Rod's Food raising nitrates???

[bimmer88]

I've read a lot about Rod's food and decided to give it a try... normally i feed H2o Life Spirulina cubes to my tangs.. I have a tank with mostly tangs... I tried the Rod's food for herbivores... I've noticed that there's an awful lot of meaty content for something that was meant for herbivores... more meaty content than greens... large chunks of fish and shrimp... would this diet be OK for my tangs??? Seems more like a diet for carnivores... also, my nitrates are normally at 0 feeding h2o life but ever since i've switched over my nitrates have jumped to 10 in a week... I'm guessing my tangs aren't able to finish all these large chunks of meat and it's polluting my water... What's everyone else's experience with Rod's food?? Other than the self-blended home made food, what's everybody else feeding???

 

[Toddrtrex]

I've been using it for years, and still have 0 nitrate readings.

What size tank, and what fish to you have?

From reading some of your other posts, I think adding Flame angel, Powder Blue Tang, and a Powder Brown Tang, might have more do with with your 'trates raising.

 

[bimmer88]

I've been using it for years, and still have 0 nitrate readings.

What size tank, and what fish to you have?

From reading some of your other posts, I think adding Flame angel, Powder Blue Tang, and a Powder Brown Tang, might have more do with with your 'trates raising.

tank size is 180 gallon and my livestock is as follows:

-Yellow Tang(3 inch)
-Blue Tang(3 inch)
-Naso Tang(4 inch)
-Powder Blue Tang(4 inch)
-Powder Brown Tang(3 inch)
-Sailfin Tang(3 inch)
-Flame Angel(3 inch)
-Mystery Wrasse(4 inch)
-Percula Clown(2 inch)
-Mandarin Dragonette(2 inch)
-Diamond Goby(3 inch)

Sounds like a lot of fish but they're all small and i don't think they'd create that much waste in a 180 gal tank...

 

[Toddrtrex]

IMO, that is a huge amount of fish for a 180, and will have more issues as time goes on, and that is the reason for your nitrates.

 

[Ycore]

Personally, I don't like this food. Yes, I know everyone says it's great, but I find it waaayyy too messy. So much goes uneaten it pollutes my tank in no time.

 

[preef]

I feed Rod's every other day with frozen cyclopeeze on alternate days. My nitrate level fluctuates between undetectable and 2.5.

I like Rod's because it has big pieces and it has extremely small pieces that form a cloud for the corals to eat.

 

[bimmer88]

I feed Rod's every other day with frozen cyclopeeze on alternate days. My nitrate level fluctuates between undetectable and 2.5.

I like Rod's because it has big pieces and it has extremely small pieces that form a cloud for the corals to eat.

my tangs always just take in the bigger pieces and spit them out... my flame angel and mystery wrasse seem to be the only ones enjoying the bigger pieces...

 

[bimmer88]

edit: duplicate post

 

[djkms]

Personally, I don't like this food. Yes, I know everyone says it's great, but I find it waaayyy too messy. So much goes uneaten it pollutes my tank in no time.

+1 lots of uneaten food. Noticed my gha coming back after feeding it for a week.

Sent from my droooid using tapatalk.

 

[bimmer88]

+1 lots of uneaten food. Noticed my gha coming back after feeding it for a week.

Sent from my droooid using tapatalk.

i started getting GHA again too... i think it's just because most of my fish are tangs... might not be a problem if most of the tank's inhabitants are omnivores or carnivores... too many big chunks of meat for a tank that's almost exclusively herbivores...

 

[that0neguy1126]

Tang's are not herbivores. They eat quite a bit of meat. Their diet should be more plants than meat though. I have a small Yellow Tang (2") and he always eats the biggest chunks of meat.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Are you using the "herbivore" blend of Rod's food?

(( I use 3 different types, and have no hair algae issues. ))

 

[dublo8]

Try thawing it out for a little longer. I noticed that I was having the problem with my wrasse not eating the bigger chunks. I put a chunk of rods original in a little cup with some tank water and let it sit for about a half hour before I feed the tank. It seemed to help. It may be to cold and they don't like it. Not sure but maybe give it a try. You can also try a little garlic in there to get them to eat the other pieces too.

 

[tmgrash]

My three tangs as well as my gold spotted rabbit fish all love rods food, not to mention my copperband butterfly and obviously the not "picky" eaters. I feed it every other day, the original formula. Nitrates are always undetectable on my elos test.

 

[cloak]

I've no experience with Rod's food, but if it does tend to disintegrate in the water there could be quite a bit of it that's NOT being consumed. There's a couple other foods that I've used that behave like this. "Marine Cousine" being one of them. I won't feed it unless I'm doing a water change the next day. To messy.

 

[Humu Humu]

My powder brown, heniochus and flame angel pull it right out of my hands. They love the stuff.