Who uses Reef Jerky?

[mikebusc]

So I’ve been using a Plank auto feeder for sometime now and I’ve come across a potential problem with my Reef Jerky that is recommended to use. I’ve had some high spikes in phosphate and was trying to see if I was feeding too much, but then saw when the feeder came on a lot of fine dust came out. Too small for many of the tank inhabitants to eat and kind of just spread around and settles to the bottom. So if you could see the pic how much fine particulate came out of it should I do this all the time and separate? Are those fine particles something that should still be in the tank? Although I don’t think so. Has anyone had the same problem with this? I’m thinking if I do separate like this, I’m losing half of the product

 

[rzimm33]

I also encountered this problem and stopped using the Reef Jerky. When examining the remaining amount of food in the Plank after a few weeks, I noticed the hopper typically would sift most of the fine particles out before some of the larger dehydrated Mysis etc. This lead to increase in phosphates.

There are likely some tank inhabitants that benefit from the very tiny food, but I think for me it was doing more harm than good.

 

[VintageReefer]

I bought a plank used, latest version, bought a new bag of reef jerky, and set the feeder to go off for 1 minute, 3x a day

I found feeding is inconsistent. I did a phosphate test the day I connected the plank, and then did one a few days later. I was shocked

I stopped using the plank and spent the next 2 months working on lowering phosphates slowly.

If it was not from the reef jerky…I have no other explanation. Look at the history then the spike…only change was stopping feeding frozen food manually and switching to the plank + jerky

 

[mikebusc]

Thanks all. That was my assumption as well because mainly of all the fine and mostly powdery reef jerky that was getting through. Like I said, I sifted all that fine stuff out and I’ll use what I have left for now. I’ll keep monitoring my phosphates in the meantime. But the reason I think in the future I won’t use reef jerky is because if I keep sifting it out like that, it’s going to decrease my product by more than 50%. A big waste of money in my eyes. I do like the plank system though do you have any recommendations on what to use in it? Can I just use standard marine flake food? I do supplement here and there on my own with pellets and brine shrimp, etc. Not through the plank just manually.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I bought a plank used, latest version, bought a new bag of reef jerky, and set the feeder to go off for 1 minute, 3x a day

I found feeding is inconsistent. I did a phosphate test the day I connected the plank, and then did one a few days later. I was shocked

I stopped using the plank and spent the next 2 months working on lowering phosphates slowly.

If it was not from the reef jerky…I have no other explanation. Look at the history then the spike…only change was stopping feeding frozen food manually and switching to the plank + jerky

I have no idea what that graph is showing me?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Thanks all. That was my assumption as well because mainly of all the fine and mostly powdery reef jerky that was getting through. Like I said, I sifted all that fine stuff out and I’ll use what I have left for now. I’ll keep monitoring my phosphates in the meantime. But the reason I think in the future I won’t use reef jerky is because if I keep sifting it out like that, it’s going to decrease my product by more than 50%. A big waste of money in my eyes. I do like the plank system though do you have any recommendations on what to use in it? Can I just use standard marine flake food? I do supplement here and there on my own with pellets and brine shrimp, etc. Not through the plank just manually.

I mix jerky and TDO chroma boost pellets of various sizes.

 

[rzimm33]

I mix the following:

TDO chroma boost small
TDO chroma boost medium
Dehydrated mysis ~ 70% of my mix
New Life Spectrum Thera A
Ocean Nutrition Algae Flakes

I let my plank run 4 times a day for 30 seconds each time and the pump in the plank run for about 10 minutes each time.

Overtime, the smaller grain food gets sifted to the bottom and larger to the top. It’s good to pull the hopper off a few times a week and give it a little shake to mix it back up.

 

[mikebusc]

I mix jerky and TDO chroma boost pellets of various sizes.

Thanks. I read somewhere about the TDO pellets. It was just looking into them. I saw they have different sizes, which is nice. I’m thinking the medium is good for the inhabitants of my tank.
Do you sift your jerky? Do you have any problems with the dust particles in it?

 

[mikebusc]

I mix the following:

TDO chroma boost small
TDO chroma boost medium
Dehydrated mysis ~ 70% of my mix
New Life Spectrum Thera A
Ocean Nutrition Algae Flakes

I let my plank run 4 times a day for 30 seconds each time and the pump in the plank run for about 10 minutes each time.

Overtime, the smaller grain food gets sifted to the bottom and larger to the top. It’s good to pull the hopper off a few times a week and give it a little shake to mix it back up.

Thanks. So you don’t sift the jerky before you put it in? The only reason I’m asking is when I sifted it you see by the pic all the fine particles that I sift it out. Do you think they are beneficial to leave in there or am I good taking them out?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Thanks. I read somewhere about the TDO pellets. It was just looking into them. I saw they have different sizes, which is nice. I’m thinking the medium is good for the inhabitants of my tank.
Do you sift your jerky? Do you have any problems with the dust particles in it?

I do not sift. Coral and filter feeders can utilize the fine particles... and I paid for them anyway. Think of it as "coral frenzy" or any other coral food.

Will it raise your nutrients... sure, it is food. But how much depends on how much you feed, your bio load and numerous other variables regarding your system and its processing and export mechanisms.

 

[rzimm33]

Thanks. So you don’t sift the jerky before you put it in? The only reason I’m asking is when I sifted it you see by the pic all the fine particles that I sift it out. Do you think they are beneficial to leave in there or am I good taking them out?

I don’t use reef jerky at all anymore

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Same here…I won some in a raffle and it was not ideal. The small particles were so hydrophobic that it took forever to them to soak up enough water just to make it sink. So much would just float into the sump.

 

[mikebusc]

I do not sift. Coral and filter feeders can utilize the fine particles... and I paid for them anyway. Think of it as "coral frenzy" or any other coral food.

Will it raise your nutrients... sure, it is food. But how much depends on how much you feed, your bio load and numerous other variables regarding your system and its processing and export mechanisms.

I just had a thought. What do you think about me getting the sifted reef jerky and use that as my coral food. Either spot feeding or spreading as I see fit? And then just keep the bigger pieces in the feeder?

 

[VintageReefer]

I just had a thought. What do you think about me getting the sifted reef jerky and use that as my coral food. Either spot feeding or spreading as I see fit? And then just keep the bigger pieces in the feeder?

That’s a good idea. Store the sifted food particles in a jar, and then use as a target feed for corals

 

[VintageReefer]

I have no idea what that graph is showing me?

Ignore the graph it can only show a small portion of the history at a time. I didn’t scroll on the graph to the dates.

Just look at the recorded numbers. I historically was low phosphate, added the plank and jerky and 4 days later had a + 2000% increase in phosphates.

I didn’t even believe it. I tested twice. And next day. And bought new reagents. And tested different times of day/night. The value was legit. In 4 days I went from about .04 to .98

I used posguard aggressively and reduced to .55 over the course of 3 days then spent the next two months slowly reducing further. And experienced the typical phosphate drop and then increase pattern zig zag pattern

I can’t explain how the phosphate skyrocketed because no change was made except feeding, when I switched to reef jerky. I haven’t used it since

 

[smitten with ocean life]

this is very interesting. i use a mix of reef jerky and other things. i also battle high phos..never thought about the reef jerky!

 

[BeanAnimal]

Just look at the recorded numbers. I historically was low phosphate, added the plank and jerky and 4 days later had a + 2000% increase in phosphates.

I didn’t even believe it. I tested twice. And next day. And bought new reagents. And tested different times of day/night. The value was legit. In 4 days I went from about .04 to .98

I don’t see how that would be possible with a reasonable amount of food, especially given that the rock would have to come to equilibrium at that level too for it to be so hard to bring down. I have had jerky in the plank for almost a year now.

 

[BeanAnimal]

this is very interesting. i use a mix of reef jerky and other things. i also battle high phos..never thought about the reef jerky!

All food is going to have phosphate. Certainly some more than others.

 

[VintageReefer]

I don’t see how that would be possible with a reasonable amount of food, especially given that the rock would have to come to equilibrium at that level too for it to be so hard to bring down. I have had jerky in the plank for almost a year now.

I know plenty of people use it with no issues. I did read of a few that has phosphate spikes. Abnormal spikes. It’s not common but it’s happened.

Maybe there are bad batches of food

You can look at the test history. This is not a tank with high phosphates over time that have been rising and rising. My tank was at equilibrium at a very low level. It all changed, suddenly and drastically, in 4 days.

I’ve never needed to run Phosguard or any phosphate absorbing material on this tank for 2 years. After using the jerky for 4 days I had the spike and then the need developed.

I understand this is extreme and I hate to finger point, if another explanation is viable I am willing to accept it, but I can’t figure out any other cause and there was no other change. It seems my equilibrium shifted to .5 and I will bring it down but it jumps back up. I am just repeating the process until the natural balance is back low like I originally had it

 

[mikebusc]

That’s a good idea. Store the sifted food particles in a jar, and then use as a target feed for corals

I’m a genius! (not really). Would you use this for an anemone also? My green bubble tip is small and doesn’t seem to hang on to small pieces is shrimp. I also use reef roids.