SPSers Preferred Fish Food

[cham]

Doing some reading I have seen some posts that point out the high P04 in Nori & that grocery stores sometimes use it to preserve sea food, making my homemade food possibly full of it too.

I got away from pellets and flakes because of their phosphate levels, but it seems I may have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. I do rinse my frosen mysis before feeding but Im sure there is some left over nastyness in there too.

I do run a phosban reactor but would still like to look at options to limit import of P04.

Here are my foods that I alternate:
Julain Sprungs Two Fishes Nori
Formula 2 frozen greens
Spurlina frozen greens
DIY ocotpus, squid, clams etc from frozen section of grocery.
frozen mysis
DT's oyser eggs (few times a month)
cyclopeeze (few times a month)

What do you guys feed that you know or believe is low in P04.

[antonsemrad]

If I had to bet on one of the foods that you listed that is the highest in phosphate, it would be the oyster eggs.
I would also bet that the oyster eggs are the most nutritious, and the most useful food on the list.

It is quite possible that I am way out in left feild on this, but I belive that corals need phosphate to create new cells and grow. The phosphate that is in foods, that the corals capture is beneficial, phosphate that corals cannot capture is harmful. If food is not eaten, bacteria will break it down into unwanted orthophosphate.

For these reasons I think that export and uptake are better ways to address phosphate than with import.

Having said that, frozen foods that have been soaked in a phosphate preservative, I am wary of. That would likely sqew the ratio of nutrients that I am trying to provide.

Anyway thats my take on it.

[cham]

Originally posted by antonsemrad
If I had to bet on one of the foods that you listed that is the highest in phosphate, it would be the oyster eggs.
I would also bet that the oyster eggs are the most nutritious, and the most useful food on the list.

It is quite possible that I am way out in left feild on this, but I belive that corals need phosphate to create new cells and grow. The phosphate that is in foods, that the corals capture is beneficial, phosphate that corals cannot capture is harmful. If food is not eaten, bacteria will break it down into unwanted orthophosphate.

For these reasons I think that export and uptake are better ways to address phosphate than with import.

Having said that, frozen foods that have been soaked in a phosphate preservative, I am wary of. That would likely sqew the ratio of nutrients that I am trying to provide.

Anyway thats my take on it.

Great feedback, a good way of looking at it.

I have a decent export system with my ER skimmer, P04 reactor, 100 micron filter sock (changed every few days) and decent feeding skills.

I agree that keeping the export systems up are critical and you make a good point of spending more time worrying about getting it out than putting it in (assuming you are taking properP04 import precautions).

[antonsemrad]

One thing that you could do, (if you have the ambition) is order the oysters and clams online, and keep them in a dark tank on the floor of your basement. A simple biowheel, or sponge filter should keep the amoinia down, and you could feed (gut load)them with algae paste. Then for food, blend a few of them up fresh for their midnight snack.

As for daytime fish feeding, Paul B has a great thread going on here.

I like to use nori for micronutrients, and I have used whole smelt chopped into bite sized pieces, bones, guts, and all.

What do you guys feed that you know or believe is low in P04.

Amino acids have been reported to be a nitrogen source without the P, but if you are feeding fish, and then skimming out, or removing the poo with a sock, the fish pee (amonia) would make for a constant nitrogen souce without the P. No?

In general I am kind of cunfused about the paranoia surounding phosphate. We have great tools for dealing with it. Better skimmers, GFO, socks, prop pumps, and more knowlege. We know how to use less live rock, and keep it off the walls to prevent dead spots, and learning more about how to lock up phosphate in macroalgae, and bacteria. But yet, phosphate gets used as a scapegoat for stuff that just doesn't make any sense to me. I also think that it is possible that the pengalem has swung too far, and folks are keeping acropora in water that has less phosphate than what would be found in NSW. That, gives us the ability to tolorate higher nitrogen levels, and gives us the ability to have eyepoping colors, but when I look at the colors and the type of growth of acropora on this website it makes me wonder what the standard should be for a heathy coral.