DIY Parrotfish and Puffer feeding block

[William_Liebbe]

Recently purchased a nice Princess Parrotfish. Absolutely a gorgeous fish but I was concerned that I may not have enough active algae growth on my rock to keep it well fed. So I did a little additional research and learned that public aquariums use plaster of paris blocks similar to weekend feeders for their parrot fish and puffers. Both need a hard surface to graze on to keep their teeth from overgrowing. Here is what I came up with
Plaster of paris
Spirulina powder
Nori crushed and flaked
Commercial marine fish pellets

Mix up the plaster of paris but a little wetter than directed.
Gently fold in the other ingredients and pour in molds.
Molds can be ice cube trays, Styrofoam egg crates or whatever you like. I bought a container for craft items that has 2” X 1” compartments as I wanted bigger blocks. Will probably switch to the Styrofoam egg container as I had to wreck the box getting the blocks out?
After dried enough to remove from mold place in front of a fan or in my case I put them in my food dehydrator on low heat and completely dry. This can take several days depending on size.
Store in airtight container.
I put the first block and it has been very well received and lasted a little over a week. Now on block two, all the inhabitants take a peck or two at it but the parrot fish has been eating on it regularly throughout the day and looks fat and healthy. Puffer nibbles on it regularly too. Have not seen any negative effect on my water chemistry.
Just thought I would share

 

[Reef_Pilot]

Recently purchased a nice Princess Parrotfish. Absolutely a gorgeous fish but I was concerned that I may not have enough active algae growth on my rock to keep it well fed. So I did a little additional research and learned that public aquariums use plaster of paris blocks similar to weekend feeders for their parrot fish and puffers. Both need a hard surface to graze on to keep their teeth from overgrowing. Here is what I came up with
Plaster of paris
Spirulina powder
Nori crushed and flaked
Commercial marine fish pellets

Mix up the plaster of paris but a little wetter than directed.
Gently fold in the other ingredients and pour in molds.
Molds can be ice cube trays, Styrofoam egg crates or whatever you like. I bought a container for craft items that has 2” X 1” compartments as I wanted bigger blocks. Will probably switch to the Styrofoam egg container as I had to wreck the box getting the blocks out?
After dried enough to remove from mold place in front of a fan or in my case I put them in my food dehydrator on low heat and completely dry. This can take several days depending on size.
Store in airtight container.
I put the first block and it has been very well received and lasted a little over a week. Now on block two, all the inhabitants take a peck or two at it but the parrot fish has been eating on it regularly throughout the day and looks fat and healthy. Puffer nibbles on it regularly too. Have not seen any negative effect on my water chemistry.
Just thought I would share

Any update on this? Is it still working for you long term? I was considering similar blocks for a Puffer

 

[William_Liebbe]

Seemed to work for a while but they got tired of it quickly. I ended up losing the parrot. Switched to clams and whole shrimp for the puffer and it is doing fine and seems to prefer these.