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Liquid foods

Andrew Butler

Member
Joined
1 Feb 2016
Messages
1,740
Location
Banbury, Oxfordshire
I'm curious as to whether anyone has tried any liquid food; in particular ones that don't need being kept refrigerated and could be added to the aquarium using a dosing pump.
 
Hi all,
I'm curious as to whether anyone has tried any liquid food; in particular ones that don't need being kept refrigerated and could be added to the aquarium using a dosing pump.
What food did you have in mind? I've drip fed a Chlorella culture in to a tank with very small fry, but that is a bit of a special case.

cheers Darrel
 
What food did you have in mind?
I've absolutely no idea Darrel is the truth; just looking to explore options and whether this is something that could be a feasible option as a reliable source of food which a doser could take care of. Not out of lazyness, just a reliable source is all. :)
 
Is this based on seeing a new type of liquid food Andrew or just an idea? Are there any liquid foods that aren't fry foods?
 
My local fish shop was giving away TMC’s attempt at a suspended brineshrimp liquid food (although designed for marine tanks) for free because it made a horrible film on the surface even with a protein skimmer running.


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Hi @Andrew Butler

I have very recently started using the following:

https://www.jbl.de/en/products/detail/2315/jbl-atvitol

I keep reading about how quickly vitamins in (dried) fish foods lose their efficacy once a container has been opened. So, this JBL Atvitol seemed like a good idea. Too early to tell if it makes an iota of difference. And, the question has to be asked - without running a controlled experiment, how will I know if it has any benefit? Only time will tell.

JPC
 
Hi all,
Are there any liquid foods that aren't fry foods?
My guess was that there isn't, which was why I found the question intriguing.
I have very recently started using the following:

https://www.jbl.de/en/products/detail/2315/jbl-atvitol
It can't to any harm. They dust Fruit-flies (when feeding to Dart Frogs) with vitamin powders.
I keep reading about how quickly vitamins in (dried) fish foods lose their efficacy once a container has been opened
I just have a little bit out in a small container (specimen tube sized) <"in the fridge">. I keep the rest in the freezer.

cheers Darrel
 
I used vitamin sprays and additives when breeding seahorses as it can be hard to get enough good quality food into them. It was also pretty standard with newly imported marines but never really saw the need with tropical fish (unless they are hard to feed in which case I wouldn't be keeping them) because they normally accept a wide range of foods.

I'm not sure how quickly foods lose their nutrition after they have been opened but I know it's been shown that it begins to leach out very quickly when they make contact with water (something like 20 seconds for vitamin c to decrease). It just means buying what you need little and often.
 
Only once used a brand liquid food for some tetra fry Cant remember which
sorry; I didn't notice your post yesterday.
Is this based on seeing a new type of liquid food Andrew or just an idea? Are there any liquid foods that aren't fry foods?
I have seen JBL PlonktonPur before (free sample) but is more of a gel, I have searched for what it is but when it comes to the science side I'll leave that to @dw1305 or someone more knowledgeable than myself o_O
As for the second part; I don't know! I'm not a person really educated or aware in feeding fish I'm ashamed to admit which is why I've posted this question and this thread also. I want to try and become more aware and I'm sure I can't be the only person on this forum who isn't really sure - maybe I'm wrong. :sorry:
My local fish shop was giving away TMC’s attempt at a suspended brineshrimp liquid food (although designed for marine tanks) for free because it made a horrible film on the surface even with a protein skimmer running.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If it leaves a film in a marine running a protein skimmer (and typically a weir of some kind) then that's quite worrying!
I have very recently started using the following:

https://www.jbl.de/en/products/detail/2315/jbl-atvitol

I keep reading about how quickly vitamins in (dried) fish foods lose their efficacy once a container has been opened. So, this JBL Atvitol seemed like a good idea. Too early to tell if it makes an iota of difference. And, the question has to be asked - without running a controlled experiment, how will I know if it has any benefit? Only time will tell.
Thanks for that JPC, this is an additive to be used in conjunction with whatever else you feed, not saying that's a bad thing and one to take away and give some thought over but not a standalone feed that can be run through a doser. As you say how do you know it works or not; is it well spent money or just a waste? - Be interested to hear your views after a while. :)
Are there any liquid foods that aren't fry foods?
My guess was that there isn't, which was why I found the question intriguing.
I know little more than feeding dried foods and the occasional bit of frozen, there is nowhere close by to source live foods which is something I intend to explore and become educated in what I can realistically breed.
Being uneducated could anything like this be fed using a doser? :woot:
 
The one problem with live foods and a doser as I see it is getting the foods to actually be sucked up into it. It's easy with phytoplankton/algae as you can keep that in suspension but harder with other motile foods unless you can get them to congregate in a small area to be dosed.

There isn't really anything wrong with most dried foods and a bit of frozen. We can keep lots of fish for far longer than they would naturally live on them.

For live food culture it can be as simple as a bucket or two tucked away in the garden. You can even grow it in a small wildlife pond. It's really no work at all and you get to witness fascinating hunting behaviour in your fish.
 
Hey @mort I hadn't necessarily meant a live food in the first place but just curious if anything existed that could be fed in such a way. I've seen a few things around but curious if anything like a quality dried food suspended in water existed - just a crazy thought.

For live food culture it can be as simple as a bucket or two tucked away in the garden. You can even grow it in a small wildlife pond. It's really no work at all and you get to witness fascinating hunting behaviour in your fish.
What do you opt for then or recommend as the easiest yet most beneficial; ones that are lower maintenance, don't smell or can keep outside. ;)
 
Hey @mort I hadn't necessarily meant a live food in the first place but just curious if anything existed that could be fed in such a way. I've seen a few things around but curious if anything like a quality dried food suspended in water existed - just a crazy thought.


What do you opt for then or recommend as the easiest yet most beneficial; ones that are lower maintenance, don't smell or can keep outside. ;)

I'm not aware of any liquid foods that are available, I've never really thought about it or looked for them however. I've used some when I kept non photosynthetic corals but they were all very labour intensive and only lasted a day. There was also the need to use a magnetic stirrer (like in a kalk reactor). There were products emerging that claimed they could be dosed how you envision but they to seemed to have a limited shelf life.

Most of the live foods you can culture are available as frozen foods so if its easier you could stick to them as they are beneficial but fish do look happier with wiggling prey.
Daphnia is the most obvious food and you will get a small supply from a couple of buckets/water butt secreted somewhere in the garden. All you need to do is add a few leaves and some daphnia and away they will go. You will get added mosquito larvae that most fish love and if you add a small wooden branch you will likely see a few bloodworm.
In reality any standing water will get mosquito larvae and possibly some other species that the fish will go crazy for with no effort on our behalf except putting a bucket out in the beginning.

Hopefully Darrel will chip in and give his thoughts.
 
I'm not aware of any liquid foods that are available
Here is one I came across with a very quick search but there were others when I looked around the other day; probably not good value for money etc but I had just wondered what else was out there. There's also the jbl Planktonpur I came across before.

It was mainly the reliable source of food through a doser which made me start this thread.

Most of the live foods you can culture are available as frozen foods so if its easier you could stick to them as they are beneficial but fish do look happier with wiggling prey.
Not something that works for the doser but definitely something I intend to look further into so if you have any advice feel free to PM me with it or point me in a good idiot proof direction!
Words of experience are often better than reading a 'how to' in my opinion.
 
Hi all,
I came across with a very quick search but there were others when I looked around the other day
Those are a bit like the <"freeze dried Copepods"> from <"Current food trends">, and they are really for feeding Corals etc., organisms which sieve plankton from the water column.

The only likely tank inhabitant that I can think of, that has a similar strategy, would be a Fan Shrimp, although I'm pretty sure micro-predators like Pipefish, Threadfin Rainbows or Corydoras pygmaeus would like them as well.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi Folks,

I can't believe that I forgot to mention Roti-Rich. This isn't really a food for feeding to adult fish. It is intended for raising fry and shrimp. I have used it for feeding Daphnia cultures. One drop of the liquid is all that's needed to feed Daphnia for up to one day. I use it for stimulating the growth of microfauna (infusoria/periphyton) in my tanks. Anyway, here it is:

http://floridaaquafarms.com/shop/liquid-roti-rich/ and it is available from:

https://www.zmsystems.co.uk/roti-rich-278-p.asp

It is also available in dry form.

JPC
 
Sorry Andrew, I should have been more clear in my reply. I meant that I hadn't seen any foods that could be dosed directed at the freshwater market. The calanus you linked is a common product in the marine world, nyos gold pods are another example that people went crazy for a few years ago, but I don't know of a freshwater equivalent. They are basically a few pods or artemia in a lot of liquid sold at a premium.

The other product planktonpur, I believe, but I could be wrong, is sachets of fine foods in a gel that spread out when it enters the water column. I think I had some free samples ones and it was quite messy and very similar to tetras fresh delica range, which is again not something you could use for a doser.

I'm not sure if dosed foods is an idea the hobby has passed by, not thought of or simply discounted but it's far easier to keep food fresh out of solution with a normal automatic feeder and I think this is why we are struggling for ideas.
 
I'm not sure if dosed foods is an idea the hobby has passed by, not thought of or simply discounted but it's far easier to keep food fresh out of solution with a normal automatic feeder and I think this is why we are struggling for ideas.
As you say the products I've mentioned do seem more marine based but say suitable for freshwater which left me wondering.
Back to exploring the dry foods I think is the sensible option as a base alongside frozen and then see what cultures I think would work for me; the idea of the buckets I like the sound of but wonder whether we have the climate for something like this to ride the winter months through?
 
My buckets outside still have daphnia and seed shrimp happily swimming about but the mosquito larvae stopped a month or two ago. You could harvest all winter long if you only needed a few and had enough buckets but they don't normally get going again until the weather warms up. Some people have indoor cultures but I've never tried them, I just tend to swap to baby brine shrimp, Grindal and white worms as the weather cools.
 
I'm pretty sure micro-predators like Pipefish, Threadfin Rainbows or Corydoras pygmaeus would like them as well.
They might, but I think they would prefer a big juicy bloodworm or similar that they can only just fit in their mouths. :)
My pipefish went crazy for glassworms when I could get them. They seemed to prefer them to daphnia, which they preferred to cyclops when given a net full of assorted pondlife.

BTW, have you been reading seriouslyfish.com?
They use 'micropredator' to mean predator of small prey. They seem to be alone in this unless you know better (quite possible :) ). Others use it to mean a predator smaller than its prey, which therefore doesn't eat the whole prey, such as mosquitoes, fleas, vampire bats etc.
https://parasiteecology.wordpress.com/tag/micropredator/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitism#Micropredators
 
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