pollen

[geoxman]

Over the past two weeks I have been collecting pollen and feeding it to my system. I sit 3 3x3 sheets of glass acrylic out in the middle of the front and back yard and scrape the pollen off every day.
I have been getting more and more each day here in STL MO as the trees start to bud.
I feed a mixture of this with some DT's, chromaplex , OJ, cyclopleze, and now the added pollen.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=8791724#post8791724

Over the past few weeks I have noticed much better color in my polyps and the clam really sucks down the food. I get 4-5 swooshes instead of two with the above without the pollen.
My zoos have gotten crazy color without any new variables?

I am not worried about pollutants..etc.

I was just wondering if anyone had tried this?? It just seems natural.

I tried the search and it keeps freezing up on me-any input would be great. Here is my tank so you can see the volume that I am feeding.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1013373

[Ed Ricketts]

xman,
with those results, can it be bad? We have huge pollen storms for the longleaf pines here in coastal south carolina. Great idea.

[Ed Ricketts]

xman,
with those results, can it be bad? We have huge pollen storms for the longleaf pines here in coastal south carolina. Great idea.

[Ed Ricketts]

oops, double post, but that tank is worth it.

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9568488#post9568488 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by geoxman
[B] the clam really sucks down the food. I get 4-5 swooshes instead of two with the above without the pollen.


how can you tell the clam is eating any of this?

are the "4 or 5 swooshes", the clam rapidly closing? if so that is not a feeding response, it is trying to clear its gills(coughing)

[geoxman]

that clam is so big that I am sure it gets most of its nourishment from the light. It is not a closure, it will open its front wider and swoosh the water through rear.
It is not my clam and I am by no means an expert on clams, I am just housing it until my buddy gets his tank back up-tomorrow!

I am still very impressed with some of the color changes in my corals. I am wondering if their is any benefit to the pollen?

I thought Mark Weiss had a product with a bunch of plant extracts or dried plants in it??

It has to enter the water column in nature...anyhoo it is proving to be an interesting and fun experiment

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9571283#post9571283 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by geoxman
it will open its front wider and swoosh the water through rear.


can you please describe this "swoosh" ? what exactly are you seeing the clam do?

[geoxman]

I am not to concerned with the clam, it may be coughing, I do not know-nor care too.
When I feed my tank, I like to make the water column almost brown/green with food for about an hour, with the return pump off.

Back to the pollen

I collected a lot of pollen tonight after I got in from work. I am guessing there will only be a few more weeks to get it.

I did send a few emails to a few Marine Biologist's asking for their feedback on feeding the pollen. I have not heard back yet.

I am still very pleased with the results.

[puddldude]

I would imagine the particle size is very similar to phytoplankton so it can be absorbed by the corals. Do you have any pictures of the feeding? It is a very interesting idea and should be looked into. In nature I would assume that the water would absorb an incredible amount of the pollen and would be mixed into the water column by the waves. Very neat idea! Why did you start putting it in your tank to begin with?

[geoxman]

bored-I guess
pictures no-I have been working overoverovertime. You are close enough that you can come by this weekend and see

[musty baby]

To hell with pollen, I'm digging your avatar!


Doesn't seem like it could hurt anything. With that in mind though, I do wonder what simply pureeing some vegetables and dosing that might do. I wouldn't think that pollen would contain the pigments that are probably why plant extracts would be used (if they are in fact being used)

My tank's fine as it is, let us know how it turns out. :)

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9579812#post9579812 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by geoxman
I am not to concerned with the clam, it may be coughing, I do not know-nor care too.


sorry for my concern for your clam:rolleyes:

[geoxman]

mbbuna it was not my clam and the owner knew how I fed before I had me house it. All in all that thing is almost bullet proof and it looked great when it left the other night.

I have and do put some plants in my food mixture I also add quite a bit of OJ to the mixture.

I am not a plant expert nor do I play one on TV, but is the pollen a more pure "feed" ? Rather than dried up, ground up, plant leaves?

The colors in very established corals have really increased in a rather quick period without any new variables.

I will try and get some pics this weekend

[JackKerouac]

What's the plant name form where you get the pollen?

[JCTewks]

wondering if pollens from different plants would have different effects? or if there are some species of plant with pollen that could be toxic to corals? i am getting ready to set up a beehive and would have ready access to all the pollen i could use.

[JackKerouac]

yeah some plants are extremly toxic,so I was asking him what's the name of the plant where he collect the pollen.

[geoxman]

what is ever in the air at the present time here in MO. Maple, Ash, Dogwood, Oak, Cedar, Juniper, and Elm. I collected more today than I have ever gotten, I filled up a 5ml cap full. The pollen today was more yellow than in the past week.

I am not worried about the toxicity of the certain pollens or what might is in the air, pollutants. I have seen no signs of stress-just great color

I am sure the trees do not vary a tremendous amount. The pollen in Boca Raton is pretty much the same as STL today according to pollen.com

I bought a 4x8 piece of acrylic today and nailed it to my garage roof. I will use this along with my 3x3 sheets to get as much as I can before the season is over.

I will keep collecting over the next couple of weeks and keep dumping it in the tank with my food.

I hope to collect at least 100 ml over the next couple of weeks so it can last a while.

[JackKerouac]

About the great color that you noticed it might be related to the Beta corotenoids present in the pollen.

[geoxman]

OK awesome thanks for the input! I need more input like yours! It is all very intriguing?!

[JackKerouac]

any update?How is your experiment going?