PDA

View Full Version : Enteral feeding liquid diet in reef tanks?


reefer31
09/29/2009, 07:46 PM
Has anyone used enteral liquid food with a reef tank? It has everything that we need to survive in it and was wondering if it was ever tried before? Maybe a stupid question but ohwell :P Just curious.

ethank77
09/29/2009, 09:39 PM
are you talking about the stuff they put down a tube to your stomach when you get your jaw broken or something like that.

bertoni
09/29/2009, 10:04 PM
I don't think a diet designed for humans would be appropriate for a reef tank, and I would worry that most of the contents would be soluble or very small particles, which would tend to feed bacteria.

GlassReef
09/30/2009, 07:19 AM
reefer31, are you talking about feeding mainly SPS? If so, an intriguing idea, although I would tend to agree with Jonathan that it's probably not suited as reef nourishment. That said, it would be an interesting experiment.

skanderson
10/01/2009, 12:05 AM
never done it in my tank, but the nurses at the cook county hospital trauma unit used to swear it was the best plant food. that would make me worry about algae blooms. you should be able to pull up the contents on it, not sure if it would be listed in the PDR but that might be a starting point. if you can get it for free it might be worth a try, but i bet its 10x as expensive as prepared reef tank food, knowing how the medical mark up is.

reefer31
10/01/2009, 11:57 PM
Sorry, school is keeping me busy and have not been as diligent at looking back here. Anyways, it is the food that you use for liquid diets for humans and we actually use it on animals too, I asked my vet/boss and he could order some in for me if I wanted to. I would think that its a little too concentrated and would cause problems with algae outbreaks/bacteria blooms with all the extra nutrients in the liquid. I would also think that in very diluted amounts it could work as a carbon source/coral food. This thought came to me while I was thinking about amino acid supplements, since reefs are all I can think about some weird stuff pops up. :)