Cyclopeeze thoughts

[Dewey115]

I have noticed that when I feed cyclopeeze to my tank, some animals that otherwise hide will come out looking for food. I first noticed this with my harlequin shrimp that will not really move unless a starfish or cyclopeeze is added. I have a thread on Reef Central now that is starting up a mild conversation, but I feel that this might be a better place to discuss it. Some responses have said that similar behavior was noted in a fire shrimp and a mandarin goby that readily eats cyclopeeze. It seems like there is a good chance that cyclopeeze or something in it will cause a strong feeding response in animals. Now the packaging says that it do this so I am not shocked, I just wonder about my Harlequins. I would assume since the harlequins only eat echinoderms they would "smell" their food. So why can they "smell" cyclopeeze? Could we use cyclopeeze in whole or in part to get more picky animals to eat? Anybody know how complete (or incomplete) the nutrition of cyclopeeze is? All comments and thoughts are appreciated.

Rick

 

[mojoreef]

Hiya Rick.
Most all critters are motivated by either mechanical or chemical stimulation. Adding cyclopeeze will definately motivate critters to come out and see whats going on and to go after them. Nutritionally they are very good, better then most all other simular things on the market, especially size wise. I dont know of anything that they could add to make them stimulate any better then what the critter has already. One would assume that in any given chunk of it thier is going to be a mix of whole and partcial peices which would stimulate anything. Be careful with its use as it is very concentrated in nutrients and using to much can lead to all sorts of algae problems.

neat news on the shrimp, that would be a great food replacement.


Mike

 

[Beckmola24]

Here's my experience with cyclopeeze... I had a clarkii clownfish that stopped eating for no reason at all... He went blind (I'm sure due to not eating) and I had to put him in my 5 gallon nano because he was bumping into the rocks in the other tank. Like clockwork, I added cyclopeeze to the nano and after about 2 months of being blind my Clarkii regained his site and crazy personality. I think the nutritional value in cyclopeeze is amazing. It was the only food he would take and it really did wonders with the little guy.

I fed cyclopeeze to my 20 gallon tank when I had it up and running and my starfish would come out to grab some. It was the only thing that would/will get the brittle completely out of the rocks. IME everything in the tank loves the stuff.
I suggested feeding cyclopeeze to a leopard wrasse at my LFS and now they are able to get it to eat a little bit of frozen. I love the stuff..

 

[MCSInc]

Will it do any good for baby clown fish??? And if so - at what stage?

 

[Beckmola24]

It wouldn't hurt to try it with baby clowns. It would really bring out their colors. I've never had baby clownfish, so I can't help you as to what stage to feed it at, but I would assume that when they are large enough to be off of rotifers they could eat it. It really strengthened the immune system of my clarkii, so I would think that it would make for some strong little baby clowns

 

[bc_slc]

Where is Ilham when we need him?

Mat

 

[Dewey115]

Yes I do know that you can feed cyclopeeze to baby clowns. There were a few articles about benefits of using it when raising fry. I know clownfish fry cant take cyclopeeze right after hatching, but I believe it was within a few weeks. I will try to find the articles if you want.

Rick

 

[Elmo18]

Where is Ilham when we need him?

Mat

Hey Mat!

Sorry, long day at work again. I'm not complaining, since I know you probably have long hours as well.

Ok, on the cyclopeeze, they are bioengineered animals and do not occur in nature naturally. My thoughts are this, it is better to get the frozen bricks, although they are expensive and shipping is ridiculous if you buy a little. Nutritionally they are great, one of the best out there for getting picky fishes to eat. I do not use it first for getting wild fish to eat. I would go live brine shrimp, live mysis shrimp, and then try the cyclopeeze. I recommend that you do NOT do more than one feeding of cyclopeeze per day. Cyclopeeze has a very high fat content, and constant feeding just isnt' good for fishes. Constant feeding of one thing all the time is no good in general, I think, even if its highly nutritional.

So...I'd say go for variety when feeding your fish or LPS corals. Maybe use cyclopeeze to supplement every other day, in addition to your normal feeding regimen (frozen mush....frozen retail cubes, or other foods).

- Ilham

 

[mojoreef]

Ahhh I see they have given alot more info on thier site now. Even when I toured the facitlity they would not give that up, even the part about it being bioengineered. Good post Elmo


Mike

 

[bc_slc]

Before I moved here from denver, one of the guys in the reef club coordinated an order of a humongous brick of cyclopeze and then cut it and vac-sealed the various pieces for each of us. We divided the brick amoungst 8+ of us and it reduced the price quite a bit. I have been out for about 6 months. Would there be others interested in an order?

Mat

 

[Oscapus]

A while back I compared frozen vs. freeze-dried Cyclopeze under my microscope. The frozen had all the little legs knocked off, and was just the rounded ball of the critter with legs that fouled the water. The freeze-dried, however, still was bristling with all the legs and spikes etc....Too bad it floats so strongly though. Both had visible oil droplets inside the bodies.