Recipes for DIY Coral/fish food

[ciao]

Would anybody be willing to share their super secret (laugh) coral and fish food? I've been thinking about trying to make my own to have more on hand and modifying it to my needs. I would appreciate any recipes that people would be willing to share.

 

Thanks

[wanareef]

I get to the fish dept and always get a funny look when I ask for 2 shrimp, 1 octopus, 1 Squid, some kind of saltwater fish like Mahi Mahi, or Halibut, 1 Clam (saltwater), and then add Mysis, Cyclopeez, some Marine Flakes rinse and peel the shrimp and clams put into a blender all the ingridients add garlic oil and selcon, Oyster Feast, oh and some plain Nori (dried seaweed). Blend till it's mush, put into a zip lock bag and flaten out and freeze.

 

I feed this to everything.

[ciao]

I've tried using the Gumbo that Patrick at Saltwater Fantaseas makes but it seems that the stuff is too fine for the fish to eat. I'm wondering if you've had the same problem? The clown don't really seem to care for it and don't really see the Tangs or Wrasse either.

 

As for the Garlic oil(is that the extract?), Oyster Feast, Nori, and Marine flakes, what proportions do you put it in?

[finch6013]

Rods Food.....

[Ryan]

I made my own food for a while...but as cheap (compared to the ingredients that are in it) as Rods food is, there is no way you can duplicate it for the same price. Also, store bought seafood is known to have a lot of phosphates on it (I think they use it to help preserve the fresh seafood), so you have to be careful of that.

[finch6013]

Same thing here. I have been using Rods and I dont feel for the price, time, and smell in my kitchen its worth making your own. Rods seems to make everything in my tank happy.

[ciao]

What LFS carries it around here and how much does it go for? Quantity?

[JasonH]

Rose City carries it. It's $20 for a pack - but I can't recall how many ounces that is. It's good stuff, I like it - and I noticed less algae growth when I switched to it (less phosphates).

[Rapture Rabbit]

Is RODS FOOD a store bought "gumbo" type product or is Rod someone on the forum? Probably a dumb question...but I couldn't tell by the thread. Is it sold anywhere here in Gresham/Troutdale if it is store bought. I have recently switched to flake food and TAA-DAA! Hair algae for days....need to switch back to frozen food. I was being lazy.

[jgf86123]

Rod's Food-www.rodsfood.com

 

Copied directly from Rod's website.

 

Providing your salt water aquarium with the finest foods.

 

 

The Original "Complete Reef Food" with the very best ingredients that will feed your entire reef!

 

 

Along with the launch of our New Improved Website, We would also like to announce the New Improved Rods Food.

 

 

 

We've made the best even better by adding another plankton to the extensive list of ingredients in our foods.

 

 

 

The Original, Herbivore and Fish Only blends now contain Pacific plankton.

 

 

 

Pacific plankton (Euphausia sp.) is a small krill that highly resembles Mysis shrimp, but unlike Mysis,( Mysis shrimp are a fresh water animal that is very high in protein, but lack omega 3 fatty acids that our salt water animals need.) the Pacific krill is a salt water species that contains desirable omega 3 fatty acids.

 

 

 

Euphausia krill are commonly use as food in salmon farms because it gives the salmon their pink color due to the high level of astaxanthin found. We are not replacing Mysis with the pacific krill! We are definitely keeping the Mysis shrimp in our foods for its high protein content, but also adding the Euphausia krill for its omega 3's and its color enhancing abilities.

 

 

Providing your salt water aquarium with the finest foods.

 

 

Its not the variety of ingredients that make your fish, corals, and other invertebrates go crazy for Rod's Food, it's the way the ingredients are blended that generates the intense feeding response from virtually every animal in your reef. Anyone can take a list of ingredients and blend them together, but we at Rod's Food have many years of experience and learning that has made our blending process unique. Rod's Food is made by hand in our U.S. facility, not machine processed overseas.

 

 

 

Rod's starts by using only the finest, freshest ingredients.

We use whole animals, not just tails that are available at any local grocery store. Using the whole animal provides the most nutrition.

 

 

 

All ingredients go through an extensive rinsing process to rid our food of the STTP (sodium tripolyphosphate) that many of the freshest seafoods are initially preserved with.

 

 

 

We believe that when you pay for food, you should receive food! No unnecessary gels or food binders are added to Rod's Food. And our foods are not water packed!. Most users are amazed by how a small amount of Rod's Food can feed an entire reef. A little goes a long way!

 

 

 

Many users have reported less mortality with new fish arrivals because they quickly accept Rod's Food. If new fish readily accept food, they "settle into" their surroundings much faster. Many have witnessed and reported that mandarins and other difficult feeders readily accept Rod's Food. Fish breeders have reported quicker spawning behaviors. Here at our facility, we have witnessed new arrivals spawning within 45 days on 5 separate occasions in the last 6 months.

 

 

 

Your corals will love Rod's Food too.

You no longer have to wait for "lights out" or get up early to see polyp extension on some of those difficult-to-feed LPS corals. Squirt in just a small amount of Rod's Food as a "pre-feed" stimulant to initiate a feeding response from not only your LPS corals but your whole reef. You may even see creatures that you have never seen before come into the open to feast on Rod's Food. The highly nutritional small particles in Rod's Food such as oyster eggs, golden pearls, red plankton and rotifers benefit some of the corals that have been more difficult to care for in the past, including gonipora, gorgonia and dendrophyllia.

 

 

 

 

 

New and Improved!

 

 

Rod's Food ORIGINAL BLEND is a blend of ingredients that is designed to feed your entire coral reef aquarium. Particle size range from 5 micron up to 3/8 of an inch.

 

 

 

Ingredients include:

Shrimp, Scallop, Oyster, Clam, Squid, Octopus, Perch, Green Nori (porphyra sp), Red unroasted nori (porphyra sp) Mysis, Krill, Pacific plankton (Euphausia sp.) Brine shrimp, Frozen red cyclops, Fish eggs, Oyster eggs, Golden pearls (all sizes), Broccoli, carrot, Garlic, Selco, Astaxanthin (Haematococcus pluvialis), Beta-meal (Dunalliella Salina), Freshly harvested rotifers, freshly hatched baby brine shrimp.

 

 

Will Rod's food feed my entire reef?

Yes, there are particle sizes that range from 5 microns up to 3/8 of an inch that will feed corals, fish, crustations and micro fauna that is found on a reef.

 

 

 

Should Rod's Food be rinsed before using?

NO! Rinsing would wash the small particles in Rod's Food away. All ingredients are rinsed thoroughly before Rod's Food is made.

 

 

 

Why are there land based vegetables in Rod's Food?

Broccoli is high in vitamin C content and vitamin C has been proven to help with HLLE. Carrots have carotenoids that aid in coloration

 

 

By Email: rbuehler@rods-reef.com

 

 

 

By Phone: 815-748-2141 or 866-760-7333 (REEF)

 

 

 

By Fax: 866 480-9342

 

 

 

By Mail:

 

Rod's Reef

 

15100 Rte. 23

 

DeKalb IL. 60115

 

 

Rod is actually a very nice guy, and is incredibly intelligent about reef systems. He is also extremely knowlegable about several varieties of corals.

 

the last part is my own quote, the rest of this information came directly from Rod's Food's website.

[jgf86123]

and yes, it is carried at RoseCity Aquariums, once my new tank is set up and running, I will use nothing but Rod's Food.

[racefan]

Is RODS FOOD a store bought "gumbo" type product or is Rod someone on the forum? Probably a dumb question...but I couldn't tell by the thread. Is it sold anywhere here in Gresham/Troutdale if it is store bought. I have recently switched to flake food and TAA-DAA! Hair algae for days....need to switch back to frozen food. I was being lazy.

 

http://www.rodsfood.com/

[Mr S]

I make my own. Have had good success. I think it is cheap and you have the ability to add anything you want. Here is the recipe:

Krill

garlic

seaweed

cyclopeze

enriched brine shrimp

I went to Fred Meyers and bought some sport ice cube trays and filled them with the goop. After a couple of days I popped them out and then put them in a zip lock bag.

I stayed away from squid and octopus because they don't blend down very good. I like my food somewhat chunky but the squid and octopus ends up being long and stringy. I also will put in some white fish, scallops or salmon. Whatever is cheap at Winco at that time. I have seen my corals and fish seem to grow before my eyes with this mixture.