How Many People Feed Dry Food Only?

[FirstContact]

Just curious how many people feed dry food only to their fish? Over the years, I've done a mix of different frozen and dry foods, but right now I'm focusing on New Life Spectrum Pellets and New Era Marine Grazer. Any thoughts?

[89Foxbody]

My fish only get NLS Pellets. Never had any issues. They've all been long-lived, active, and great coloration.

[FirstContact]

Thanks for the reply. Just get tired of preparing, defrosting, and rinsing frozen foods. Anyone else think feeding just dry foods is okay? Any other opinions, experiences?

[3dees]

not an option for me. I have fish that will not touch dry food. I usually mix flake with frozen.

[Shaummy]

I used to feed almost exclusively frozen food (Formula I and II) but I always seemed to have slight cyano and hair algae problems.

I switched to NLS and some GFO the algae problems diminished. I feel that the pellets don't seem to introduce much phosphate and keeping it easier to manage.

Fish don't seem to mind the pellets, but every once in a while I'll feed frozen, or some Mysis to the tank.

[scooter31707]

I use NLS everyday, along with a frozen food in the evening. @FirstContact, I understand what you are saying, but I got this device that helps out with that. Just drop it in.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Innovative_Marine_AUQA_Gadget_Gourmet_Defroster_Fish_Food_Clips_Feeding_Stations-Innovative_Marine-0I05093-FIFDFECF-vi.html

[Tweaked]

I sometimes go a week or so before mixing up some frozen, and I have multiple tanks with quite a few fish. They eat anything including sheets of nori.

[wildman926]

I feed flake mainly, and supplement on the weekends with cubes of homemade mix of frozen squid, fish, clams, oysters, etc.

[reefsnfish]

Mine mainly get dry food, maybe once a month I'll give them a frozen seafood mix, usually when I feed the nems. I've been doing a mix of NLS pellets and Ocean Nutrition Formula Two in the eheim auto feeder. It's definitely a lot less work to not worry about feeding them everyday.

[FirstContact]

Great experiences and insights. Never thought of rotating frozen food in once a week or once a month.

[d2mini]

Get yourself some Larry's Reef Frenzy.
No need to rinse it, just defrost for a few minutes in tank water and then dump in the tank.
I'll defrost 2-3 days worth at a time in a small bottle or cup and keep in the fridge.

[3dees]

Thanks for the reply. Just get tired of preparing, defrosting, and rinsing frozen foods. Anyone else think feeding just dry foods is okay? Any other opinions, experiences?

I think sometimes we over think things. I take a cube and drop it in a half cup of tank water. thaws in a few minutes. feed the fish. how much phosphates do you think the food has. I don't believe enough to affect my 120 gal. I do prepare my own food, but that's once every six months or so. I have never rinsed frozen food.

[laga77]

Dry food is mainly two ingredients. Fish meal and wheat or soy. Read the ingredients label. The fish meal used for pet food has had all the oil press out and is basically waste with little nutritional value. Terrestrial plants are not meant to be eaten by marine fish. Stay with fresh or frozen foods.

[Shaummy]

Dry food is mainly two ingredients. Fish meal and wheat or soy. Read the ingredients label. The fish meal used for pet food has had all the oil press out and is basically waste with little nutritional value. Terrestrial plants are not meant to be eaten by marine fish. Stay with fresh or frozen foods.

Here's what NLS lists...but whatever..there must be some nutritional value in it since my fish are not wasting away

1mm Thera+ A Sinking Pellets
Ingredients: Whole Antarctic Krill, Whole Fish, Whole Wheat Flour, Ulva Seaweed, Chlorella Algae, Garlic, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Omega-3 Fish Oil, Alfalfa, Scallops, Wakame Seaweed, Spinosum Seaweed, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, L-Ascorby-2-Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Choline Chloride, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate and Manganese Sulfate

[HammerLover]

Here's what NLS lists...but whatever..there must be some nutritional value in it since my fish are not wasting away

1mm Thera+ A Sinking Pellets
Ingredients: Whole Antarctic Krill, Whole Fish, Whole Wheat Flour, Ulva Seaweed, Chlorella Algae, Garlic, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Omega-3 Fish Oil, Alfalfa, Scallops, Wakame Seaweed, Spinosum Seaweed, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, L-Ascorby-2-Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Choline Chloride, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate and Manganese Sulfate
I agree that pellets have nutrition. Out of nowhere my hammers loves eating pellets but rejects my sis and brine shrimp. My clowns have especially been much more beautiful and brightly colored because they are so thin and unhealthy in our LFS.

[Brieninsac]

Why do people defrost/mix their mysis or brine before putting it in the tank?

I just drop a half cube of frozen shrimp in. My clowns are the first to attack it, then it moves over to the vortex of my powerhead and within minutes is broken up and floating everywhere for the other fish. The only time I turn my pump and powerhead off is when I feed pellets.

[89Foxbody]

Dry food is mainly two ingredients. Fish meal and wheat or soy. Read the ingredients label. The fish meal used for pet food has had all the oil press out and is basically waste with little nutritional value. Terrestrial plants are not meant to be eaten by marine fish. Stay with fresh or frozen foods.


This is simply not true. There are several high-quality dry foods out there.

[Dkuhlmann]

Here's what NLS lists...but whatever..there must be some nutritional value in it since my fish are not wasting away

1mm Thera+ A Sinking Pellets
Ingredients: Whole Antarctic Krill, Whole Fish, Whole Wheat Flour, Ulva Seaweed, Chlorella Algae, Garlic, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Omega-3 Fish Oil, Alfalfa, Scallops, Wakame Seaweed, Spinosum Seaweed, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, L-Ascorby-2-Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Choline Chloride, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate and Manganese Sulfate

Laga hates pellet or flake food with a passion. He will post the same in every thread there is about feeding them. I personally feed NLS and think they're the best on the market. I fed them many years ago when I was first into reefing and then again when I came back last year. To me there is no better out there.

[Big E]

Unless you have used NLS pellets or dry Formula foods, any claim against them is silly. They can fatten and color up fish and sustain this for years.

I had a pair of mated Maroons that refused to eat anything but NLS pellets.

I feed my own fresh frozen foods too............clams, mussels,scallops, shrimp.

I also mix in Mysis.

Some of my fish won't eat pellets, so the fish that eat everything get a more mixed diet.

Let the juices of those frozen foods get into the tank...........they are great for the corals...........it's not going to affect your nutrient levels. This is one of those "old wives tales".

[Dkuhlmann]

Unless you have used NLS pellets or dry Formula foods, any claim against them is silly. They can fatten and color up fish and sustain this for years.

I had a pair of mated Maroons that refused to eat anything but NLS pellets.

I feed my own fresh frozen foods too............clams, mussels,scallops, shrimp.

I also mix in Mysis.

Some of my fish won't eat pellets, so the fish that eat everything get a more mixed diet.

Let the juices of those frozen foods get into the tank...........they are great for the corals...........it's not going to affect your nutrient levels. This is one of those "old wives tales".

This x2 :thumbsup:

[josbur63]

I think sometimes we over think things. I take a cube and drop it in a half cup of tank water. thaws in a few minutes. feed the fish. how much phosphates do you think the food has. I don't believe enough to affect my 120 gal. I do prepare my own food, but that's once every six months or so. I have never rinsed frozen food.
+1.I have never fed anything but frozen food.

[wildman926]

Dry food is mainly two ingredients. Fish meal and wheat or soy. Read the ingredients label. The fish meal used for pet food has had all the oil press out and is basically waste with little nutritional value. Terrestrial plants are not meant to be eaten by marine fish. Stay with fresh or frozen foods.

You are partially correct. What you listed is to give the food consistency, and to be able to hold the ingredients they add. My fish "PREFER" the flake food I serve them, from their reaction from when it is put in the water. They are fat, and are fed twice a day. Here are the ingredients from what I use, which is Ocean Nutrition Formula 2, and Omega One Marine Flakes with Garlic -

Ocean Nutrition Formula 2-
"Condensed fish protein digest, salmon (wild), wheat gluten, wheat flour, fish meal, wheat starch, plankton, lecithin, fish oil, algae meal, vitamins [a-tocopheral acetate (source of vitamin E), L-ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C), calcium pantothenate, riboflavin (source of vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), niacin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K3 activity), rosemary extract (preservative), folic acid, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin A supplement, cholecalciferol (source of vitamin D3)], minerals [choline chloride, magnesium sulfate, iron, inositol, calcium carbonate, zinc sulfate, sodium selenite, manganese sulfate, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate], marigold, salmon eggs, mussels, dried kelp, brine shrimp, garlic, spirulina."

Omega One -
Whole Herring, Whole Salmon, Halibut, Black Cod, Seafood Mix (Krill, Rockfish, Shrimp, Squid, Clams, Salmon Eggs, and Octopus), Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Fresh Kelp, Spirulina, Garlic, Lecithin, Astaxanthin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Natural and Artificial Colors, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Tocopherol (Preservative), Ethoxyquin (Preservative).

[FirstContact]

Why do people defrost/mix their mysis or brine before putting it in the tank?

I just drop a half cube of frozen shrimp in. My clowns are the first to attack it, then it moves over to the vortex of my powerhead and within minutes is broken up and floating everywhere for the other fish. The only time I turn my pump and powerhead off is when I feed pellets.

It's an effort to remove excess phosphates by defrosting and rinsing. I used to rinse with RODI water; however, not everyone agrees that this is worth doing. Also, the feeding response with the pumps on is better, but food can get trapped in the rock work that way.

[Sk8r]

It's a part of a 4 day rotation: flake 1, mysis, flake 2 or pellet, ground dried krill. Cyclopeeze would be in there if I could get it.