Anyone tried our custom food yet?

[kghowe]

Soooooooo has anyone taken the plunge and broken off a chunk of our grunge and fed it to their tank yet? I'd love to hear some feedback if you have. I haven't yet personally, but that has more to do with not having been home for the last 4 days, and flake being used in place of my normal real food feedings. Any comments on this yet?

[chudly]

Ill give it a try today and see how things go.

[Dewey]

I tried it last night. I'd have to say that based on the speed it disappeared from my tank, it was very much appreciated by my inhabitants.
I didn't feed any directly to my corals with a turkey baster yet, but I'll give that a try in the next couple of days.
Two thumbs up in my opinion.
Now if we could just come up with a name for it.
Our careers as fish nutrition experts could be on the rise. :bwink:

Glen

[chudly]

I used some yesterday as well and it went over pretty good. ALOT of small peices. Doesn't seem to be as big sized as Rods Food which i like but i was impressed.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: up for the MACL.

[DbleG]

I, the interloper, also fed my some of my share and EVERYTHING came out to feed. Not only was it gone in a FLASH but everything stayed out looking for more!

Two thumbs up from me!

[kghowe]

Well I've used it the last 2 days. I'd agree that the fish seem to drive themselves insane for it. It was also interesting to note that when I sprayed some of that gunk through the tentacles of the frogspawn and hammer, they seemed to withdraw almost all the way back to their base. I'm not sure if this meant they were consuming it, or if it meant they were horrified by it. Any thought there? I think if we were to do it again, it may make some sense to figure out how to finely chop vs. liquify the mixture since it seems to add a TON of foggy gunk to the tank in each piece you break off, and I wasn't about to go and rinse it first since a lot of the nutrition was in that gunk. I'm just not sure that much in my tank was going to consume that part. That portion felt more like a pure phosphate dump lol.

Cheers!

[rayjay]

You can bet there are phosphates in the food as phosphates are a natural element in almost everything. Also, if some of the mix was from packaged goods, there may have been phosphates added as a preservative.
As for feeding corals, I find it best to release food just ahead of the corals and let the current carry the food to the coral. Most of my corals would retract when a more forceful water flow comes at them suddenly in a new direction.
As for the "gunk", you need to decide if it will benefit your tank or just increase the nutrient profile that nuisance algae will feed on, as the fish certainly won't consume it.
Personally I thaw my frozen foods in salt water in a net, dipping it in and out a few times after it has thawed, before adding to the tank. This doesn't remove it all but does get most of the unwanted out.

[DbleG]

You can bet there are phosphates in the food as phosphates are a natural element in almost everything. Also, if some of the mix was from packaged goods, there may have been phosphates added as a preservative.



There is a few types of frozen packaged goods in our home brew slurry. We really couldn't rinse them to any extent without compromising the whole package though. I see fresh, store bought bulk protein from your local grocery store is the way to go, blended with NLS, Nori and then adding things like Zooplankton, Flakes and Oyster Eggs for a good all around mix. PE Mysis and Krill both contain fair amounts of phosphates so I think I will be using this as a treat for my tank more so than a daily regimen.

IF we can't eliminate what we KNOW is there, then it's going in our tanks without getting rinsed. There is too much valuable micronutrients in there to rinse this stuff in a net! This is a clear cut case of needing to take the bad with the good!

This is still a superior product and we all learned from it (providing we are still reading this thread). As an idea for the future: Did you guys know Rod's food now has specialized formulas? a "Herbivore" diet and they are coming out with "Predator" diet and a coral propagation diet. Sounds like we have a few more blending sessions ahead?

[rayjay]

I see fresh, store bought bulk protein from your local grocery store is the way to go, blended with NLS, Nori and then adding things like Zooplankton, Flakes and Oyster Eggs for a good all around mix.

Everything you mentioned contains phosphates (don't know what NLS is so that is only suspect), but that doesn't make them a poor choice.
I haven't come across anything I've fed my tanks in the last 14 years that doesn't have phosphates in it naturally. That includes specific marine foods and grocery purchased products as well.

[DbleG]

NLS= New Life Spectrum

Also, are you saying that I shouldn't be rinsing my PE mysis? I am aware of phosphates in almost all foods but aren't we trying to minimize it's entrance into our tanks, and if it DOES end up there, eliminate it? That's my intent regarding not using it daily, but as I said already, it is a WICKED product and I'm glad I have it. It just has a SMALL downside (not any more than others already do).

-Gregg

[rayjay]

Thanks for the NLS info.
In my case, I rinse the PE before placing in the seahorse tank because I have to add so much to get the horses to eat just a few pieces that the "juice" quickly fouls the tank.
I occasionally use PE in my other tanks and rinse for one tank as it seems to get hair too easily but the main reef and others I just thaw and place.
I'm guessing that each system might require it's own regime.
Actually, I seldom use foods other than spirulina other than PE for the horses and frozen brine for the copperband and primarily use the frozen just for a bit of balance. The spirulina I feed to my tanks twice a day and all fish eat it but the copperband and horses. (even my cleaner wrasses)
I also feed gut loaded adult live brine to the horses one day a week for two feedings, but the remaining tanks only get them about one feed a month.
I also dose the reef tanks with rotifers which I do after lights out, but that is to feed the tanks in general, not for the fish.