OK! Enough chat...Starting a 1000g+ Reef
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jnarowe
New member
Sorry it took so long Chuck. I tried to figure out a way to post it directly on RC, but couldn't figure it out. If you have anything to add I would certainly revise the guide, and that goes for anyone with suggestions. I have a horrible memory so I may have missed something.
BTW, this really is an extension of Marc's method. Very similar and I just have made a couple of adjustments to it to lower the pollution going into the tank.
If anyone is interested, I will post my glossary of fish food ingredients too.
BTW, this really is an extension of Marc's method. Very similar and I just have made a couple of adjustments to it to lower the pollution going into the tank.
If anyone is interested, I will post my glossary of fish food ingredients too.
michika
red headed step child
Awesome, thanks again.
Could you clarify what each of the fresh seafoods are on the 3rd page? I don't eat seafood (save crab, shrimp, and the occasional lobster) so I can't ID everything. Could you fill in my blanks/correct me?
On the top row going left to right;
1)
2)
3) Squid
4) Prawns
5) Scallops
Bottom row:
1)
2) oysters
3)
4)
5)
And a couple of questions;
- When you say you soak all the frozen items for an hour, are you soaking them in RO/DI?
- You mentioned shredded nori as an additive, I have both strips and shredded product, yet my fish don't touch the shredded product, yet love the strips. Any suggestions on making the shredded nori more appealing?
- You mentioned wanting to move from spirulina pellets to a better source, what about spirulina flakes? Would they break down and become useless if you added it to the mix? What about adding it just prior to feeding like shredded nori?
I really like that you put this together and actually wrote and discussed your process. Thank you again.
Could you clarify what each of the fresh seafoods are on the 3rd page? I don't eat seafood (save crab, shrimp, and the occasional lobster) so I can't ID everything. Could you fill in my blanks/correct me?
On the top row going left to right;
1)
2)
3) Squid
4) Prawns
5) Scallops
Bottom row:
1)
2) oysters
3)
4)
5)
And a couple of questions;
- When you say you soak all the frozen items for an hour, are you soaking them in RO/DI?
- You mentioned shredded nori as an additive, I have both strips and shredded product, yet my fish don't touch the shredded product, yet love the strips. Any suggestions on making the shredded nori more appealing?
- You mentioned wanting to move from spirulina pellets to a better source, what about spirulina flakes? Would they break down and become useless if you added it to the mix? What about adding it just prior to feeding like shredded nori?
I really like that you put this together and actually wrote and discussed your process. Thank you again.
jnarowe
New member
Those are just basic fish pics and don't really matter in terms of what you will get for your mix. My only suggestions regarding purchasing "fresh" is that you get non-farmed fish with lower oil content. The higher the oil content, the slower your skimmer will come back on line. I guess that can be looked at as good from a nutritional standpoint though.
It's just really nice for the fish to get high quality food. I will chop off a bit when we eat fresh fish and supplement my fish food with it as well.
Yes, always soaking in RO/DI water.
What do you mean by "strips" of nori? Is that different than the shredded I posted? It is not really "shredded" but cut into thin strips.
I wouldn't use spirulina flakes either. You could possibly add it at feeding time, but again you have to watch the ingredients and how it gets consumed.
Some possible spirulina sources:
Nutrition Geeks
VitaCost
I still haven't found it in pellets without ethoxyquin.
It's just really nice for the fish to get high quality food. I will chop off a bit when we eat fresh fish and supplement my fish food with it as well.
Yes, always soaking in RO/DI water.
What do you mean by "strips" of nori? Is that different than the shredded I posted? It is not really "shredded" but cut into thin strips.
I wouldn't use spirulina flakes either. You could possibly add it at feeding time, but again you have to watch the ingredients and how it gets consumed.
Some possible spirulina sources:
Nutrition Geeks
VitaCost
I still haven't found it in pellets without ethoxyquin.
jnarowe
New member
Here is a link to a partial fish food ingredient glossary:
Ingredient Glossary Download
Check out the ingredients in the food you are using!
Ingredient Glossary Download
Check out the ingredients in the food you are using!
jnarowe
New member
Well, it all depends on the size of your fish and how they eat. I have a friend here locally that has some extremely large fish including an 18" unicorn tang that eats nori rolled up like a newspaper.
1" x 6" strips are too large for most of our reef fish to swallow down whole though, so I would suspect that it is getting broken up in the tank. The nori I posted about is more like "cole slaw" and the only thing I can say about making it more attractive to the fish, is to soak it well and slowly feed it until they get used to it. I have never seen a fish not eat it, but IIRC when Chuck started with it his fish took a couple of days to adjust to it. You might ask him if he did anything special to entice his fish to eat it.
It was just never an issue in my tank, but I never fed nori sheets either. Sherman and I have talked about making a video of it, but it seems stupid to do so.
1" x 6" strips are too large for most of our reef fish to swallow down whole though, so I would suspect that it is getting broken up in the tank. The nori I posted about is more like "cole slaw" and the only thing I can say about making it more attractive to the fish, is to soak it well and slowly feed it until they get used to it. I have never seen a fish not eat it, but IIRC when Chuck started with it his fish took a couple of days to adjust to it. You might ask him if he did anything special to entice his fish to eat it.
It was just never an issue in my tank, but I never fed nori sheets either. Sherman and I have talked about making a video of it, but it seems stupid to do so.
michika
red headed step child
My fish usually munch around the edges and once they get up to the clip I just remove the left overs they can't reach. I only put in a 1"x2" piece at a time, it seems to work for my smaller bioload. I'll keep trying with the shredded stuff and see how it goes.
When you freeze your homemade food do you press it into racks or anything to make simpler to break off?
When you freeze your homemade food do you press it into racks or anything to make simpler to break off?
jnarowe
New member
no I don't press the food into anything but there is no reason why you couldn't use a small ice cube tray. When I roll out the Zip-Loc bags, the food is very thin and easy to break. Plus I like to vary the amount I feed each day.
As far as how you are doing it now, I don't see anything wrong with that if you don't observe any nori going free into the water column. Whenever I have seen fish eat from a clip, I have observed a frenzied mob attacking the nori and lots of bits getting blown around the tank. If that is not happening in your case, then I wouldn't worry about it.
As far as how you are doing it now, I don't see anything wrong with that if you don't observe any nori going free into the water column. Whenever I have seen fish eat from a clip, I have observed a frenzied mob attacking the nori and lots of bits getting blown around the tank. If that is not happening in your case, then I wouldn't worry about it.
jnarowe
New member
Good question. I just make up a bunch. It usually is enough for 4 - 5 Zip-Locs, but I use a lot of food too with 35 fish to feed. Freezer burn could happen of course so people who decide to make their own should take into account how much they will need. One way to combat that is to fill, flatten, and sela the Zip-Locs, and then vacuum pack them in a second bag. I have thought about doing this but I use the food up quick enough. The 5 Zip-Locs will last me about 3 - 4 months.
I would guess that the average reef keeper will take a couple of months to use one bag of food. BUT, all that means is you either make a small amount, or get together with other hobbyists to split up a larger batch. I don't know how many we made but I would guess that at the PSAS meeting we got 50+ small sandwich bags out of the batch we made.
Something else to keep in mind when considering this method is the health of the fish. I visit a lot of other aquariums and it is really easy for me to figure out how the fish are being fed. Most of them just don't compare to the robust look and coloration of my fish. There is a huge difference IMO.
I would guess that the average reef keeper will take a couple of months to use one bag of food. BUT, all that means is you either make a small amount, or get together with other hobbyists to split up a larger batch. I don't know how many we made but I would guess that at the PSAS meeting we got 50+ small sandwich bags out of the batch we made.
Something else to keep in mind when considering this method is the health of the fish. I visit a lot of other aquariums and it is really easy for me to figure out how the fish are being fed. Most of them just don't compare to the robust look and coloration of my fish. There is a huge difference IMO.
And, no, I don't like using the dishwasher
michika
red headed step child
What is your finished and pre-frozen product like? What type of consistency does yours usually have? Would it be like a slurpee (are there slurpees in the US?)?
Before I moved I used to make batches 4 times a year, kept half for myself and split it with a few other reefers. I found I would get freezer burn if it hung out longer then 3 months. Then again mine never lasted longer then 3 months as I was running a much larger system at the time. I froze mine into rubber ice cube trays, and they produced cubes about the same size as two hikari cubes. I used to double bag, but settled for a rubbermaid container in a ziplock to increase shelf life. I'm still not happy with my current recipe though, so seeing how you make yours is invaluable!
Before I moved I used to make batches 4 times a year, kept half for myself and split it with a few other reefers. I found I would get freezer burn if it hung out longer then 3 months. Then again mine never lasted longer then 3 months as I was running a much larger system at the time. I froze mine into rubber ice cube trays, and they produced cubes about the same size as two hikari cubes. I used to double bag, but settled for a rubbermaid container in a ziplock to increase shelf life. I'm still not happy with my current recipe though, so seeing how you make yours is invaluable!
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