Feedin' yer fish!

[FinsUp]

OK, let's talk frozen fishy foods. We're thinkin' about switching to blisterpack frozen foods (PE Mysis comes to mind) to better manage how much we feed our tanks, and help our tank-watcher while we're on vacation.

For those of you that feed blister packs... what brand do you use, where do you buy it, and how much do you pay for it? Is there a reason you chose that particular brand over the others?

I would think that a mix of food types is better than just feeding one type (only mysis, only bloodworms, only algae). Am I right? Or is it better to feed a single form? Or is there even a blend of foods available in blister packs?

Yes, I know I'm overthinking it.

 

[Andrew_bram]

I like the pe mysis and cyclopez dual pack it was free at reef stock but I am so far impressed. Not sure where to get it though

 

[Smiley]

dry food and auto feeders.....

 

[jda123]

A high quality dry food is by far the best way to go. Downsides? Yes: not all fish will eat them, and they are not messy enough to keep good amount of nutrients in your tank if you are otherwise prone to low nutrients (or I guess really good if you fight high nutrient levels). I feed NLS Pellets & Flake in eheim auto feeders and also PE Mysis about once a day when I remember and don't care if my office stinks for a few minutes. This is it.

The cubes are expensive... sometimes over twice as much as the sheets. I think that 4 ounces of PE Mysis Cubes are about the same as a 8 ounce flat - sometimes PetCo has PE Mysis cubes for 9.99, in which case, stock up.

I don't feed any other types of frozen food regularly since I question their value, but I will keep some marine cuisine, or other similar mixed up or shop brand food, on hand for picky eaters at first. Eventually, the fish all gravitate to purely PE Mysis and NLS Pellets & Flake.

I do not think that variety is better if you are already using quality food.

 

[Smiley]

I use nls pellets, cyclop-eeze, and reef chili in my eheim auto feeder. Helps cover a broad spectrum of eaters.

 

[aztecdreams]

I feed a variety of dry(all mixed in one container) and frozen. Fish Den has frozen food 40% off right now. I buy my PE mysis/cyclopeeze packs there too

 

[jahmic]

I keep a mix of frozen foods in my freezer:

Mysis
Cyclopeeze
Ova
Ocean Nutrition Formula One
Bloodworms
Brine Shrimp

For dry food I keep NLS pellets on hand, and feed those once a day in the morning. In the evenings I typically feed mysis; I substitute in cyclopeeze 2-3 times per week and the remaining frozen foods are just a "treat" that they get maybe once every 2-3 weeks when I think about it.

 

[FinsUp]

Fish Den has frozen food 40% off right now. I buy my PE mysis/cyclopeeze packs there too

good to know! I may have to go in there tomorrow when I'm running errands.

 

[ReefCheif]

I feed a mix. I do use the Hikari (sp?) blister packs for mega marine algea, mega angel, mysis, squid, plankton (for corals). I also feed Elite reef cuisine (which contains most of this anyway)

I feed the cuisine everyday, and then depending on what day I add extra stuff. Monday they get the mega marin algeas, tuesday they get added squid, nothig added Wednesday, thursday they get jumbo mysis added, Friday is mega angel, nothing added Saturday and Sunday is a full buffet of all. The food is thawed and rinsed wioth RO, Garlic is then added to each feeding, let it soak for about 15 minutes and strain the food then feed.

I have no rhyme or reason why I feed this way, it works, my fish are getting alot of different nutrition and by not adding everything at once it forces the picky ones to eat whats available. I can tell you this, I was having nitrate issues (I feed 3 times a day) untl I started rinsing and straining my food. It was pointed out to me that we add stuff to those foods to help preserve and such, things that are not present in natural sea water, therfor its good to try and clean all that up. Since being diligent in cleaning my foods prior to feeding my nitrate issues have gone away. I think the juices in the food create organic solids that are not eatin by the fish or CUC. Its similair to a detrius build up in your sump, except its free floating in your entire tank, IMO that is.

 

[MuralReef]

NLS?

 

[CRW Reef]

New Life Spectrum also my dry food of choice

 

[Smiley]

I prefer the 1mm color enhancing with garlic.....

 

[Catfish Charlie]

I feed a mix. I do use the Hikari (sp?) blister packs for mega marine algea, mega angel, mysis, squid, plankton (for corals). I also feed Elite reef cuisine (which contains most of this anyway)

I feed the cuisine everyday, and then depending on what day I add extra stuff. Monday they get the mega marin algeas, tuesday they get added squid, nothig added Wednesday, thursday they get jumbo mysis added, Friday is mega angel, nothing added Saturday and Sunday is a full buffet of all. The food is thawed and rinsed wioth RO, Garlic is then added to each feeding, let it soak for about 15 minutes and strain the food then feed.

I have no rhyme or reason why I feed this way, it works, my fish are getting alot of different nutrition and by not adding everything at once it forces the picky ones to eat whats available. I can tell you this, I was having nitrate issues (I feed 3 times a day) untl I started rinsing and straining my food. It was pointed out to me that we add stuff to those foods to help preserve and such, things that are not present in natural sea water, therfor its good to try and clean all that up. Since being diligent in cleaning my foods prior to feeding my nitrate issues have gone away. I think the juices in the food create organic solids that are not eatin by the fish or CUC. Its similair to a detrius build up in your sump, except its free floating in your entire tank, IMO that is.

I agree with Josh! Hikari (yes Josh your spelling was right) is FANTASTIC for people on vacations and have people "watching" their tanks. Hakari Mega Marine, Algae and Angel foods (not saying its the best) are designed to put right into your tanks frozen (yes frozen) to make it easy. Many maintenance people use this to make it easy for their customer to use. Variety, variety, variety is VERY important and LOTS of spirulina for tangs (helps fight lateral line problems)! Dried foods are OK for damsels, clownfish, some blennies, some gobies and some angels. Dried foods (flake or pellet) have issues because vitamin "C" greatly deteriorates after the food has been open! ALL fish should be feed at least TWICE each day "lightly". This could be a reason that some have issues with fish "picking" on their corals, but yet the same fish, sold to other hobbyist have no problems in other tanks! Naturally fish have two (high and low) feeding periods each day. Most aquarists (including me) have a tendency to over feed, so that's what usually leads to an increase in organics (and phosphates) that can cause nitrates to increase. So best (in my opinion) a variety of frozen or live (dry OK once in a while) feed lightly each day. It dose NOT cause a problem to "skip" a day or two if you're gone for a weekend! But what do I know, I've only been doing saltwater since 1961 and professionally for over 30 years (both retail and wholesale) and owning a shop that was the largest in Colorado from 1983 to 1996, if not the nation, that had 60 saltwater aquariums!! LOL!

 

[jda123]

Your fish will grow better and be more disease resistant if you feed them a high quality pellet for a decent part of their diet - both of these things will also make them less aggressive. This is not 1996 anymore where DoroMarin and Tetra Flakes are the only choices around. Has anybody heard of anybody who got their fish on NLS (New Life Spectrum) pellets and was not totally pleased with the results?

Although nobody knows for sure, it is very likely that lack of Vitamin A and E are the cause of HLLE. While it offers many other good things, spirulina offers little of either.

Almost every food that I can think of that is made in the last 10 years has a stable form of Vitamin C good for at least 12 months, but it is unknown if the fish actually need it. In any case, it is in there in stable form as ascorby-polyphospate.

 

[Smiley]

i keep forgetting people actually have fish......

 

[Catfish Charlie]

Your fish will grow better and be more disease resistant if you feed them a high quality pellet for a decent part of their diet - both of these things will also make them less aggressive. This is not 1996 anymore where DoroMarin and Tetra Flakes are the only choices around. Has anybody heard of anybody who got their fish on NLS (New Life Spectrum) pellets and was not totally pleased with the results?

Although nobody knows for sure, it is very likely that lack of Vitamin A and E are the cause of HLLE. While it offers many other good things, spirulina offers little of either.

Almost every food that I can think of that is made in the last 10 years has a stable form of Vitamin C good for at least 12 months, but it is unknown if the fish actually need it. In any case, it is in there in stable form as ascorby-polyphospate.[/QUOTE

Yes you're right in some ways and I'm not knocking pelleted or flake foods, they have there place in the hobby. After selling my shop in May 1996 I became the exclusive distributor of a major brand of flake and pelleted foods in Colorado (not Tetra). I was also instrumental in the development of several of their pelleted foods during this time. After years of working with both freshwater and saltwater fish and inverts I found that variety is STILL the best policy!

 

[Fitz19d]

As far as where Cindy, check the feedback section, forget the name right now but there was a place a few members have ordered bulk boxes of frozen for very very cheap and were the cubes.When I run low/out I'll be ordering there next. Given a choice I do like flats for being cheaper. At least with the amount I feed I feel I can be fairly consistant on how much I break off. Cubes though yes nice for the caretakers, and can do things like cut in half to further alter portion.

If you'll work for it, you can also make your own cubes from flat packs. Thaw, rinse and drain and then use lighting crate or other to reshape.

I don't get to feed regular due to my work shift, but typically do a morning/night dry with midday my frozen stuff (krill for lions, mysis broadcast + targeted to mandarin, some elite cuisine for everything, table shrimp for mantis.) Pretty sure I overfeed pretty bad though.

 

[jda123]

I take the flat packs, let them sit out until they start to soften a bit. Then, cut them into cubes with a good knife and cutting board, freeze the cubes individually on a cookie sheet and then plop them into a Tupperware once frozen again.

If anybody knows where you can get bulk prices on PE Mysis (not the knockoff), I would be in for a few hundred dollars of food.

 

[ReefCheif]

Your fish will grow better and be more disease resistant if you feed them a high quality pellet for a decent part of their diet - both of these things will also make them less aggressive. This is not 1996 anymore where DoroMarin and Tetra Flakes are the only choices around. Has anybody heard of anybody who got their fish on NLS (New Life Spectrum) pellets and was not totally pleased with the results?

Although nobody knows for sure, it is very likely that lack of Vitamin A and E are the cause of HLLE. While it offers many other good things, spirulina offers little of either.

Almost every food that I can think of that is made in the last 10 years has a stable form of Vitamin C good for at least 12 months, but it is unknown if the fish actually need it. In any case, it is in there in stable form as ascorby-polyphospate.[/QUOTE

Yes you're right in some ways and I'm not knocking pelleted or flake foods, they have there place in the hobby. After selling my shop in May 1996 I became the exclusive distributor of a major brand of flake and pelleted foods in Colorado (not Tetra). I was also instrumental in the development of several of their pelleted foods during this time. After years of working with both freshwater and saltwater fish and inverts I found that variety is STILL the best policy!

There is no proven theroy as to what causes HLLD, only speculation. What can say for sure is HLLD is not found in the wild, very, very rarely so its definatly something were doing in the hobby that causes this. Ive treated fish with HLLD and have had great success with a variety of foods to treat it. Ive also been able to completley irradicate ich by diet changes. Fish are no different than any other animal when it comes to the need for vitamin and nutrient intake, feed clean foods, lightly but frequently and feed a variety and your fish will be healthy and happy and wont eat corals or inverts, yada yada yada