How this Geezer did it in the beginning
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
- Status
EricSIny
New member
:lmao: so true paul. my 16 month old niece knows how to unlock and swipe through photos on an iPhone, its amazing to see how easily children adapt to technology these days.
Good job on the mural btw :thumbsup:
Paul B
Premium Member
I think this thread evolved past it's time and I am thinking of a new thread of how I think this thread will evolve in the future. I have a few Ideas and I will post a link to it here. Of course it also will evolve to cover everything else besides fish tanks but it is what it is. :wavehand:
OK I started a new thread if you are interested, I started a new thread even if you are not interested so what do you think about that?
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20487914#post20487914
OK I started a new thread if you are interested, I started a new thread even if you are not interested so what do you think about that?
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20487914#post20487914
Last edited:
Fossegrimen
New member
Now the thing about wild fish eating whole fish kind of makes sense. You seem to be talking about feeding with bite sized whole fish only. Any reason why I can't pop a salmon in the blender and feed it to my tank a little at a time and achieve the same thing? would be simpler and also a lot cheaper than the frozen fish food @ the LFS here.
Paul B
Premium Member
There is actually a good reason why you should not pop a salmon in your blender.
Have you ever done that before? It is very messy and most of the oil gets lost in the process. The muscle of the fish is not as good as the guts and you are getting a lot of muscle in there. (and scales.)
Don't get me wrong, that would be a nutritious meal, but messy and would make a mess of the tank.
When I said whole foods I meant something like live blackworms because the oil is contained in the animal until the fish eats it. Also fish eggs are whole foods and contain almost all oil. Tiny fish are great but hard to get.
Have you ever done that before? It is very messy and most of the oil gets lost in the process. The muscle of the fish is not as good as the guts and you are getting a lot of muscle in there. (and scales.)
Don't get me wrong, that would be a nutritious meal, but messy and would make a mess of the tank.
When I said whole foods I meant something like live blackworms because the oil is contained in the animal until the fish eats it. Also fish eggs are whole foods and contain almost all oil. Tiny fish are great but hard to get.
skidoctor
New member
I've been stuck on the fish oil idea since a read it a couple weeks back. I don't think I have access to worms, and raising them is out of the question due to living circumstances. What about getting the inards from the local fish market/ grocery store? Or what about just regular, over the counter fish oil sold in capsules at a drug store? The first sounds like a more viable option, but I was just wondering what you're opinion is. Imagine you were a land locked reefer with no LFS within a reasonable distance. What woud you do to keep your fish healthy?
Give them a fresh oyster or mussel once a week, or even chuck a fresh prawn head in.
Oysters and mussels are filter feeders and have a huge range of stuff in their gut.....including pesticides, toxic chemicals etc....so make sure you buy fresh stuff for human consumption.
I have made my own fish food for many years...
Prawns
Oysters
Squid/Octopus
Beef-Heart
Wild Krill oil
Kelp Powder
Multi vitamins
Grind it all up in a mincer...not a blender. Freeze and feed as necessary.
Paul B
Premium Member
I use the same oil I myself take. Just put a pin hole in the capsule and drip some on some sinking pellets. Let it soak in for an hour or so and feed them. I also do that every day.
I also feed oysters, mussel and clam. I buy them live and freeze them, then open the shell, you may ned a hammer and knife when they are frozen, and shave off paper thin slices of the entire animal. I also do that every day.
Any food where you can get the guts. If you can buy salmon eggs they are great but they must be washed very well. Even 2 salmon eggs will make my skimmer overflow for quite a while but they are probably the best food there is. They are all oil
SushiGirl
Premium Member
My yellow wrasse has been picky about the mysis the last few days, so I got to thinking about this thread & pulled out the fish eggs that noone would eat before I got the wrasse. He saw one, ate it, then went nuts chasing them down & eating them. Thanks, Paul for planting the idea!
Ice Queen
New member
Good evening Sir....
I often read these sites, but have never wanted to join in on the conversation....Yup I guess I am a stocker up here.
It is amazing to read and I tried telling my husband your story but, he would not put down his patients charts he was working on lol....
So, I thought I needed to tell you that the two days it took me to read these posts, were insightful and very interesting!!
How interesting it was to read about your past and what the hobby has gone thru....
You must write a book, as others have also indicated lol.
2 Questions though from me;
1.) what are your thoughts on coral dosing with either vitamin C or Vodka?
2.) and would you recommend fish oil added to frozen food for absorption. Up here in Canada, especially Alberta, we FLY our Lobster in. Privately, especially if we are having a party, we FLY Lobster from one of the coasts depending on the season. Most us up here feed frozen, its what we gots baby! Its waaaaaay easier to by frozen shrimp, not that you can't get any, but its not quite fresh... 3 of the lakes around here are on what you call a draw cause they are over fished and we live in kinda of a dessert... You buy a licence and put in for a "Lottery" and hope to be drawn for a certain lake and a certain size during the fishing season...
The expense of this hobby is something else lol....
If I could feed my fish elk meat or beef meat, I'd be better off....
Please keep writing....
There are many people reading and can learn from the experiments and learning experiences
You should put some of the memories of your family and your past on paper, so that beautiful granddaughter can one day read and realize what her family went thru to get here.
One of my grandmothers was purchased as a Ukrainain slave (yes, they had slaves there too, not just in Africa). My uncle was born in a field in the ukraine and my father on the boat on the way to Canada, after my grandfather blew up a mine and killed thousands of people. Stories are meant to be told and young ones to learn from....
Write that book sir, I'll buy a copy
look at me ramble lol:spin3:
I often read these sites, but have never wanted to join in on the conversation....Yup I guess I am a stocker up here.
It is amazing to read and I tried telling my husband your story but, he would not put down his patients charts he was working on lol....
So, I thought I needed to tell you that the two days it took me to read these posts, were insightful and very interesting!!
How interesting it was to read about your past and what the hobby has gone thru....
You must write a book, as others have also indicated lol.
2 Questions though from me;
1.) what are your thoughts on coral dosing with either vitamin C or Vodka?
2.) and would you recommend fish oil added to frozen food for absorption. Up here in Canada, especially Alberta, we FLY our Lobster in. Privately, especially if we are having a party, we FLY Lobster from one of the coasts depending on the season. Most us up here feed frozen, its what we gots baby! Its waaaaaay easier to by frozen shrimp, not that you can't get any, but its not quite fresh... 3 of the lakes around here are on what you call a draw cause they are over fished and we live in kinda of a dessert... You buy a licence and put in for a "Lottery" and hope to be drawn for a certain lake and a certain size during the fishing season...
The expense of this hobby is something else lol....
If I could feed my fish elk meat or beef meat, I'd be better off....
Please keep writing....
There are many people reading and can learn from the experiments and learning experiences
You should put some of the memories of your family and your past on paper, so that beautiful granddaughter can one day read and realize what her family went thru to get here.
One of my grandmothers was purchased as a Ukrainain slave (yes, they had slaves there too, not just in Africa). My uncle was born in a field in the ukraine and my father on the boat on the way to Canada, after my grandfather blew up a mine and killed thousands of people. Stories are meant to be told and young ones to learn from....
Write that book sir, I'll buy a copy
look at me ramble lol:spin3:
Paul B
Premium Member
I like the way this starts. Good evening to you also Maam.
The nerve of him.
I dosed vitamic C for years, never noticed any difference good or bad. I don't think coral needs vitamin C as it doesn't get much fresh fruit or orange juice in the sea. Coral gets everything it needs from the symbiotic algae and if youi keep the algae healthy, the coral will be healthy. Corals that can eat, should eat. They are carnivores. I feed LPS clam. Clams are a very good food because you are feeing the entire animal and they are very soft and easy to eat. They are also my favorite food.
I think Vodka could be helpful if you have a problem with nitrates or to maybe help a newer tank but I don't thionk it is needed if your tank is running correctly. I feel it is a band aid to try to remedy something that should be remidied with a more natural approach although I do feed my denitritor with Vodka. That is a new device in my reef and it is just an experiment. (working very well by the way) :smokin:
No, you can not add anything to frozen food. Frozen food is wet and the oil will just sit on the surface of the food and wash off in the water where it will float.
You can only put oil on dry food like pellets, freeze dried food or flakes. I put it on pellets and let it soak in for an hour or so. If you feed it to fast, you will make an oil slick. Any dry food I add to my tank has oil on it. I have oil soaked pellets in an automatic feeder that feeds some of the fish twice a day.
If you get in whole lobster, (which I doubt,) you can feed the guts of that. The guts would be much better than the meat. You may also be able to get fish eggs, a very good food but you have to rinse it very well, especially salmon eggs. One or two un rinsed eggs will cause your skimmer to overflow for an hour.
Eat the elk meat yourself and keep it out of your tank although they would eat it. :spin2:
A cold blooded animal like a fish has a big problem trying to digest red meat from a mammal. That is why fish have no solid fat. Just oil. Their temp is not high enough to keep solid fats in circulation in their blood and they just poop it out. :eek2:
Before I was married I was dating a Ukranian girl
I have some of those in my family. I don't think any of them killed thousands of people but I know there are less people now because of them.
Not part of the family I am most proud of. :worried:
I love it when you ramble. :beer:
Sunshine252
New member
Good morning, Mr. Paul. I've been following along and tried soaking pellets in fish oil as you suggested... and my fish spit every one of them out and refused to eat! Have you ever had your fish do this??? Should I just keep offering it to them until they "get it"? I even tried soaking some freeze dried bloodworms and my freshwater betta rejected them... aggravating fish! LOL Thank you for your input and stories! :wavehand:
- Status
