW - i recently got some coral frenzy food as well and my corals also like it. same reaction as reefroids. As far as who's happier and puffier, they both looked the same to me.

[Pier Pressure]

It is all so confusing! I thought the reef roids were to feed the filter feeders, anenomes, other inverts and corals. Am I wrong in this? Will the reef roids be enough? I also feed NLS to the fishes.

And this may seem like a stupid question, but why do you shut off your pumps? If it goes through the protein skimmer it is no good or something? I only run a protein skimmer and a UV sterilizer. Perhaps you have carbon running?

Thank you for your quick reply!

[Delphinus]

Not the easiest question to answer simply, as like with many things, it depends.

Most filter-feeders do require daily feedings if not even more frequent than daily. Luckily most things we keep aren't strict filter feeders. The biggest exceptions I can think of are non-photosynthetic gorgonians, sponges, and so on. The downside to feeding this stuff daily is that you have to be careful not to spike your system (which is VERY easy to do IMO).

Most facultative corals benefit from feedings but do not need daily feedings. In this case perhaps once a week is enough. The trick is observe your creatures and observe whether they exhibit a feeding response. If they grow and do well, then by all means, feed more, just be careful about not overdoing it. If they don't react and don't grow, then don't bother.

So basically once a week, maybe more, maybe less, depends on what you have that eats the stuff.

[andresont]

I target-feed DT's live, reef roids and oyster eggs.
However i always start with a ot LESS then recommended on the packege, observe the coral reaction and make my way from there.
I can tell that blue non-photosynthetic gorgonia did not like oyster eggs, it was closed for a 3 days after feeding with this staff.
Open brain loves everything. SPS goes creasy for Reef-Roids and oyster eggs.

[Chin_Lee]

It is all so confusing! I thought the reef roids were to feed the filter feeders, anenomes, other inverts and corals. Am I wrong in this? Will the reef roids be enough? I also feed NLS to the fishes.

And this may seem like a stupid question, but why do you shut off your pumps? If it goes through the protein skimmer it is no good or something? I only run a protein skimmer and a UV sterilizer. Perhaps you have carbon running?

Thank you for your quick reply!
Rod
there is no written rule. it all depends on your bioload, observations of your animals, etc.
i shut off my pumps so the animals can eat as much of the stuff before its skimmed off or drained off to my sump.

[mark]

For a product such as Reef-roids, if not target feeding, would it make sense just to turn off the sump return pump (taking out the skimmer and filter sock) but leave the closed loop on?

[fortheloveofcrabs]

I've been using roids for about a year now for my (as the sales guy described "easy to care for Flower Pot coral") and I've never gotten the response that others seem to be getting from them. Albeit, my alveopora is still alive... My open brain doesn't seem to care, nor does my candy, or bubble, my zoo's don't react either... I turn off my skimmer when I feed for about an hour (I don't have a sump) but I leave the rest of the pumps on in my tank. To be honest, I don't really know how I feel about them (good or bad). They seem okay to me, but try them and see what happens I guess. I don't think they are the miracle food Polyp Labs claim them to be.

HTH

-Pauli

[Chin_Lee]

interesting observation on your LPS. i've had complete opposite reactions from my LPS. they all send out their tentacles when i shut the pumps off and dump in the reefroids - even when the lights are all on.

[fortheloveofcrabs]

How much do you use? It says on the jar to use (I think) 1tsp per 100 gal. I've got a 55 gal, so I eyeball about half a teaspoon. Mind you, I also traget feed about half that to me Alvop.