Food, Phosphates, How to Feed

pikachusalad · 06/05/2007, 09:07 AM

I was reading a different thread that said frozen food has a ton of phosphates. I thought I read in a different thread that dry (flake) food had the phosphate problem. Anyone have any info about this? Maybe brands that are better than others?

So, being a noob, could someone please tell me or point me to a good resource on how/what/how much to feed? What is the proper way to feed things like frozen mysis shrimp (I was just thawing in RO and dumping in)? What is a ballpark guideline for how much to feed (just what is obviously too much maybe...I know this depends entirely on what's in the tank eating the food...)

Any info would be much appreciated.

kevin2000 · 06/05/2007, 09:25 AM

In general frozen food will have less phosphates than flake food. The downside with frozen food is that the frozen water often contains nutrients that feed algae but really don't feed the fish .. as such many will thaw/rinse the frozen food to eliminate this problem.

seapug · 06/05/2007, 03:23 PM

All food contains potential pollutants capable of degrading water quality. It's a good practice to thaw frozen food in a cup and pour off the cloudy crap and debris (rinse) as much as possible. In any case you want to make sure that the food you put in the tank is consumed as soon as possible. Uneaten food laying around is just another potential contributor to problems.

HPD Turbo · 06/05/2007, 04:09 PM

Are your fish coming to the surface to eat or you give them sinking pelets?

HPD Turbo · 06/05/2007, 04:09 PM

Are your fish coming to the surface to eat or you give them sinking pelets?

pikachusalad · 06/05/2007, 04:24 PM

I've just been thawing a chunk (1/4 - 1/3 cube) of frozen mysis shrimp and dumping it in (once a day) - gets blown all over the place and the fish chase it around - the nassarius snails go ape-s*** trying to figure out where pieces are going to land...

I also clip a strip (maybe 2" X 3") of dried seaweed every 2-3 days to make sure the crabs and snails are getting enough to eat. They usually have what I put in gone in a day.

That's the only feeding I'm doing. I have a yellowtail damsel, a big percula clown, and some number (less than the cleaning packs they sell for a 75 gal) of crabs and snails.

Reefmack · 06/05/2007, 04:53 PM

What are you folks thawing frozen food in? I used to use tap & drain it through a brine shrimp net. Now I use a bit of tank water and drain it.

Tomorleans · 06/05/2007, 05:38 PM

I just use tank water and scoop the shrimp out with a spoon. Then throw away the leftover tank water.

kevin2000 · 06/05/2007, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tlmack
What are you folks thawing frozen food in? I used to use tap & drain it through a brine shrimp net. Now I use a bit of tank water and drain it.

Tap water and BS net ... remember the amt of tap water that ends up in your tank is so small I suspect its impossible to measure.

06/05/2007, 09:07 AM	#1
pikachusalad Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Saint Paul, MN Posts: 402	Food, Phosphates, How to Feed I was reading a different thread that said frozen food has a ton of phosphates. I thought I read in a different thread that dry (flake) food had the phosphate problem. Anyone have any info about this? Maybe brands that are better than others? So, being a noob, could someone please tell me or point me to a good resource on how/what/how much to feed? What is the proper way to feed things like frozen mysis shrimp (I was just thawing in RO and dumping in)? What is a ballpark guideline for how much to feed (just what is obviously too much maybe...I know this depends entirely on what's in the tank eating the food...) Any info would be much appreciated. __________________ -- Mike Current Tank Info: 60G reef

06/05/2007, 03:23 PM	#3
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	All food contains potential pollutants capable of degrading water quality. It's a good practice to thaw frozen food in a cup and pour off the cloudy crap and debris (rinse) as much as possible. In any case you want to make sure that the food you put in the tank is consumed as soon as possible. Uneaten food laying around is just another potential contributor to problems. __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

06/05/2007, 04:09 PM	#4
HPD Turbo Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: I really dont know Posts: 569	Are your fish coming to the surface to eat or you give them sinking pelets? __________________ Alex S. Reefteria!!!! If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes? Current Tank Info: 100gal, total system. Mixed reef. All DIY ex the tank.

06/05/2007, 04:09 PM	#5
HPD Turbo Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: I really dont know Posts: 569	Are your fish coming to the surface to eat or you give them sinking pelets? __________________ Alex S. Reefteria!!!! If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes? Current Tank Info: 100gal, total system. Mixed reef. All DIY ex the tank.

06/05/2007, 04:24 PM	#6
pikachusalad Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Saint Paul, MN Posts: 402	I've just been thawing a chunk (1/4 - 1/3 cube) of frozen mysis shrimp and dumping it in (once a day) - gets blown all over the place and the fish chase it around - the nassarius snails go ape-s*** trying to figure out where pieces are going to land... I also clip a strip (maybe 2" X 3") of dried seaweed every 2-3 days to make sure the crabs and snails are getting enough to eat. They usually have what I put in gone in a day. That's the only feeding I'm doing. I have a yellowtail damsel, a big percula clown, and some number (less than the cleaning packs they sell for a 75 gal) of crabs and snails. __________________ -- Mike Current Tank Info: 60G reef Last edited by pikachusalad; 06/05/2007 at 04:33 PM.

06/05/2007, 09:25 AM	#2
kevin2000 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,805	In general frozen food will have less phosphates than flake food. The downside with frozen food is that the frozen water often contains nutrients that feed algae but really don't feed the fish .. as such many will thaw/rinse the frozen food to eliminate this problem.

06/05/2007, 04:53 PM	#7
Reefmack Moved On Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Charlotte, NC, USA Posts: 3,412	What are you folks thawing frozen food in? I used to use tap & drain it through a brine shrimp net. Now I use a bit of tank water and drain it.

06/05/2007, 05:38 PM	#8
Tomorleans Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: New Orleans(Westbank) Posts: 226	I just use tank water and scoop the shrimp out with a spoon. Then throw away the leftover tank water.