DIY Coral & Fish Food

[drstratton]

I found this recipe for coral & fish food!

DIY Coral & Fish Food!

Ingredients:

Seafoods:

• 6 fresh mussels
• 6 fresh clams
• 6 fresh oysters
• 3 whole shrimp (fresh or frozen)

These seafoods contain blood or blood components, which are rich in nutrients. If one or more of these ingredients are not available, you may substitute similar items (raw, not precooked, canned or containing additional additives or other ingredients).

Frozen Aquarium Foods

• 1/2 package frozen sea urchins (aquarium pack)
• 1/2 package frozen fish roe (aquarium pack)
• 4 oz. decapsulated Artemia nauplii

The decapsulated (deshelled) Artemia are readily accepted my most corals as they do not have the shells, which many corals will reject. Frozen brine shrimp may be substituted however, as with the Artemia, the shells may cause some corals to reject them. These ingredients are an excellent source of nutritional ingredients.

Dried Seaweeds

• 1/4 cup of red, green and brown seaweeds after soaking.

Dried seaweeds can be found in pet shops and health food stores or in the Asian section of most food stores. Do not use roasted or other products which have flavors or other indredients added to them. Seaweeds are an excellent food for zoanthids and other soft corals which feed on plant matter. Natural sea weeds are also an excellent source of iodine.

Aquarium Foods & Supplements

• 2 oz. (1 small container) Marine Flake Food
• 2 oz. (1 small container) Tiny food pellets
• 1 tbsp Liquid vitamins (Selco, or other vitamin/amino acid supplements)

Preparation
Soak the seaweeds in fresh (declorinated) water until soft.

1. Thaw all of the frozen ingredients in a bowl.
2. Remove shells from all seafood.
3. Crush all dry ingredients into a powder. A mortar and pestle is best, but various other kitchen implements (2 spoons, 1 spoon and a small plate) can be used.
4. Add liquid vitamins to the powdered ingredients.
5. Liquefy all of the ingredients in a blender for coral food or in food processor for fish food.
6. Freeze in Ziplock bags in thin flats or in small compartment ice cube trays (cut pieces in half, or quarters for feeding convenience and store in Ziplock bags after freezing).

Feeding Recommendations

Start by feeding small amounts (1/2 tsp per 50 gallons of system water per day) to begin with. You can gradually increase the amount, until you start to see water quality problems, then back off on the quantity a bit. The food can be administered at night (when most corals actively feed) or with the use of a turkey baster (dissolve the ration in a container of tank water and inject directly onto the corals).

To keep the coral food suspended in the water column in your tank longer, turn off your protein skimmer for a couple of hours when feeding.

This coral food is pure, high potency nutrition for your corals. Using a high powered protein skimmer in your tank will greatly assist you in keeping the accumulation of uneaten food to a safe level.