Flake vs frozen for cause of high nutrients

[Sophie"s mom]

Hey all! So I am just curious to what folks on here have to say about which causes worse nutrient levels. I know frozen is better for the inhabitants, and they certainly prefer it. I currently feed Ocean Nutrition flakes in the morning, and frozen in the evening. I am considering switching to all frozen once the flake is gone other than when out of town as flake is easier with an auto feeder. But all this got me to wondering if the flake is a possible cause for higher nitrates.

 

[Lavey29]

I only feed frozen multiple times a day. In my opinion flake and pellets raise phosphate levels for me.

 

[mues]

To my understanding, they will be nearly identical in releases into the tank, though debated for years. The big difference maker will be what the fish left uneaten between the two.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

To my understanding, they will be nearly identical in releases into the tank, though debated for years. The big difference maker will be what the fish left uneaten between the two.

Yeah that makes sense. I do have a very good CUC so there shouldn't be much that goes uneaten.

 

[Pod_01]

So just to confuse you a bit.
From my experience I find high quality pellets to pollute the water column the least and provide healthy meal and healthy looking fish.
Since I started feeding pellets the fish aggression is non existent and most inhabitants swim in the open.
I use Fauna Marin Soft Multi mix, and there are very few ingredients in it: (no flour and other fillers)

Some fish pictures this morning:

Nothing wrong with frozen but I suspect in order to provide the same nutrients level I would have to feed lot more froze food. I tried LRS frozen, home made etc…

Good luck,

 

[1112-425XL]

For the longest time I fed twice a day, pellets AM, Frozen mix PM and struggled with high nitrate and phosphate. I switched too one feeding a day, pellets one day, frozen mix the next. Fish and corals are all still fat and happy, nitrates and phosphates not a struggle any longer.

 

[Bruttall]

When I discovered elevated Phos I started to reduce feeding amounts. Since I have always only fed once per day, except on saturday I give my fish a meaty treat with some frozen food because during the week it's just Nori and some Flake. My fish did not lose any weight or slow in growth but I saved a bunch on food expense and discovered my fish actually do better if they are not over fed. Once I got that established I did have to start dosing Lanthanum Chloride, but I am sure that is because my rocks absorbed a ton of phos when my levels where above .40ppm Now a few months later I am managing them at about .05ppm and running around 30 to 40ppm Nitrates. Everything in my tank seems happy. Still testing phos 2x a week though, expecting at some point to reduce the amount of LC I am adding as I leach the phos out of the rocks.

 

[Pod_01]

Just to add for completeness, I feed the pellets 4 times a day (generous pinch ). I used to feed once but it wasn’t enough etc…

Here are my numbers this morning:

For filtration I only use Skimmer and GAC (2 tablespoons per 60gal chance once every 4 weeks).

 

[Sophie"s mom]

When I discovered elevated Phos I started to reduce feeding amounts. Since I have always only fed once per day, except on saturday I give my fish a meaty treat with some frozen food because during the week it's just Nori and some Flake. My fish did not lose any weight or slow in growth but I saved a bunch on food expense and discovered my fish actually do better if they are not over fed. Once I got that established I did have to start dosing Lanthanum Chloride, but I am sure that is because my rocks absorbed a ton of phos when my levels where above .40ppm Now a few months later I am managing them at about .05ppm and running around 30 to 40ppm Nitrates. Everything in my tank seems happy. Still testing phos 2x a week though, expecting at some point to reduce the amount of LC I am adding as I leach the phos out of the rocks.

This helps, and maybe at the end of the day, I am worrying about nothing because my nitrates stay between 10 and 22 ppm, and my phosphate stays between .1 and .2ppm, and my tank looks great and happy. I feed flake in the a.m. and frozen in the p.m. and I put a sheet of nori in every other day. But my numbers are not bad at all . I guess I was just wondering if it would benefit my tank at all to switch over to all frozen. My fish would love it no doubt. But When out of town, I will still use flake because it is easiest from an auto feeder.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Just to add for completeness, I feed the pellets 4 times a day (generous pinch ). I used to feed once but it wasn’t enough etc…

Here are my numbers this morning:

For filtration I only use Skimmer and GAC (2 tablespoons per 60gal chance once every 4 weeks).

Those are some great numbers

 

[19Mateo83]

I feed spectrum pellets in the mornings and frozen in the evening. Fish are fat and healthy. I think having a robust clean up crew is the key to pellets not polluting the water. My po4 runs at .06-.08ppm and my no3 runs at 5-8ppm

 

[Reeferbadness]

I feed both of my mixed reef tanks (180g and 200g) both frozen mysis and pellets 2x a day and phos and nitrate are low, so low in fact, that i have to dose nitrate a couple of times a week. I really think it depends on your tank, if you have a refugium, type of filtration etc.