Cling cuisine: Do you use sticky fish food in your tank?

[Peace River]

Cling cuisine: Do you use sticky fish food in your tank?

Fish food comes in many sizes, shapes, and textures. Within the mix of all of these different fish food options is fish food, such as Masstick and @Nutramar Foods' Marine Complete, that stick to the glass. Many fish enjoy this format, and, for some reef keepers, it has been an effective way of feeding finnicky fish such as Copper Band Butterflyfish while still being enjoyed by many other fish as well. Have you ever used sticky fish food in your tank? If so, please tell us about your experience with this type. If not, let us know if you are open to try out this food as an alternative to the current food that you serve your tank.

Pro Tip: If you find that you have some fish that are keeping other fish from getting to the press-on food, then try putting the press-on food in multiple locations.

Photo of @Nutramar Foods[/USER] product.


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[DannoOMG]

Is there a brand that is considered the best?

I saw some on AlgaeBarn I think being advertised and have thought about using it to give my clown and belnny a snack while I am at work.

 

[MoshJosh]

I have not tried stick foot (or pellets) but would love some recommendations. Wanting to try mixing in a prepared food with my frozen

 

[SPS2020]

I've tried Masstik before and really wasn't impressed; neither were my fish. It's also pricey in comparison to other good quality foods, IMO.

 

[SnazzyUrchin792]

I’ve never heard of this stuff before. You learn something new every visit to R2R

 

[Mark Goode]

I only tried it once. It didn't stick.

 

[dowdalld]

I'm surprised it's not more popular. I use Masstick, the pre-prepared "Easy" version. Reduces wastage and allows a more "natural" grazing behaviour over a longer time by pushing into rockwork. And the fish seem to like it.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

I'm surprised it's not more popular. I use Masstick, the pre-prepared "Easy" version. Reduces wastage and allows a more "natural" grazing behaviour over a longer time by pushing into rockwork. And the fish seem to like it.

Do you just stick it to the glass, or to a rock or something?

 

[Nutramar Foods]

Do you just stick it to the glass, or to a rock or something?

Our stick-on foods and others in the market can usually be stuck to either the rock or the glass. We do feed our foods both ways and find that some fish initially prefer to eat off of the rock (such as butterflyfish species that naturally consume coral and other sessile invertebrates), but most species can be trained to take food from the glass.

 

[shakacuz]

would like to try this, or masstick out

 

[Labridaedicted]

I tried Masstick back a few years ago and it wasn't particularly appealing to my grazers or pickers. Although when it got wet and started dissolving, my anthias really enjoyed all the little particles.

I tried it every day for about a month and never got any interest from my Tangs, angels, or butterflies. I wanted it to work, because as we all know, I'm all about a large variety of feeding methods throughout the day, but just didn't seem to work. Maybe I'll try again one day, but wasn't impressed tbh.

 

[Alfie]

As mentioned in the article I have used masstick and mix in defrosted frozen food and stick it to the rock for copperbands. I have found it a good way to transition onto frozen food in the past.

 

[Dburr1014]

This is my first time hearing of it.
I must have been living under a live rock.

 

[sbbk]

I'm open to trying stick on food. I feed frozen once or twice a week with a feeding ring (innovative marine gourmet defroster PRO) which works great for frozen and dried food (pellets, flakes). Occasionally, I turn off the flow and drop some small pellets onto LPS. I haven't done true spot feeding yet as I'm trying to keep nutrients low and everything seems fed and happy. I also use ½ sheet of nori or algae on a clip once or twice a week for foxface and tangs, and remove the uneaten food a few hours later if necessary.

 

[dowdalld]

Do you just stick it to the glass, or to a rock or something?

I have a length of ⅜in pvc pipe with a piece of rock epoxied to the end. I push Masstick into the rock. Half way up the pipe I have a seaweed clip for Nori. I stick some more Masstick to the outside of the clip aswell. I load this up each morning and the pvc pipe means I can put it into the tank and take it out without getting my hands wet.
Some days I'll give them a bit later on just stuck to the glass.

 

[kenchilada]

My fish rip it off the glass or rock in seconds so it’s not worth getting my hands wet. My copperband never touched it.

 

[Brymac1]

I’ve found that the stick on food such as masstick is the best at getting finicky benthic feeders to eat (moorish idols, some angels, and butterflies). I find putting it on clam shells and dead coral skeletons to be most effective.

 

[vlangel]

Ha ha, I have been keeping fish nearly 6 decades and I have never heard of this. Of course there are no finicky eaters inside or outside of my fish tank!

 

[design.maddie]

I have been using this sort of product for a little over a month now. Who likes it the most? My Duncan.

My Chromis really enjoys the constant supply of particles in the water column. I don't find that anything else is getting enough benefit from it to justify the amount of nutrients that is being put into the tank.

I am sure that the hermits and other corals are consuming a small portion. I do not see any fish actually nibbling on the product.

I find that using a feeding ring devices is much more productive and have much greater success rates than this products being discussed.

 

[AquaticYeti]

I got the nutramar gamma sticky pellets as a give away at Reefapalooza. I honestly thought the intent of the stickiness was to stick it to corals, not the glass ‍. Thank you for this thread!

*Yes, I was sprinkling it in my tank wondering why it sunk so fast. D’oh.