Cutting back on feeding... :(

[James5214]

So I'm having a dino out break rn and my phosphate is around .12 which isn't crazy but is still kinda high but I know I have been at fault for this as I feed my lovely fish new life spectrum pellets ther-a in garlic like 2x a day and a good amount I love making sure my fish are fat and sassy... Well now they are going in a diet to make sure the tank doesn't go complete ape **** and I feel so bad I got home from work and they all are pacing back and forth at front glass waiting for food and my beautiful pair of clowns both have their heads out of the water like um dad hello we are hungry and I'm just like ahhhhhhhh..... Anybody else have to go through this as well? And yes I know in the wild they barely get a meal so yea I know they can go a few days without feeding but why do that to them when they can live lavish and love their best life and eat multiple times a day lol. Well here goes the diet routine lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I'm having a dino out break rn and my phosphate is around .12 which isn't crazy but is still kinda high but I know I have been at fault for this as I feed my lovely fish new life spectrum pellets ther-a in garlic like 2x a day and a good amount I love making sure my fish are fat and sassy... Well now they are going in a diet to make sure the tank doesn't go complete ape **** and I feel so bad I got home from work and they all are pacing back and forth at front glass waiting for food and my beautiful pair of clowns both have their heads out of the water like um dad hello we are hungry and I'm just like ahhhhhhhh..... Anybody else have to go through this as well? And yes I know in the wild they barely get a meal so yea I know they can go a few days without feeding but why do that to them when they can live lavish and love their best life and eat multiple times a day lol. Well here goes the diet routine lol

Keep it simple and yes reduce feeding a little. Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15% IF you have light dependant corals) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

The problem arises when conditions in the aquarium break the biological balance and some dinoflagellate species spread uncontrollably, smothering the rest of the aquarium inhabitants. If the dinoflagellate species in question has the ability to produce toxins (usual in ostreopsis, gambierdiscus and prorocentrum to name a few)
The problem often arises when we try to bring cleanliness it to the limit, in order to improve its appearance and color of corals.
They tend to occur suddenly when the aquarium water reaches an extraordinary cleanliness, in which most microorganisms perishes for lack of food. With no other organisms that can stop them, this type of dinoflagellate can multiply so fast that when we realize it's late and we will find an aquarium full of brown and ochre slime suffocating fish and invertebrates.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

why feed only pellets? it is the highest in phospate, frozen is healthier with less phosphate, and if you rinse it can be phosphate free. Or you can make your own food totally free of phosphate. Or you can try GFO. I agree I like feeding the fish too, no need to punish them when there are alternatives

 

[James5214]

Only reason I was feeding pellets so much was all the beneficial stuff it had in it. Frozen mysis don't have all the benefits that come in some of the good pellet brands as omega 3 and high protein and other things to help boost immune systems. My hikari mysis shrimp is only protein nothing else so I was just feeding the pellets more often as to thing it would help with color and longevity and giving the fish the most and beat benefits

 

[HBtank]

why feed only pellets? it is the highest in phospate, frozen is healthier with less phosphate, and if you rinse it can be phosphate free. Or you can make your own food totally free of phosphate. Or you can try GFO. I agree I like feeding the fish too, no need to punish them when there are alternatives

I wouldn’t say healthier, pellets and other prepared foods are generally the best choice as a balanced main food, with frozen and/or live supplemented. Frozen is often not very high in nutrients, and mostly water weight, it can feel like you are feeding a lot when you really aren’t.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Try Rod's food frozen . My fish loves this stuff , low in phos too.

 

[James5214]

I wouldn’t say healthier, pellets and other prepared foods are generally the best choice as a balanced main food, with frozen and/or live supplemented. Frozen is often not very high in nutrients, and mostly water weight, it can feel like you are feeding a lot when you really aren’t.

Exactly what I was saying in the ingredients it clearly has way more beneficial things for the fish then frozen food

 

[HBtank]

Exactly what I was saying in the ingredients it clearly has way more beneficial things for the fish then frozen food

The exception may be mixes like Rod’s food linked above and the LRS frenzy frozen foods, they are pretty good. But not cheap. Might be worth trying those, but I personally think that fixating on Phosphate from food may not the solution to dinos. I am no expert on them, but it is never that simple from what I have read.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Just to add to the conversation: Some frozen feeds are actually extremely high quality (LRS Reef Frenzy and Fertility Frenzy are excellent examples), as they are actually very well balanced, provide a good spread of nutrients (as long as they’re not too old), and are high protein/moderate fat (which is generally ideal for marine animals). They are, however, as mentioned above, mostly water - this does not make less healthy than pellets, just more expensive (see my quote below):

With regards to the moisture and protein content, when looking at foods for pets (fish, cats, dogs, etc.), it's a good idea to look at the dry matter basis of the guaranteed analysis. To state it simply, frozen foods and wet foods show super low protein and fat contents on their guaranteed analysis labels when compared to dry foods - this isn't because they're lower quality or less healthy, it's just that they have more moisture in the mix. To compare apples to apples protein and fat of frozen/wet vs dry foods, you take the dry matter basis of each factor (protein on its own and fat on its own once you've accounted for moisture).

For example, San Francisco Bay Brand Frozen Spirulina Brine Shrimp lists the following guaranteed analysis:
Crude Protein (Min): 3.7%
Crude Fat (Min): 1.2%
Crude Fiber (Max): 1.6%
Moisture (Max): 94.8%
Ash (Max): 0.2%
Phosphorus (Min): 0.1%

Looks very not nutritious. But, when you account for the moisture by taking the dry matter basis, you realize that that 3.7% protein is 3.7 out of 5.2 (the actual amount of food in the pack; i.e. the percent of the food that isn't moisture like the water used to hold the frozen food together or to keep the meat in the cat food can fresh). So, looking at the dry matter basis, 3.7/5.2 = 0.71 (rounded for simplicity's sake) - times this by 100 to get the percentage and you get a dry matter basis of 71% Crude Protein content. So, while it looks unhealthy at first glance, when you look at just the food in the food packet and not the moisture plus the food, you find out that the food is actually fairly healthy.

Because of this, a lot of frozen/wet pet foods look worthless at first glance, but some of them are actually top of the line foods when compared to dry foods this way. The only real downside of frozen/wet foods is that - because of the high moisture content - you might not always be getting as much food pound for pound as buying dry (i.e. one lb of dry food is going to have a lot more actual food in the container than one lb of frozen/wet food because of the lower moisture content). This really just means that frozen/wet foods are generally more expensive.

TLDR: Frozen/wet pet foods look unhealthy, but, accounting for moisture, they're usually high quality. They're just expensive too.

 

[doubleshot00]

Im more curious how your going through dinos with a phosphate level at .12. Did your nitrates bottom out?

Feed frozen and rinse with rodi water.

 

[Rmckoy]

No point starving the fish to lower nutrients .
be mindful of what’s being put in and be prepared to increase nutrient export methods
Heavy in , heavy out .

I’d slow down on any additives such as the garlic you mentioned 2x per day . As well as use pellets sparingly offering a variety of cleaner foods