Bolstering buffers and boosters in your reef: Do you add any supplements to the food for your aquarium?

[Peace River]

Bolstering buffers and boosters in your reef: Do you add any supplements to the food for your aquarium?

There are many types and brands of fish foods on the market and most of these have some types of additives and supplements mixed into the food. However, some reef keepers choose to add additional supplements to the food to benefit the fish, corals, invertebrates, and even the ecosystem. There are many reasons to provide extra supplements such as promoting growth, enhancing color, or filling another gap that your current food doesn’t adequately provide. Whether you are adding supplements to your own DIY food or enhancing the commercial foods that you serve to your tank, do you add any supplements to the food for your aquarium? Feel free to share any recommendations or tips with the R2R community in the related discussion!

Photo by @maramotreefs

This QOTD is sponsored by: www.worldwidecorals.com

For some hobbyists buying live coral online can seem like a risky endeavor. At WWC our staff takes the worry out of the equation by culturing extremely healthy corals, giving you a hassle-free guarantee, and providing you with a full online customer service team to ensure you are completely satisfied with your purchase.”

 

[Fishes]

A couple drops of selcon and garlic every once in a while on pellets or freeze dried mysis. Fish love it and look healthy

 

[Troylee]

Fish food no… coral food yes..

 

[shakacuz]

i add selcon, vitachem, vita-x(reefmoonshiner), reef roids, benepets, and brs reef chili to my DIY food in small smounts.

 

[JoJosReef]

Does adding spirulina powder to freshly hatched brine shrimp count as supplements?

 

[MnFish1]

Bolstering buffers and boosters in your reef: Do you add any supplements to the food for your aquarium?

There are many types and brands of fish foods on the market and most of these have some types of additives and supplements mixed into the food. However, some reef keepers choose to add additional supplements to the food to benefit the fish, corals, invertebrates, and even the ecosystem. There are many reasons to provide extra supplements such as promoting growth, enhancing color, or filling another gap that your current food doesn’t adequately provide. Whether you are adding supplements to your own DIY food or enhancing the commercial foods that you serve to your tank, do you add any supplements to the food for your aquarium? Feel free to share any recommendations or tips with the R2R community in the related discussion!

Photo by @maramotreefs

This QOTD is sponsored by: www.worldwidecorals.com

For some hobbyists buying live coral online can seem like a risky endeavor. At WWC our staff takes the worry out of the equation by culturing extremely healthy corals, giving you a hassle-free guarantee, and providing you with a full online customer service team to ensure you are completely satisfied with your purchase.”

I believe that there is no compelling argument for live food/frozen shellfish, etc etc. I use a 'high end' pellet to feed (and LRS). - tangs get an occasional Nori. Coral a rare bit of extra fish food'. Seems if you're adding the correct foods (which have a chemical composition) there should be no need for supplementation for the average reefer. I believe (sorry - I don't have the reference) there is an article out there recommending against DIY diets and went through the logic behind not doing it. Was actually interesting - I'll try to find it. EDIT - See below for link

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I pre-soak all of my food in Red Sea AB+ prior to feeding.

 

[MnFish1]

This is the article - and is a very nice review (it is mostly about freshwater recipes - but the opinions behind the rest seem valid to me):

Myths and Misconceptions About Fish Nutrition – Advanced Aquarium Concepts

advancedaquariumconcepts.com

 

[Gumbies R Us]

For fish food? No supplements for me, coral though? Probably will whenever I have coral haha

 

[Fishy888]

I have two fish (a hippo tang and a lunar wrasse) who were rescued from a person that kept them in a 180 with something like 15 other fish, most of them other tangs, many of which were huge. Dory (betcha can’t guess which fish she is ) was just shy of 3 inches when she was rescued. Problem is she was 3 years old! The wrasse had a sunken stomach and Dory had HLLE badly. They were only fed flake food.

They’re both healing nicely and are growing at a good pace. Normally I wouldn’t supplement but in their cases it would probably help. I plan on trying that soon. Hopefully whatever nutrition the two of them have missed out on for so long will be made up for over time.

 

[TinnysReef]

I tried giving my frogfish Marvin Vitachem when he eats frozen food multiple times - but he will spit out the frozen fish or krill if he tastes it. Even injected it into silversides but no go. So, sometimes I will add Vitachem to pellets and feed it to ghost shrimp or mollies as a last meal before they get fed to Marv.

 

[Jack Ravensbergen]

Every day 1mll for 185 gallons
Been dosing now for a few weeks and i realy see a difference in polyp extention , colour...

 

[Treefer32]

This is the article - and is a very nice review (it is mostly about freshwater recipes - but the opinions behind the rest seem valid to me):

Myths and Misconceptions About Fish Nutrition – Advanced Aquarium Concepts

advancedaquariumconcepts.com

Great article. I've followed the BRS recipe for home made food and fed it for 3-4 years. Other than spiking nitrates and phosphates, the fish loved it and seemed to remain healthy. Selcon, spirulina, Nori, plus scallops, tuna, and Shrimp (all raw and frozen). I did ICP tests after feeding this for a year and there were no elevated toxic metals other than my phosphates being high. (I simply fed too much of it.)

I did supplement with Nori feedings as well, but only certain agressive tangs got the Nori. The rest had to settle with the home made food. Now I do a mix of freeze dried food and frozen mysis / krill / brine pre made cubes.