Coral food

[mikem]

Has anyone ever tried Reef-roids from Polyp Lab? I recieved a free sample from www.finsreef.com . I tried it and my sun corals opened up for the first time during the day. Mike

 

[concept3]

nope, never tried that brand, why don't you just make your own frozen fish food paste? I've always been hesitant to try it, but ever since I've made my own concotion, my fish and corals have never been happier. It's pretty easy as a matter of fact, and you can make them real cheap.

Sun corals and most LPS open up as soon as they "smell" something in the water column, it's like ringing the dinner bell to them LOL

 

[MCWarhammer]

what sort of stuff do you include in your concoction? I currently feed flake and frozen brine. And I started mysis today, so ill probably start adding that to the brine. What else should I use?

 

[concept3]

what sort of stuff do you include in your concoction? I currently feed flake and frozen brine. And I started mysis today, so ill probably start adding that to the brine. What else should I use?

a dozen or so Frozen shrimp (grated)
4 Frozen garlic cloves (grated and squeezed to extract oil)
1 frozen chowder clam (gutted to remove stomach/sand, then grated)
1 Frozen Oyster (grated)
2-3 packs of mysis shrimp defrosted
1 pack of bloodworms defrosted
1 pack each of formula A and B (or angelfish food, it supposedly contains sponges), defrosted
Cyclopeeze if you can get it.
seaweed or unseasoned sushi-nori, 2-3 sheets (thrown in food processor to break up into fish friendly sizes)
1 pack of Krill, defrosted


I start by defrosting the frozen fish food in a sieve over the sink to get rid of the excess moisture.

the shrimp, garlic, oyster and clams are easier to grate if they are frozen.  I like to grate it rather than put them in a food processor since it gives them an awesome consistency, rather than a mushy paste.  Depending on what fish/corals you are keeping, you can adjust the amount of shrimp or clam etc etc.  After you are done grating, throw that on top of the seive with the other stuff and let it drip in the fridge for about a few hours.  (make sure the wifey or kids don't open the fridge in the meantime, LOL)

After the fish food is somewhat "dry," you can add the cyclopeeze and the nori.  Mix the thing carefully and place in containers of choice.  I recently found out that I can make CUBES by using EGGCRATE material, cut to fit in your freezer.   I lay WAXPAPER on the countertop, lay a small sheet (6"X8") of eggcrate on it, and start pressing the fish paste into the squares of the eggcrate.  When it's full, cover it with waxpaper again, and throw in the freezer.  After a few hours, you can either POP out the food and place them in a Ziploc bag, or pop them as you need.


This hobby is SO expensive, that finding other alternatives to a healthy and cheap fish food only makes sense.......

 

[mikem]

Thanks. Sounds like a meal I would like to try myself.

 

[katlongo]

I also make my own food - the recipe changes from time to time but it's basically clams, shrimp, oyster, crab, flounder, scallops, nori, mysis, and bloodworms and several cups of water.

I chop it all up, rinse it and blend it in my blender until the pieces are pretty small. Some larger pieces always stay. . Then I lay out an egg crate and proceed like below!

It costs me $30 for 6-8 months of food for my voracious eating tangs.

Why do you spend so much time draining your? Perhaps I should do that also?

And, yea, my husband complains that my fish eat better than he does.

 

[concept3]

Why do you spend so much time draining your? Perhaps I should do that also?

I notice that the "drier" cubes provides a meal that takes longer to melt, so it stays in one piece, I also wanted to limit the amount of organics that go in the tank. I noticed that the mysis/bloodworm cubes themselves contain a lot of moisture, so I wanted to give the fish/corals a more concentrated potion rather than a diluted one.


Oooooh..... I forgot to add the Krill on the list, so I just edited my post.