Fish food question?

[ac7av]

I would like some recommendations on food types to feed my tank. I talked with Lee a while back shortly after stocking my tank with many types of fish. Lee I thank you for the information but it was just way to complicated seeming to me at the time to creating a complex mess of foods and freezing it somehow and feeding it to the fish somehow. I would like some recommendations on commercially available foods that are good to feed my tank. If you click on my tank thread on the link at the bottom, there is a list of fish that I have in the tank. I have made a few changes but generally that list still stands as the bulk of the fish I have. I have been feeding the following types and brands of food daily.

Ocean nutrition
Dried algae sheets in red, green, and brown
Ocean nutrition
Formula one and two flakes
HBH
Freeze dried mysis shrimp
Brine shrimp eggs (not freeze dryed)

I have to say that all the fish look healthy and are energetic and colors look good and the growth of the fish seems good for each type although I’m not any expert in the area but looks good to me.

I just wonder if I’m missing something important in the diet that in the long run would set me up for some problems. Is there something better I should be offering in there diet. After all they will eat anything I put in the tank. There like dogs when it comes to that so the mixture has to be something for everyone. I’m really asking because I’m just bout out of everything and the local pet store is having there annual big discount sale this weekend and I want to stock up on the best stuff I should get.

 

[ac7av]

How do you feed the cubes to the fish?

 

[leebca]

One of the points of that post was to provide the reader with enough information to know how to choose the best commercially available food.

It gives you things to look for when you read the label. Maybe this is more to the point:

1. Choose a food that does not contain land products;
2. Choose a food that is not brine shrimp; pellet; or flakes;
3. Choose a frozen food over all else;
4. Choose a food that contains sea/marine life (our marine fish are on a strict seafood diet);
5. Determine what kind of fish you are feeding: carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore, then read labels to make sure you're buying the right food.

When you think you've found a food, read the label and you'll know if it the right/best one or not. Read the post for pointers on things to look for and things to avoid.

 

[thatguy559]

i go with a seafood blend....i go to the market and get a little bit of everything blend it all up. load it with garlic and i also put selcon on it.... spread it out on the backing sheet then take the eggcrate(light defuser) put it in the baking pan to make make cubes.

 

[jrgilles]

I really like the Rod's Food Original Formula. It has a bit of everything in it, including coral food. Keeps it easy

 

[thatguy559]

oops forgot i added beta glucen and vitamine c to the mix too

 

[ac7av]

I’ve herd people talk about Rod’s food. Ill have to look into that. That’s kind of what I’m talking about, kind of an all in one food for a mixed tank. Does it cloud up the water when you feed it?

 

[ac7av]

I just looked up the ingredients on the rods food and it has a couple of land food like lee is saying to avoid. The formula has brine, broccoli, and carrot in it. What do you think?

 

[ac7av]

I have a question about the frozen foods that are all mixed up like this. How do you feed it to the fish? Does it make a huge mess?

 

[Shane and John]

I..Personally make my own food...Ihave a mix of fish and corals and to keep my tank happy,I would have to buy so many different types its just Crazy expensive..Plus...with us all being so concerned with what we put in out tanks,I know what goes in to mine...even down to food...I know its clean,made with r/o water and i know exactly whats going in..I can make sure that all of my livestock's need are met.
I was nervous at first about making it.Its really very simple and cost effective..I know its more healthy for my livestock and it really shows with how they PIG out at feeding times..

 

[Shane and John]

I used to feed frozen pre packaged foods..for the price I can feed my tank now 4 times as long!!I dont have the Algea that i once did either..I believe there is a lot of Phosphate in the frozen packs.

 

[ac7av]

How do you all feed this stuff to the fish? It just seems like a mess of food all ground up onto a blob of stuff would just be a mess in the tank.

 

[thatguy559]

well with the eggcrate makes them into cubes. if you thin it out a bit by spreading it out over a larger area then you will have half a cube. i just throw half a cube for the fish and the other half of the cube is thawed in tank water then spot fed the all my lps corals.

 

[ac7av]

I’m looking over the ingredients in the food that I have and it looks like it has all the stuff everyone is saying they put in there food and more. There are a lot of vitamins and minerals also added into the mix. What is so bad about flake food? It looks like it has nearly everything I need in a food?

 

[Shane and John]

I put my food into the small solo cups..like the ketchup cups at a restaurant...then freeze the whole cups...I Have a plastic cup that i fill with tank water then drop the contents from one cup in....after it thaws I mix it up with my turkey baster..I can either spot feed certain corals or just spray in front of a powerhead...everything gets fed.Its a bit messy for about 1 minute..As long as there is propper water circulation in the tank it will all stay suspended in the water column and be consumed..
I never messed with flakes because they just got sucked in to my overflow and down the sump..they floated on top to much for my liking...with the food I make,Its still solis enough not to just hover at the top,there is still some weight to it..I even mix in Nori with my food...so Not only do the fish get to graze on sheets all day,its blended up as well...

Hope this helps!! Shane

 

[Shane and John]

I know of several that use the egg crate and cookie sheet..For me...Im lazy..and that takes to much time...lol..I just fill cups and freeze em...works out well for me!

 

[ac7av]

Yes this helps to understand the feeding process of the mix. I never had any problem with the flake staying at the top. Basically I do what you do and mix it all together in a small cup I use for feeding. I put some water in it from the tank, put the lit on, swirl it around for a couple seconded and dump it in. Doesn’t float at all and is kind of neutral in the water, doesn’t float or sink, just gets blown around by the power head. I fill the clips 2 to 4 times a day with the sheets so the tangs always have something to pick on.

 

[ac7av]

Well that’s my thing to I’m just too lazy some times and I already invest at least an hour to stuff around the fish tank. The thought of having to make up food instead of just buying something pre made is just not going to happen. I had plains of doing it but just never get around to it. I have pounds of shrimp, mussels, and fish eggs in my freezer I was planning on using but they have already been in the freezer a year now. Just lazy I guess.

 

[Shane and John]

well it sounds like very similar feeding...Hopefully you will find what works best for you...For me,its just as easy to blend up my own.But I havent always done it this way.I was having algea outbreaks and found that the food was the cause of it...since I started making my own,I have had no troubles and fish seem to like it better.Some people feed mysis shrimp(spelling).But to my knowelege there are no mysis in the Ocean...I only feed what I know they would be eating if the were in the wild..

 

[Shane and John]

lol...I hear ya about time..I invest Lots in my tank and travels for new stuff..maintinance ect...But Its less work thank you would think...45 min of time will feed my tank for 3 months.....for about 20$$ or so...I would spend 14$ on cubes that lasted about 1 month..then had to buy nori as well..