Tasty treats for tasty treats: Do you feed food to the food for your reef tank?

[Peace River]

Tasty treats for tasty treats: Do you feed food to the food for your reef tank?

Some of us feed live food to the livestock in our reef tanks. At somewhere along the way that live food needs to eat. In many situations like rotifers, brine shrimp, and other similar critters, the live food seemingly amounts to a container for other food. A brine shrimp may have the nutritional value of a potato chip, however if it is gut loaded with quality nutrition then the movement of the brine shrimp triggers the feeding response and the fish or coral ingest the brine shrimp and its contents. Whether it is food for a predator tank or pods and brine shrimp for many critters in the tank, your foods’ food needs to eat.

Photo by @Dinkins Aquatic Gardens


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com

“Dinkins Aquatic Gardens specializes in producing top-quality copepods, phytoplankton, amphipods, and berghia nudibranchs. We are a small husband-and-wife company that intensely focuses on customer service. We'd love to have you experience the Dinkins Difference!"

 

[twentyleagues]

For my reef not currently. I do breed crayfish, guppies and snails for my fahaka and a few other freshwater fish. I feed them high quality diets regularly and tend to gut load them right before I feed them to said fish. I have done phyto, pods, rotifers, and mollies in the past for my previous life in reefing.

 

[MnFish1]

Tasty treats for tasty treats: Do you feed food to the food for your reef tank?

Some of us feed live food to the livestock in our reef tanks. At somewhere along the way that live food needs to eat. In many situations like rotifers, brine shrimp, and other similar critters, the live food seemingly amounts to a container for other food. A brine shrimp may have the nutritional value of a potato chip, however if it is gut loaded with quality nutrition then the movement of the brine shrimp triggers the feeding response and the fish or coral ingest the brine shrimp and its contents. Whether it is food for a predator tank or pods and brine shrimp for many critters in the tank, your foods’ food needs to eat.

Photo by @Dinkins Aquatic Gardens


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com

“Dinkins Aquatic Gardens specializes in producing top-quality copepods, phytoplankton, amphipods, and berghia nudibranchs. We are a small husband-and-wife company that intensely focuses on customer service. We'd love to have you experience the Dinkins Difference!"

This is a bit of a question that I don't know how to answer - since - particles of food too small for fish to eat will feed the smaller ones. But - specific food no - And I think people may have better luck with less feeding of inverts and perhaps more feeding of fish?

 

[afrokobe]

I was restocking cuc the other day and bought some peppermint shrimp to deal with aiptasia. Threw two in around the size of an inch or so (maybe less). My blotched anthias immediately ate one. Couldn't even fit it in his mouth as the butt was sticking out. so I guess i inadvertently feed live foods?

 

[hollback]

Yes but not in my system. I culture phytoplankton, which I feed to my copepod cultures, which I feed to my system.

 

[MnFish1]

My question - since at least one poster says 'they need to replace their CUC' - does anyone know what we are doing with CUC in general?

 

[afrokobe]

My question - since at least one poster says 'they need to replace their CUC' - does anyone know what we are doing with CUC in general?

My melanurus definitely takes advantage of snails on their side and eats them. Otherwise he mostly keeps them alone, outside of that maybe just natural deaths? I've banished all the hermits in my system, so only snails left

 

[MnFish1]

My melanurus definitely takes advantage of snails on their side and eats them. Otherwise he mostly keeps them alone, outside of that maybe just natural deaths? I've banished all the hermits in my system, so only snails left

My harlequin tusk would literally wipe them out one by one

 

[cillam]

I have plenty of copepods and amphipods in my tank, i am sure my coral and fish eat them, but i do not actively introduce live things as food.

 

[kevgib67]

I buy copepods, amphipods and phytoplankton regularly.

 

[vlangel]

I raised baby brine shrimp for my seahorse fry. I had to gut load the bbs but I also had to clean the bbs every day. The supplement would fuel bacteria so to keep the fry from getting gut infections I would clean the bbs and put them in clean salt water every day. Ha ha, it was a boatload of work which is why I only raised seahorses once.

 

[Reef By Steele]

I started by culturing rotifers to try to raise clownfish fry. After running those cultures for some time, I decided to culture phytoplankton to feed the rotifers, but I had bought and doses phytoplankton from a fellow member of R2R and liked the results. Being out of work due to surgeries I needed I started culturing my own to save $$ as I couldn’t afford to purchase enough for my tanks. I now culture 6 types of copepods, amphipods, rotifers, brine shrimp, 10
Species of phyto plankton and all of my fish really look happy to have the constant food sources. I still feed the clownfish fry that I got from our first batch live enriched brine. We let them gutload on our phyto and Selcon for optimum nutrition. Earlier this year we started to sell our excess under our @HankstankXXL750 to help with salt purchase and new vessels. Response was so good, that the powers that be suggested I become a business and a sponsor. Response has been so great, and I love the R2R community so we are proud to support R2R as sponsors. After my surgery @Ocean_Queenie (my wife who has always been supportive, and loves our tanks and fish, Hanks Tank refers to her sunset wrasse “Hank” and the Red Sea tank he’s in) stepped in to do all the heavy lifting, joined R2R and now has her own culture that she will be feeding to one of the tanks tomorrow before she restarts her cultures.

Give us a look for live foods.
www.reefbysteele.com

 

[steveschuerger]

I have a monthly subscription for Dinkins Snacklebox (copepods and rotifers) and Phyto.

 

[just1seed]

Tasty treats for tasty treats: Do you feed food to the food for your reef tank?

Some of us feed live food to the livestock in our reef tanks. At somewhere along the way that live food needs to eat. In many situations like rotifers, brine shrimp, and other similar critters, the live food seemingly amounts to a container for other food. A brine shrimp may have the nutritional value of a potato chip, however if it is gut loaded with quality nutrition then the movement of the brine shrimp triggers the feeding response and the fish or coral ingest the brine shrimp and its contents. Whether it is food for a predator tank or pods and brine shrimp for many critters in the tank, your foods’ food needs to eat.

Photo by @Dinkins Aquatic Gardens


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com

“Dinkins Aquatic Gardens specializes in producing top-quality copepods, phytoplankton, amphipods, and berghia nudibranchs. We are a small husband-and-wife company that intensely focuses on customer service. We'd love to have you experience the Dinkins Difference!"

I have a monthly subscription for Dinkins Snacklebox (copepods and rotifers) and Phyto.

Live Food Enhancer for Copepods Brine Shrimp and Marine - Etsy

This Pet Food & Treats item is sold by Just1Sea. Ships from Ocala, FL. Listed on Sep 17, 2023

www.etsy.com

 

[Gtinnel]

I feed live white worms to my tank so I keep several culture of them going that I have to feed. They’re a great food source for picky eaters.

 

[just1seed]

Live Food Enhancer for Copepods Brine Shrimp and Marine - Etsy

This Pet Food & Treats item is sold by Just1Sea. Ships from Ocala, FL. Listed on Sep 17, 2023

www.etsy.com

 

[Belgian Anthias]

I feed live white worms to my tank so I keep several culture of them going that I have to feed. They’re a great food source for picky eaters.

I assume these are fresh water worms, flat worms or detritus worms.?

 

[twentyleagues]

I assume these are fresh water worms, flat worms or detritus worms.?

They are not aquatic at all. Well I guess kinda sorta not aquatic. They are typically grown on oatmeal or bread soaked in water. I used oatmeal when I grew some years ago. Fish go nuts for them and they are tiny so great fry food. I grew vinegar eels too, also very popular with fry.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

Yes, I do. In a refuge. I use a modified Von Stoch solution to manage growth and growth rates in a refuge. This way I am able to correct a nutrient unbalance if needed. The system is filtered by harvesting growth, growth which can be used as a food source. AAM, active aquarium management. The filtration and carrying capacity can be managed this way.

​

 

[Gtinnel]

I assume these are fresh water worms, flat worms or detritus worms.?

I honestly have only known them as white worms and can’t tell you that much about them besides how to culture them. They are a great food source for picky eaters and I started growing them because it was the only thing I could get my copperband butterfly to eat for the first year.