Reef Nutrition here:
Arcti-Pods effect different skimmers in different ways. Some don't get effected at all, others "head" is knocked down for several hours. This is the first we've heard of 24+ hours though. It is due to the oils that are inside the arctic copepods leaking out. This can be from either how it was mixed in our production (few broken copepods), or over time an enzyme inside them breaks down the carapace allowing the oils to leak out (which determines the "best before" date on that product). The oils are in fact the main nutritional component of the copepods. With out them, the copepods are just empty shells.
The "best before" stickers we stopped using many months ago and the actual date is now printed on the RIGHT side of the front panel in black. It's rather hard to see unfortunately. With that in mind we had new 6oz labels printed for Oyster-Feast and Phyto-Feast (not LIVE) where the date is printed by the UPC on the left side of the label. This is very easy to see as it's black lettering with a white background. Over the next year we'll migrate the entire line to this style. Until then you'll have to look at either location for the "best before".
As for the recommended dose, it's a guideline, not something set in stone. It was arrived at in several ways, mainly what I found myself worked in my heavily stocked tanks at home. It's very hard to put on a label what every reefer should dose as we all have different levels of stocking density, corals, fish, etc. so start slow and work up to what you feel is appropriate for your bio-load/tank.
Arcti-Pods effect different skimmers in different ways. Some don't get effected at all, others "head" is knocked down for several hours. This is the first we've heard of 24+ hours though. It is due to the oils that are inside the arctic copepods leaking out. This can be from either how it was mixed in our production (few broken copepods), or over time an enzyme inside them breaks down the carapace allowing the oils to leak out (which determines the "best before" date on that product). The oils are in fact the main nutritional component of the copepods. With out them, the copepods are just empty shells.
The "best before" stickers we stopped using many months ago and the actual date is now printed on the RIGHT side of the front panel in black. It's rather hard to see unfortunately. With that in mind we had new 6oz labels printed for Oyster-Feast and Phyto-Feast (not LIVE) where the date is printed by the UPC on the left side of the label. This is very easy to see as it's black lettering with a white background. Over the next year we'll migrate the entire line to this style. Until then you'll have to look at either location for the "best before".
As for the recommended dose, it's a guideline, not something set in stone. It was arrived at in several ways, mainly what I found myself worked in my heavily stocked tanks at home. It's very hard to put on a label what every reefer should dose as we all have different levels of stocking density, corals, fish, etc. so start slow and work up to what you feel is appropriate for your bio-load/tank.
