bluereefs
New member
I'd love to have a meal prepared by Will for sure
Gelatin and sodium alginate are two completely different things that happen to form gels.
Gelatin is a protein, a polymer of amino acids typically derived from the collagen of food mammal waste--cows, pigs, etc. It is partially hydrolyzed collagen, and gels upon heating and subsequent cooling. Marine collagen is available, at least on industrial scale, and is made from fish packing waste (skins mostly). You can make gelatin from this as well, but again, sourcing for consumers I am not sure of. Since this is protein, it will contain some nitrogen.
Sodium alginate is a polysaccharide, a chain of sugar molecules, derived from seaweeds. It gels when blended in aqueous solution and then brought into contact with a solution containing calcium (CaCl2 and Ca lactate are commonly used). As is is a sugar, there is no nitrogen or phosphate.
While we're on the subject of polymers, agar agar is another polysaccharide derived from seaweed. It differs from alginate in the constituent sugar monomers.
Henry: regarding adding fish oil to the Ca solution--yes, but that is an oil in water, which won't blend without some serious homogenization or the addition of a little lecithin (or both). I don't think you could make a Ca solution in oil without solubilizing the Ca in water first.
Great information Spracklcat
So if I get this right, Sodium alginat dont have nitrogen or phosphate and probably not heavy metals as well, it is very clean and can be used as a source of large biopolymers in our aquariums. But he dont have colagen.
There are two material what forms gel, Gelatin and Sodium alginate, gelatin are made from animals and have collagen what are good for sponges.
I buy today gelatine in grocery store but there are no ingridients list on that product, how I can know or find what is in my gelatine, animal origin, sodium alginate or agar agar? Is gelatin for cake who are mixed with cold water first.
Visual apearance is just like ordinary sugar.