Water wafers: Do you ever feed fish food flakes in your reef tank?

[zoomonster]

Of course flakes are fine for saltwater aquariums with many made specifically for it. For the longest time all I fed was Prime Reef, Spirulina flakes, New Spectrum 1mm pellets (auto feeder also for away times), nori and I had a tank full of fat happy fish. Being I have switched games with more soft and LPS corals along with a few new fish including nitpicky Anthias I have also gone back to feeding frozen mysis, brine, arctic pods, calanus along with oyster feast and occasional reefroids. The bad thing about frozen is spotty availability except online. I just dropped $136 + $30 shipping from BRS. Even at that they only had one Hikari frozen mysis in stock. Well price too... some of the boutique stuff out there is more expensive than premium human seafood.

 

[vtecintegra]

I looked at the ingredients of some popular flakes. Wheat gluten, wheat starch, wheat flour, marigold, pea by-product meal, soy protein, dried yeast. Why would you feed junk like this when there are great frozen alternatives that don't have these fillers? No, I don't feed flakes.

 

[Jwise]

I make all my own mix of food I include flake into it. I use flake, 3 types of pellet, mysis, bryne, seaweed, garlic guard, and vitality and mix it all together and freeze it. That's what I feed every time I feed and my fish couldn't look better. They are all filled in and look really healthy.

 

[Potatohead]

I would guess about 70% of what I feed to my reef tank is flake.

I looked at the ingredients of some popular flakes. Wheat gluten, wheat starch, wheat flour, marigold, pea by-product meal, soy protein, dried yeast. Why would you feed junk like this when there are great frozen alternatives that don't have these fillers? No, I don't feed flakes.

Doesn't seem too bad. There will always be flour or similar used as a binder.

 

[docforestal]

i do same @Jwise ; not all of my fish eat flake, but need to be fed more than twice a day and have the feeder do flake to supplement - the cardinals and file fish will only eat frozen mysis, the wrasse is a pig; gobies will eat whatever
wish i could just feed the frozen slurry 3-4 times a day instead of flake tho

 

[Jwise]

i do same @Jwise ; not all of my fish eat flake, but need to be fed more than twice a day and have the feeder do flake to supplement - the cardinals and file fish will only eat frozen mysis, the wrasse is a pig; gobies will eat whatever
wish i could just feed the frozen slurry 3-4 times a day instead of flake tho

I feed my mixed food twice a day I make up 4 ziplock bags of the food

 

[docforestal]

i use clams/mussles/squid/mysis/vitamins/selcon/garlic/spirulina/nori/reef chili and some flake/td pellet, blend it and smear it into mini silicon cube trays and freeze
this recent batch has a bit more spirulina and squid and they are not loving it until it breaks apart

 

[Turkey head]

I feed Ocean Nutrition Formula One and Two flakes daily. I put in small amounts a few times in the evening, making sure they have eaten all of it before adding another small amount. I feed frozen too but I like the variety. I see most of my carnivores and herbivores eat both types. Probably overall good for them. So load you don’t overfeed, pollution isn’t a problem. I used to overfeed enough that it was a problem but I overfeed frozen too.

 

[JoJosReef]

I voted other, because I target feed flakes to the cleaner shrimp and also sometimes give them to the porcelain crab. Haha, and really funny is I'll place a flake over the opening to the pistol shrimp's cave and watch it get snatched into the hole

 

[Cheezle]

I got a tub of the marine plus flakes from seachem and everyone eats it. Goby, clowns and blenny all love it. My watchman eats it too when I turn the pumps back on.

 

[Superd513]

Water wafers: Do you ever feed fish food flakes in your reef tank?

Many reef keepers feed their tank with live foods, frozen foods, pellets, and other types of feed. However there seems to be a common thought that flake food is for freshwater tanks only. Do you ever feed flake food to your reef tank? Is there a place for flakes in saltwater tanks? If you do use flake food, when and how do you include flakes into your feeding program. If you don’t feed flakes, please tell us why not. Maybe there is a place for flake food in saltwater aquariums and maybe there isn’t – let’s talk about it!

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Photo by @JumboShrimp

I have 5 saltwater Mollys and they will eat anything. They are super friendly. As soon as I walk up to the tank they come up to the glass and follow me. I use goldfish flakes for them. I tried using some frozen food but it always ends up on the rock or in the sand. Once I get my clown fish, I will start feeding them food specifically for them but until then I’m not worried about it.

 

[morganb]

I rotate each day between frozen and flake, all the fish and shrimp come out for flake, mainly ocean nutrition flake but have a few different ones, different each time to try make sure they get everything they need

 

[jda]

I have a pretty new Blue Star Leopard that will eat spirulina flake, but not mysis. Weird. Variety is good for me.,

Flakes are a great way to get food all over the tank to crabs, shrimp, etc. I do put them under the water with my fingers so that they don't just float down the overflow.

The newer (well, like more than a decade ago) high quality flakes and pellets with HUFA an vitamans no longer required me to use Selcon and Zoe like I used to have to. Mysis helps with some of this too. No more HLLE for me.

Dry will always be part of my diet.

For those who think that binders like wheat and things do not belong in the diet of saltwater fish, do you feed mysis? Mysis is a freshwater shrimp. I have always found this amazing...

 

[rossco]

Prime Flakes in the morning, and Rods Seaweed Blend chopped to about the same size as flakes most evenings for the Tangs in the display.

Just Prime flakes in the morning for the frag tank and nano.

No frozen except for PE Mysis occasionally for the anemones in the Nano.

 

[Tub Life]

My copperband relishes dry food now

How?!?! While I am delighted my copperband is a good eater. it does not take any flake or pellets. you sir have achieved the dream!

on topic, I do feed flake every now and then. as noted not all my fish go for it. i like to think it fills the tang up a bit on the cheap. lol

 

[Baka Mop]

My fish go crazy for prime flakes. Even my tiny possum wrasse will hoover up big chunks. They are so-so with mysis, and they really don't seem to touch pellet food aside from my clowns.

 

[vetteguy53081]

How?!?! While I am delighted my copperband is a good eater. it does not take any flake or pellets. you sir have achieved the dream!

on topic, I do feed flake every now and then. as noted not all my fish go for it. i like to think it fills the tang up a bit on the cheap. lol

It took about 3 years before it looked at dry food but I’ve had this fish close to 5 years and sooner or later it was bound to try it. This fish eats Anything

 

[Spare time]

I looked at the ingredients of some popular flakes. Wheat gluten, wheat starch, wheat flour, marigold, pea by-product meal, soy protein, dried yeast. Why would you feed junk like this when there are great frozen alternatives that don't have these fillers? No, I don't feed flakes.

Can you explain why you say those are bad. Gluten and wheat are used as the binding material

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can you explain why you say those are bad. Gluten and wheat are used as the binding material

Agree and without these preservatives would be very poor grade food product

 

[vtecintegra]

Can you explain why you say those are bad. Gluten and wheat are used as the binding material

Goes against common sense to feed things like wheat and other land based ingredients long term to marine fish. I stick to things like LRS, fish eggs, plankton, and krill.