<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8572530#post8572530 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Treg
Mark, Such as??
Amino-wise, let's just say I tried both Dutch and German manufacturers.
Foodwise ... a DIY food IMO.
Contains potassium, built with aminos ... both coral flesh we're growing, and fish/shellfish flesh we're feeding.
The batches I've made that were ziplocs, 1/4" or so thick [not super thick, easy to break small pieces from] worked best for daily/multiple feedings - which IMO is preferable to every other day very large feedings. With DIY food, I can package it so that I don't have to work with big cubes to feed my 58 - making feeding small quantities more often simple.
Ingredients - three main groups, mostly the first two:
1 - CE, mysis, brine, squid [or anything, really] from the standard fare.
2 - Squid, oysters and shellfish, shrimp, anything else that looks interesting [fish roe, all sorts of stuff] from the seafood/Asian market.
3 - I often add small amounts of golden pearls, oyster eggs, rotifers/other-small-food, whatever I got samples of at the last conference
4 - While I'll add Nori for the fish, I don't add/feed phyto products to this tank.
Given I freeze it, when experimenting with non-freezable stuff [aminos, rotifers, etc] - I add to the cup I thaw the food in. [don't have to worry about `packing juice' in my food IMO]
That said, when feeding DIY food I often skip any further nutrient-dosing ... I've experimented with aminos/rotifers/etc more when feeding the fish non-DIY mysis and such. [I tend to only make DIY food when it's below zero outside and I can freeze it outside when done - thus run out mid-late summer]
Blend into various sizes, normally a little more than planned seems to get `too small for most fish' ... and crank that skimmer.
I haven't made a batch in 6 months, normally search up Eric and other folk's recipes before heading to shop seafood - avoid anything with additives/preservatives, some fish/etc are oily/problematic, some shellfish and the like can be great additions. A lot of folks know a lot more than I on this one - but after running out of DIY food now and then [like now] ... after a few months I always seem to think it worthwhile.
Warning: it can make the kitchen smell like a seafood market for the afternoon.
Get a used blender at a garage sale. My wife couldn't be happier that I went to a garage sale, got a barely used blender for $10 so I never ever use our normal blender for grinding up fish guts. This IME is the most important part to making food
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8570029#post8570029 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by my2girls
IMO AA just fuels algae.
That's the thing to worry about, and why feeding can be a delicate balance and tricky thing to mess with, IMO esp so with aminos [where some consumers like fish can't help out with].
Not enough, IMO corals don't thrive as they might ... too much, they color/grow poorly.
And aminos IME can be harder to gauge than food, and when fed `on top of' normal food makes it easy to have nutrient-level-swings in the tank. IMO, at least if you over-feed something the fish eat some of ... your fish get fat
One whole heap of too-much-coffee-opinion ... liable to change as I continually learn more, hear other folks experiences, and try new things.
