Feeding Acros with Nutricel

[jservedio]

tl;dr: It's awesome and every acro responded like crazy, just as well as they did to fresh Oyster Eggs - plus it's super cheap. You can use the instructions below if you want to try it but don't know how to feed acros since they aren't as easy to feed like LPS.

 

For those who are interested in the long version....

 

Since moving up here to Madison I have found myself with a serious lack of quality foods for target feeding acros - it's impossible for me to get Reef Nutrition products up here - so I wanted to try and find something that wasn't refrigerated/frozen that I could feed my acros to replace the Oyster Eggs I used to feed. Since New Life Spectrum has quality pellets that I feed daily, I figured I would give their SPS Nutri/cel food a shot since it is so cheap (about $9 for a multi-year supply) and the particle size seemed ideal at 10-80 microns - boy was I impressed.

Last night after lights out, I shut off my return pump and MP10s and feed my LPS like I do every week with blender mush. I waited 10 minutes then turned my powerheads back on (leaving the return off) like I normally do and this typically gives me a small feeding response from some of my acros that enjoy bigger food particles (like the Red Planet). When I turned the powerheads back on, I broadcast a few squirts of the Nutri/cel food and walked away for about a half hour. When I came back, nearly every single acro was covered from base to tips in mesenterial filaments - including some of the really tiny-polyped ones like my Hawkins (I haven't seen this type of response since I stopped feeding them Oyster Eggs)! I shut off the powerheads and target fed every responding acro, then turned the powerheads on and walked away for another 15 minutes. I repeated this process 2 more times and by the end, almost every single acro was in full-feeding mode devouring everything they could consume. The fact that even my Hawkins responded and the Red Planet had filaments well over an inch long (even though it's tiny and basically a glorified frag) has me sold on this stuff.

The only two acros that didn't respond to this food were my Suharsonoi and Lokani - both of which responded to Oyster Eggs when I was still in NC. This tells me they need smaller particles - so I am going on the hunt for food with particles from 2-10 microns to mix in with this stuff. If I can find a food like that, I think it will end up being the best possible Acro food available since this stuff has an infinite shelf life, can be shipped ground, doesn't need refrigeration, and gives the same response that fresh Oyster Eggs do at a tiny fraction of the price.

The only test remaining is just how bad the nutrients from this stuff are. They claim it is micro-encapsulated so it won't pollute your water, but that sounds like a load of crap to me so only time will tell. If this stuff isn't much worse with nutrients than fresh oyster eggs, I think this product can be a huge winner.

I'll update this after I feed a few more times over the next couple of months and let you know if growth/color improves (it did with oyster eggs and was noticeable when I stopped feeding them when I moved up here) and if my tank becomes an algae farm from this stuff. I am interested in hearing what other people think of this stuff and if they had results typical to mine. I know my acros are conditioned to being feed so they respond fairly quickly - it may take a few tries to reliably get every single acro to respond.

 

If you want to try this, here is how to feed your acros - you should always do it after lights out since they are much more likely to respond at night:

1. Mix up the food with tank water according to the instructions or make it a little stronger, mine was probably 2x what they suggested.
2. Turn off your return pump but leave your powerheads on.
3. Broadcast feed about 10% of the food that you intend to feed infront of the powerheads. If you dose AAs, do that now.
4. Walk away for 20-30 minutes while your acros respond to the food - they aren't like LPS and take some time to respond.
5. Turn off your powerheads and target feed each acro - aiming for the mesenterial filaments that are now out.
6. Wait 1 or 2 minutes then turn the powerheads back on. Walk away for 5 or 10 minutes and repeat step 5 and 6 as many times as you want until the food is gone.
7. With the powerheads on, leave the return pump off for the next 30-60 minutes while the acros feed on whatever is still in the water column.
8. Don't forget to turn your return pump back on before going to bed or you will have some cold acros.

[TheClark]

Awesome, I am going to try it out. Thanks for all the details and information.

[ReviloM]

You should provide images.

[jservedio]

You should provide images.

 

I'll try to next time I feed, but it is very difficult to capture since the mesenterial filaments are very, very fine and nearly tansluscent and the lights are either totally off or the UV channel is slightly on so I can see what I am doing. I'll give it a shot using an external flash, but I don't know how well it will come out since I have a really short focus macro lens.

 

With that said, acros in feeding mode are unmistakable - once you see one in feeding mode, there will be no question that it is ready to eat.

 

The filaments come out from everywhere on the acro, from the base all the way to the tips and they are fine, transluscent tentacles that are normally not there. If your acro has tentacles coming out, it's feeding time.

[ReviloM]

I meant to show in response to the nutri-cell. It is just a suggestion so that reefers who read this thread would actually see the proof to support the experience you saw. There are a lot of snake oil items saying they would do the same for what you are stating, not saying that what you use it.

[jservedio]

I meant to show in response to the nutri-cell. It is just a suggestion so that reefers who read this thread would actually see the proof to support the experience you saw. There are a lot of snake oil items saying they would do the same for what you are stating, not saying that what you use it.

 

Like I said - I'll try, but capturing mesenterial filaments is very, very hard even with professional photography equipment, as anyone who owns acros will know.

 

Also, considering this is an actual food and not some silly "miracle additive" with unknown ingredients, I don't think it even compares - not to mention this is a personal review and I am not some guy selling this stuff. Either you believe it based on my reputation here as someone who keeps acros and doesn't work in the industry or sell anything, or you don't.

 

If you have ever feed your acros, you know this is a standard feeding response, and the will respond to any food particles of the correct size. It would be like me reviewing a frozen fish food by saying "wow my clown fish went nuts for it" and someone saying "I need a picture to prove your fish ate this food because there are tons of garbage foods out there".

 

Again, like I said, they responded very well to the food being in the water, but I don't have any comment yet on whether it improves growth rate or improves color (which would prove the nutritional content). I'll update in a couple months with before/after pictures (since those are easy to do) if I see as big of an improvement as I saw with Oyster Eggs, but for now I don't know. All I am saying is they responded to foods and explaining how to feed an acro.

 

If it turns out there isn't much of an effect on growth and/or color because the acros can't extract much nutrition out of this, i'll update this as well - but for now I am happy with what I saw.

[ReviloM]

 

Like I said - I'll try, but capturing mesenterial filaments is very, very hard even with professional photography equipment, as anyone who owns acros will know.

 

Also, considering this is an actual food and not some silly "miracle additive" with unknown ingredients, I don't think it even compares - not to mention this is a personal review and I am not some guy selling this stuff. Either you believe it based on my reputation here as someone who keeps acros and doesn't work in the industry or sell anything, or you don't.

 

If you have ever feed your acros, you know this is a standard feeding response, and the will respond to any food particles of the correct size. It would be like me reviewing a frozen fish food by saying "wow my clown fish went nuts for it" and someone saying "I need a picture to prove your fish ate this food because there are tons of garbage foods out there".

 

Again, like I said, they responded very well to the food being in the water, but I don't have any comment yet on whether it improves growth rate or improves color (which would prove the nutritional content). I'll update in a couple months with before/after pictures (since those are easy to do) if I see as big of an improvement as I saw with Oyster Eggs, but for now I don't know. All I am saying is they responded to foods and explaining how to feed an acro.

 

If it turns out there isn't much of an effect on growth and/or color because the acros can't extract much nutrition out of this, i'll update this as well - but for now I am happy with what I saw.

I sent my second response without refreshing which means I didn't see your reply. Also, you shouldn't assume that everyone knows you and what your keep; I,for example, do not know who you are. neither do I just blindly follow someone without any evidence to support what they are doing. Most of all, you should assume that every reader is a beginner when suggesting or making posts In regards to product use because the wrong information is often passed around like candy without anything to support it. I was just giving a small input that would better your posts to help beginners here on the forums.

 

GL with your tank.

[Mr. Microscope]

I mix one scoop Nutri-Cell, one scoop reef chili, about 25mL tank water, and 1-2mL of Acro Power. Then, I turn off all pumps and target feed with a pipette. After I've exhausted the mix, I turn the powerheads back on and leave the return pump off for about an hour. BTW, I do this with the lights on and they respond really well, granted I usually do this towards the end of the light cycle in the evening.

[jservedio]

I mix one scoop Nutri-Cell, one scoop reef chili, about 25mL tank water, and 1-2mL of Acro Power. Then, I turn off all pumps and target feed with a pipette. After I've exhausted the mix, I turn the powerheads back on and leave the return pump off for about an hour. BTW, I do this with the lights on and they respond really well, granted I usually do this towards the end of the light cycle in the evening.

 

Glad I am not the only one getting a great response from my acros with it. Have you tried broadcasting a little bit with the return off then waiting a half hour before target feeding? That seems to work better for me, but I haven't tried too many different methods.

 

Have you compared daytime vs. nighttime feeding? If the response is as strong, I might slowly move my feeding to daytime. I am very interested in this since there isn't all that much out there about feeding your acros.

 

Also, have you tried foods like Oyster Eggs or golden pearls to compare it to? I am trying to see how it compares to well-proven foods and from waht I've seen ,it definitely does.