What do you feed your tank?

[chiqui bb]

Started with flakes and after reading posts, quickly changed to frozen food. Mysis, brine, krill (too big), seaweed, formula one gel cubes (didn't like them), spirulina brine shrimp.

LFS recommended Rod's frozen food but it really clouds my water, causes my skimmer to produce lots of micro bubbles for hours and seems to contain a fair amount of garbage that doesn't get eaten. Anyone have a favorite food? Also looking for smaller cubes so I don't waste so much.

 

[wontonflip]

I make my food in batches, enough for 2-3 weeks -- I'll thaw out several cubes of mysis, spirulina, and emerald entree, mix/rinse them out in rodi, strain, then refreeze them. Then I just break them apart, store them in a 4 week pill box, so all I have to do is get that day's feeding ration, thaw in a bowl w/ tank water, and dump it in.

Sometimes I'll toss in pellets for the crabs, but the fish eat those, too, on the way down. I sometimes get cyclopeeze and put some in as a treat.

 

[d2mini]

I feed Rod's Food soaked in garlic.
What doesn't get eaten by the fish I figure is food for everything else in my tank. My starfish, crabs, and shrimp all got NUTS when that stuff hits the water and starts to fall to the bottom.
I also throw in some ESV Spray-Dried Phyto for my filter feeders. I also have some Reef Chili i might use once in a while.

 

[Leslee]

I also feed Rod's Food, I found after rinsing it, the water is less cloudy, I also thaw a little mysis to add to the rods food, because some of the Rod's food chunks are too big for some of my fish.

 

[Smitty]

I feed my tank cyclopeeze...and have had no issues at all :)

 

[yote]

When I do actually feed my tank,I use a mix of frozen mysis ( I get the flat packs ),cyclops,and rotifers.

 

[Chris_150G]

Frozen shrimp: spirulina brine, mysis, krill. Also seaweed sheets. I have formula2 but I don't like it much because it likes to roll under the rocks.

 

[kwsm]

I have some Formula 2 but the pellets are too big for anything I have to eat them so I have to break them into smaller pieces which is a pain in the ass so unless I'm feeling generous, they don't get it :P

Garlic soaked mysis is a favorite of the Bannerfish and the entire tank goes nuts over Emerald Entree.

I've given thought to making my own food like a lot of people on this site but I've been feeling lazy. :)

The two grazers I have in my tank also LOVE the algae sheets. I keep one in there about every day.

 

[Chris_150G]

I have some Formula 2 but the pellets are too big for anything I have to eat them so I have to break them into smaller pieces which is a pain in the ass so unless I'm feeling generous, they don't get it :P

Garlic soaked mysis is a favorite of the Bannerfish and the entire tank goes nuts over Emerald Entree.

I've given thought to making my own food like a lot of people on this site but I've been feeling lazy. :)

The two grazers I have in my tank also LOVE the algae sheets. I keep one in there about every day.

With the formula 2 the omnivore fish like to peck at the cube. I wish there was something that could hold the cube so it stays where the fish can easily get at it.

 

[kwsm]

With the formula 2 the omnivore fish like to peck at the cube. I wish there was something that could hold the cube so it stays where the fish can easily get at it.

I just use my thumbnail to break it into tiny pieces they can easily fit in their mouths. Then I drop it in one or two pieces at a time. Otherwise the clowns swim around for a couple minutes with the pellet in their mouth then drop it and it goes to the starfish. They really seem to like it when they can actually eat it though.

 

[dcantucson]

I make my food in batches, enough for 2-3 weeks -- I'll thaw out several cubes of mysis, spirulina, and emerald entree, mix/rinse them out in rodi, strain, then refreeze them. Then I just break them apart, store them in a 4 week pill box, so all I have to do is get that day's feeding ration, thaw in a bowl w/ tank water, and dump it in.

Sometimes I'll toss in pellets for the crabs, but the fish eat those, too, on the way down. I sometimes get cyclopeeze and put some in as a treat.

Wonton that's a great idea.

 

[SeaBee]

Formula 2, CE Mysis, rotifers, shrimp and reefroids. Formula 2 is gelled so I need to cut that up a bit, all food gets soaked in amino and omega acids as well as vitamin c. I stopped the garlic after I knew the fish were eating there food with the vitamins. Also seaweed sheets twice a week for their veggies.

 

[sen5241b]

Ocean Nutrition Seafood flakes
Ocean Nutrition Formula 1 Small pellets (has garlic)
Cyclopeeze - tank raised and frozen
Orange sushi roe
Frozen blood worms (a fresh water species)

I strongly believe that some frozen foods have ich in them. The ability of parasites to reanimate after freezing is well known and this is why most raw seafood (like sushi but excepting raw oysters) must, according to health codes, be frozen at minus 6F for about 72 hours. Deep freezing at that temp will kill parasites. I remember seeing gamma-irradiated frozen fish food.

 

[cageburn]

rods food, only food i will put in my tank.

 

[wontonflip]

Wonton that's a great idea.

Thanks :D I got the pill box idea when I was going on a 2 week vacation last summer, and was relying on my pet sitter (a 14 year old kid down the block) to feed my tank and do top offs. I did not want him to worry about pre-measuring the food, and end up overfeeding the fish. So since then, I've been pre-measuring them all the time for my benefit (and for my kid, who helps me feed them). 30-45min of my time, once a month, is worth it to not have to get messy everyday getting the food ready!

Obviously, it's empty right now. I haven't broken up my frozen stuff yet.

 

[chiqui bb]

wontonflip: Any problems with freezer burn using this type of container? Do you also put it in a ziploc bag?

 

[reeffreak]

I've been using Rod Foods forever and it doesn't cloud my water.Strange,maybe it's the Selcon in the mix.Emerald Entree,SF brand mysis and sometimes PE mysis,cyclopeeze frozen and freeze dried.For coral food usually a combo of mysis,clops and Reef Roids.

 

[Reefrookie]

For my fish I use a combination of the following:
LFS makes a frozen food made of about 8 different seafoods
PE mysis w/vita chem & garlic
New Life Spectrum Pellets w/vita chem
Nori sheets for the Tangs

For the tank I use Reef Chili

 

[puttycat]

Wonton's fish must be senior citizens:bounce::bounce:

I like to by 1/2 price sea food from the fish/meat market put it through a food processor mixed with some garlic extract and vitamins. freeze it flat 1/4 in thick or less in a sandwich bag. They love this stuff more than the frozen prepared foods I also use. $20 can make more than 6 months of food.

 

[wontonflip]

wontonflip: Any problems with freezer burn using this type of container? Do you also put it in a ziploc bag?

No...originally, I skipped refreezing them into one block and just separated them while still thawed into squares of plastic wrap, and just put them in each pill compartment. But it takes a lot of time. So now, I take a ziplock, put my thawed washed food into it, shape it into a square, and freeze....then when it's all frozen, I take it back out and chop it out and put them into the pill box. Never had freezer burn issues because they're not in the freezer long enough because i use them up.


EDIT: I do not put them directly onto the pill boxes while wet, otherwise they will stick to the box, and it would be a PITA to get out; If you put them in plastic wrap squares, or put them in already frozen, there's no issue w/ sticking.

Wonton's fish must be senior citizens

They act like it sometimes LOL