Is Emerald Entree Any Good?

[SkyReef]

I have a reef tank. There are 2 clown-fish, three damsels, 4 skunk-cleaner shrimp, 2 harlequin shrimp, and 3 turbo snails. My corals are: zoas (in the quantity to cover a 2-fist-sized rock); a fist-sized, pink bird's nest, a hammer, and a frogspawn.

I feed them a 1/2 Emerald Entree cube, twice a day. Is that food any good, and is this quantity sufficient?

Its listed ingredients are: mysis shrimp, brine shimp, krill, plankton, spinach, romanine lettuce, re-leaf lettuce, spirulina, menhaden fish oil, brewer's dried yeast, and vitamins or vitamin precursors: A, B1, B2, B6, B12, D3, K3.

I also spot feed my corals: 1 teaspoon of Oyster Feast in the first feeding each day, and 1 teaspoon of Roti Feast in second feeding each day.

I also feed my two harlequin shrimp a chocolate-chip starfish once per month.

Is this feeding regimen sufficient to keep my coral reef and fish thriving? Is it too much?

 

[SkyReef]

No opinions, anyone?

 

[Xxero]

Emerald Entrée is fine.

My concern would be that for 2 Clownfish, 3 Damsels, and a few inverts, you're feeding 1 cube of frozen food and 2 teaspoons of coral food a day. The powdered coral foods can add crazy amounts of nitrates to your tank.

Whether your feeding regimen is enough to keep your tank inhabitants thriving, I would say 'Yes'. Whether it is too much depends on your nutrient parameters.

What are your Nitrates & Phosphate readings?

 

[cloak]

I like Emerald Entrée too, but the only downside IMO is that much like most frozen foods it breaks down into very small pieces. I would like to think that all of it is being consumed, but this is not always the case sometimes. (overfeeding) It's best to defrost the food in a cup of water first and then use a spoon to dish out small portions at a time.
What are your Nitrate & Phosphate readings? Are you dealing with any type of nuisance algae at the moment? Also, you might want to think about adding some flake food along with some pellets to the menu as well. These are real easy to feed and pack a one hell of a punch nutrition wise.

 

[Tullsterx]

I've been using it for. . . damn, decades. . . I agree that it breaks down into microscopic pieces. I've been using it less and using the Julian "Sprungs?" SeaVeggies and Nori more frequently. These days, I usually just use EE in the "soup" I create with Marine Cuisine and some Krill and Mysis shrimp. I feed that a couple of times a week.

 

[SkyReef]

Emerald Entrée is fine.

My concern would be that for 2 Clownfish, 3 Damsels, and a few inverts, you're feeding 1 cube of frozen food and 2 teaspoons of coral food a day. The powdered coral foods can add crazy amounts of nitrates to your tank.

Whether your feeding regimen is enough to keep your tank inhabitants thriving, I would say 'Yes'. Whether it is too much depends on your nutrient parameters.

What are your Nitrates & Phosphate readings?

Hi, Xxero. Thank you for your response. The coral food is in liquid form (Oyster Feast and Rodi Feast). My nitrates and phosphate readings are as follows:

Nitrate: 10 ppm, which I know is high

Phosphate: last three tests ranging from 0.14 ppm-0.19 ppm, which is high, as I aim to have less than 0.03 ppm.

I think you are suggesting switching food to bring those water parameters down?

I like Emerald Entrée too, but the only downside IMO is that much like most frozen foods it breaks down into very small pieces. I would like to think that all of it is being consumed, but this is not always the case sometimes. (overfeeding) It's best to defrost the food in a cup of water first and then use a spoon to dish out small portions at a time.
What are your Nitrate & Phosphate readings? Are you dealing with any type of nuisance algae at the moment? Also, you might want to think about adding some flake food along with some pellets to the menu as well. These are real easy to feed and pack a one hell of a punch nutrition wise.

Hi, Cloak. Thanks for your response. I defrost a half a cube in a cup of tank water, but I dump it in the tank all at once. I am dealing with some brownish algae that the turbo snails are eating, but not much green algae. Right now I am keeping high magnesium levels to help control algae and I have an algae turf scrubber in the sump below, to combat algae. I might try adding some flake food with pellets. What do you recommend?

I've been using it for. . . damn, decades. . . I agree that it breaks down into microscopic pieces. I've been using it less and using the Julian "Sprungs?" SeaVeggies and Nori more frequently. These days, I usually just use EE in the "soup" I create with Marine Cuisine and some Krill and Mysis shrimp. I feed that a couple of times a week.

Hi, Tullsterx. Thanks for your response. Glad to hear that you have succeeded with Emerald Entree. I'll have to look into the SeaVeggies and Nori, as you suggest.

 

[Xxero]

Hi, Xxero. Thank you for your response. The coral food is in liquid form (Oyster Feast and Rodi Feast). My nitrates and phosphate readings are as follows:

Nitrate: 10 ppm, which I know is high

Phosphate: last three tests ranging from 0.14 ppm-0.19 ppm, which is high, as I aim to have less than 0.03 ppm.

I think you are suggesting switching food to bring those water parameters down?

I'm not very familiar with the liquid Coral foods, but I imagine they have the same potential to add excessive Nitrates if over-used.

Your Nitrate and Phosphate levels aren't bad at all. I wasn't suggesting switching food. I was suggesting keeping an eye on overfeeding. Nitrates can really sneak up on you, and once they get into the higher levels, they can be a booger to get back down. GL! :bigeyes:

 

[cloak]

I might try adding some flake food with pellets. What do you recommend?

New Life Spectrum pellets are probably the best on the market right now. (2mm) For flake food you can't go wrong with Ocean Nutrition Formula One & Two. OSI and Tetra are a couple other good brands too. GL.

 

[SkyReef]

I'm not very familiar with the liquid Coral foods, but I imagine they have the same potential to add excessive Nitrates if over-used.

Your Nitrate and Phosphate levels aren't bad at all. I wasn't suggesting switching food. I was suggesting keeping an eye on overfeeding. Nitrates can really sneak up on you, and once they get into the higher levels, they can be a booger to get back down. GL! :bigeyes:

Thank you, Xxero. I'll keep an eye on the nitrates.

 

[SkyReef]

New Life Spectrum pellets are probably the best on the market right now. (2mm) For flake food you can't go wrong with Ocean Nutrition Formula One & Two. OSI and Tetra are a couple other good brands too. GL.

Thanks, Cloak. I'll give the pellets and flake food a look.