Feeding

M

mushroom head

New member
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-02/feature/index.php

I would like to feed the same as Chuck, which is...

Chuck Stottlemire feeds 100 mls of a commercial algae concentrate (Reed Mariculture's Shellfish Diet) and 40 mls of concentrated rotifers ("RotiFeast") via continuous infusion (half of each is diluted in two gallons and administered q 12 hours via drip by peristaltic pump and airline agitation in the container, no cooling mechanism used) in a 180-gallon reef tank (which overflows to a total system volume ~500 gallons for dilution). This amount is equivalent to approximately46 gallons of dense phytoplankton culture (1 quart of Shellfish Diet is equivalent to 1800 liters of dense culture, which is 457 gallons. One-tenth of that (100 mls) would be 45.7 gallons, according to information provided by Reed Mariculture).

So he feeds 100mls of Reed Mariculture's shellfish diet and 40mls of RotiFeast a day. How many mls of each would I feed a day for a 45g aquarium? Thanks! Cody
 
Charles Matthews here:

Hi Cody, and welcome to the new NP forum!

I recommend that you scale the dose on the basis of what fraction of 180 gallons you are running. And please let us know how it's going.
 
I was thinking to scale that feeding dose based on the total system volume (If the feeding infusion is continuous and the display water flows through a larger system). So that would work out to 100ml SD + 40 ml RF per 500g?

You can easily scale this down to a 50g dose - 10ml SD + 4ml RF. If your total system volume is 100g you would use about 20ml SD + 8ml RF every 24 hours.

SD= Shellfish Diet
RF= Roti-Feast
 
Have you thought about how you will deliver the food to the tank?

I have a peristaltic pump (Aquamedic reefdoser) and I also have one of the Aqua Lifter pumps. The Aqua Lifter is a flow through vaccum pump that works well with liquids. They are also only about $12 so they make an intersting "cheap" alternative.

The syringe pump idea that charles proposed is also another good option. I wonder how one of the syringe pumps would work with a smaller system? I would think you would still have to dilute the mix of Shellfish Diet and Roti-Feast.

I am exploring the idea of using my nearby dorm fridge, a bottle of the "Stottlemire Mix" (hooked up from the fridge) and my Reefdoser (programmable peristaltic pump) for feedings. I am also thinking about swapping my now predominant SPS system over to a NPS style tank...that is if my wife squashes the idea of yet another aquarium in the house. :p

Here are some visuals of my sump/refugium room. You can see the cooler and feed bottle I was also experimenting with.
fridge-dosing.jpg
 
Thanks! Yeah ill be using a dosing pump something like yours. The syringe pumps are to much $$$ for me. Also what I was thinking of doing, is branching off the feeding like to my return from the sump and the return of the CLS. That way the food would enter all around the tank, and I could aim some of the nozzles to specific corals that need more food.
 
Different food

Different food

First, cool you guys got the deducated forum, congrats!

Has anyone tried these product? I ordered some and I will track any changes, but really it's just SPS for me right now, but what might interest the NPS folks is the different filter foods. Check it out: http://www.brightwellaquatics.com/


Dan
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11986442#post11986442 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sammy33

The syringe pump idea that charles proposed is also another good option. I wonder how one of the syringe pumps would work with a smaller system? I would think you would still have to dilute the mix of Shellfish Diet and Roti-Feast.

I am exploring the idea of using my nearby dorm fridge, a bottle of the "Stottlemire Mix" (hooked up from the fridge) and my Reefdoser (programmable peristaltic pump) for feedings.
Click to expand...

Phyto-Feast is the exact same thing as Shellfish Diet just more diluted.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12001147#post12001147 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GreshamH
Phyto-Feast is the exact same thing as Shellfish Diet just more diluted.
Click to expand...

I thought the ingredients looked familiar. ;)

Based on the dilution what would be a similar dose of Phyto-feast?
 
I love finally being able to see tanks with whips, fans, and other things that we have not been able to keep alive for long... Instead of being great rentals we can now enjoy them for the long term hopefully with all the new experimentation this thread will encourage.

Does anyone have any luck with sea pens?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12001783#post12001783 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sammy33
I thought the ingredients looked familiar. ;)

Based on the dilution what would be a similar dose of Phyto-feast?
Click to expand...

I'll have to ask that question to one of our scientists as belive it or not I have forgotten it :) I'll post it later today.
 
Charles Matthews here.

I've not had good luck with the aqualifter; as with Chuck's bubbling method, these things clogged over time for me. I spoke to Chuck about this; he's really good at building things, and explained how he does it; it involved a dremel, machining the pick flat, keeping the bucket close to the tank...bottom line, I was completely outclassed.

I don't want to sound like a syringe pump salesman, but for $275 at syringepump.com you get this reliable machine that is the heart of an NP system. Over time, if you are serious about this, you will get a syringe pump, I think. And, the pump will go down to micrograms/hr- dilution will not be needed even for a nanotank!

One other thing- the syringe pump will accommodate cyclopeez put in with the SD/RF. I have used the frozen, and am about to try the freeze dried. It does also dose Golden Pearls. The mysis unfortunately tend to stick at the bottom of the syringe.

My new Dendronephthya (about 10 specimens, aquired Feb. 3rd) are doing very well, with polyp additions evident every few days on counted branchlets. However, my Scleronephthya and Tubastrea are waning and don't seem to be getting enough food. (Nice that for once the Dendros are thriving and everything else isn't!). Chuck feeds five cubes of mysis daily, and I've been a little remiss on this, maybe every other or third day. I suspect that adding the freeze dried cyclopeez will take care of the problem- perhaps with some rehydration with a fatty acid supplement a few times a week.

The way I do this is to keep a dorm refrigerator where I store the SD and RF. I take a 500 ml beaker, put the FD cyclopeez in the beaker, perhaps add a few drops of supplement or not, then pour in the correct proportions of SD and RF. I use the 60 ml syringe with the short tube and rigid tube attached to draw up the mixture, clamp it in the pump, and go. The SD supplies 2-20 micron size; the RF 50-150 microns; and I think the cyclopeez are in the 250-750 range. This would be a nice way to continuously feed anthias and similar planktivores as well!

I'm wondering how much cyclopeez I should add to this mixture. Any suggestions appreciated. Perhaps I'll start at equivalent volume to the RF and go up from there.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12026268#post12026268 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dendronephthya
Charles Matthews here.


One other thing- the syringe pump will accommodate cyclopeez put in with the SD/RF. I have used the frozen, and am about to try the freeze dried.
Click to expand...


The freeze dried contains around 60% filler which will end up being a bioload on your tank. The frozen cyclopeez is much better.
 
I haven't tried the nutramar yet, Chuck has talked to me about it. What do you think of it?

Dan- are you sure about the filler? The FD cyclops don't show any other ingredients on the can... I think...(I better go look again!).

Charles
 
I have a can of the cyclopeeze wafer and it says (Guaranteed Analysis):
60% Protein, 34% Fats (HUFA's, biopigment, etc.), 8.5% Carbohydrates , 3.5% Ash (ignition residue).

The wafer "ingredients" also lists a stabilizer (Ethoxyquin 150ppm) and 100% Cyclop-eeze.

I also have the freezer bar Cyclop-eeze (no ingredients on the sticker except Cylcop-eeze) and it does seem to be more pure. I chop off a bit of this and it melts into basically individual animals (these are Arctic Copepods right?) with some cloudy finer particles. The food size is much bigger than a rotifer or rotifer egg (like in Roti-feast).

I think the wafer or freeze dried is easier to pulverize into smaller usable particles. I usually mash it in my fingers and let the powdery multi-particle size results flow all over my tank. The corals and fish seem to like this just before the actinics go off. :D

HTH :)
 
My tank is a 427 gal display with 50-75gallon in the sump, so there is a 500gal total simmilar to Chucks. The cost of the syringe pump is not so bad as far as equipment goes, but the monthly cost of the shellfish diet and rotifers has me catching my breath. I wish to keep some NPC in the darker areas of my already established reef, and observe the sps to see if they benifit from the feeding. My hunch is that they will, and I just need to manage the phosphate and higher nutient levels.
 
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