Reef Discussion

Wrangy

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May 7, 2013
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Trialing A New Food Additive
Alrighty so there's not much from a fish food point of view that usually gets me overly excited as most foods are very much on a similar level but differ a little bit here and there. Buuuuutttt Dave (@Deerpark Aquarium ) got in some really groovy foods and supplements that I've been wanting to give a go since he told me about them :)
It's a range of fish/coral foods that are also suitable for breeding as well (well that's what they say on the packaging lol) from a company called Aqua-Tech Co. (http://www.aquatechco.com/SELCO.php) and they all sound really cool.
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Now out of the range the two I've been wanting to try are Marine Frenzy, an imitation fish egg that's from the sounds of it a pearl of some pretty sweet ingredients, and the S.E.L.C.O Boost which is a food soak/additive. Now as some of you know I feed my babies fairly liberally lol with 3-7 pinches of my pellet mix a day and a cube of mysis every second day with some pellets as well lol. This has achieved me some fairly nice results in having nice fat fish with some good colours but as the tank is going to have and already has some very colourful wrasse and fish with subtle colours I want to get another level from my food. Sooo aside from changing up my pellet mix soon I got a small bottle of the S.E.L.C.O Boost to try out. The reason being is they have all the good things going on:
  • OMEGA 3 & 5 Fatty Acids
  • EPA & DHA
  • Garlic for immune systems and appetite
  • Vitamins C & E for immune systems and slime coat
  • Important carotenoids for color
This wonderful little mix should result in some nice reactions from the fish and they seem to be enjoying the pellets soaked in it so far :) The only down side is the stuff STINKS! lol but that's what you'd expect being a fish soak with tasty goodies! Looks pretty potent too, need to work out the right ratio as this is waaayyy too much for my liking for a small pinch of pellets lol
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Aside from the fact that it looks fantastic on paper and looks gross enough to be doing something lol I've only had it in two feeds so far so I'll keep things updated over the coming months with how I find it's going in the tank and with the fish! I'll also try and get some decent shots of the fish for comparisons sake too :)
 

Shaunmills

Member
Jan 1, 2016
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Melbourne
Be interested to hear the results..I've been using pellets daily with a self made frozen mix bumped up with Continuum BioV (from memory) and garlic. All inhabitants seem to like the mix but wondering if they're getting the right nutrition.
 

Wrangy

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May 7, 2013
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yeah I got some too, got the selco boost and coral food (second from the right)
See how they go!
I am planning on giving them all a go haha the marine frenzy intrigues me the most next lol

Be interested to hear the results..I've been using pellets daily with a self made frozen mix bumped up with Continuum BioV (from memory) and garlic. All inhabitants seem to like the mix but wondering if they're getting the right nutrition.
This is a couple of the food additives in one, once again from what I read lol but it seems to be good stuff so hopefully the results are there :)

Looks like good stuff. What pellets do u feed?
NLS standard, algaemax (the wrasse aren't over found of this one lol) and Ocean Nutrition formula one and two :) I think that's the mix lol

I'm a bit scared to ask how much the SELCO was :rolleyes
$15 for the little bottle lol and the big one was $40-50 like the rest in the pic :) it'll last forever though!
 

ReeferRob

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Oct 22, 2014
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Bel Air
A word of caution about anything with garlic or parts there of, use it very sparingly. There are quite a few studies that suggest it can cause ulceration of the GI tract in fish. I use quite a bit of food additives, but not garlic. Fats are what drives energy in the animal world, especially EFAs.
 

Wrangy

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May 7, 2013
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A word of caution about anything with garlic or parts there of, use it very sparingly. There are quite a few studies that suggest it can cause ulceration of the GI tract in fish. I use quite a bit of food additives, but not garlic. Fats are what drives energy in the animal world, especially EFAs.
Yeah I've read similar articles on the effects of garlic on fish, I am curious if it's the active chemical in the garlic that causes it or the rest of the garlic as this is just the extract from the garlic. The concentration isn't super high as I can't smell any garlicy-ness to it but I will be keeping an eye on it :)
Fats are definitely what drives the world and this has a great spread! What additive are you using?
 

ReeferRob

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Oct 22, 2014
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Bel Air
What don't I use or get to trial is a shorter list, lol. I usually go back to Seachem Plus and feed lots of high fat foods. I make my own from shrimp, scallop, oily fish (usually jumping mullet), clam and in some instances soft crab (blueclaw, like your spanner crabs). Soft crabs have just sloughed and haven't hardened up yet, wanna see a finicky eater eat? Throw something in there that's just shed its shell, you'll think you have a tank of piranha. I only feed garlic on occasions when the need is there. Some fish respond well to it, Firefish are one that comes to mind. they're loaded with parasites. I use garlic and Droncit/Drontal on them.
 

Wrangy

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May 7, 2013
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What don't I use or get to trial is a shorter list, lol. I usually go back to Seachem Plus and feed lots of high fat foods. I make my own from shrimp, scallop, oily fish (usually jumping mullet), clam and in some instances soft crab (blueclaw, like your spanner crabs). Soft crabs have just sloughed and haven't hardened up yet, wanna see a finicky eater eat? Throw something in there that's just shed its shell, you'll think you have a tank of piranha. I only feed garlic on occasions when the need is there. Some fish respond well to it, Firefish are one that comes to mind. they're loaded with parasites. I use garlic and Droncit/Drontal on them.
I really should get onto making my own frozen mix but I'm going to need to make a special trip for that and order all kinds of fresh ingredients lol and I can't be bother yet, wait till I have some more expensive fish :p for the moment everyone is happy with mysis and pellets :) I love the idea of freshly shed crab though! I'm going to have to give that a go!!
 

ReeferRob

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Oct 22, 2014
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Bel Air
I'm lucky to live where I do, not too far from the Chesapeake bay and about 5 hours from fresh, right off the boat shrimp. Those shrimp I posted a few weeks ago was 1/2 for food. I sorted the larger ones out for us to eat, the smaller ones for the fish to eat. Down in Chrisfield, Maryland they catch lower bay scallops, about $4/kg, I'm going to buy about 20 kilos for fish food on our way back from catching jumping mullet this weekend. I need to go over onto the lower Eastern Shore to get clams before winter sets in, the ones from Virginia are top notch. They catch them and dump them back into the ocean in huge bins to clean them out. As for the shed crabs, if a wrasse won't take that, there isn't much hope for them making it. Hell, even the Purple tang goes mental for it. we also save the heads and hang them in the seaweed clip and they pick out the heads in about 20 minutes.

They want about $40/kg for the name brand foods and they have a lot more water in them than I use, I use 100ml in a kilo of food. I can make 3 kilos for what they want for 1.
 
E

ezza

Guest
A word of caution about anything with garlic or parts there of, use it very sparingly. There are quite a few studies that suggest it can cause ulceration of the GI tract in fish. I use quite a bit of food additives, but not garlic. Fats are what drives energy in the animal world, especially EFAs.
It also does it to me! At least, it proves my husband is willing to put up with a lot of crap from me!! ;) :p. Garlic is not such a friendly little plant. You are probably better off using a liquid vitamin supplement like Seachem Plus&Trace.
 

Wrangy

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May 7, 2013
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Food update :)

The fish are all fat and healthy and look great! The pellets kick ass and the soak really adds to the frozen mysis, which droves them crazy. They do love the naups but it's a fine food so the response is a little delayed. However, the marine frenzy.. they go apeshit over! So I love that and bought the big bottle this time round!