What food type has lowest impact on nitrates and phosphates?

[Kalanianaole]

I have a highly stocked five gallon which is sustainable if I do it smart. I feed minimally, but even still probably ~20% of food is uneaten and starts decomposing. When it decomposes, re dried foods (flake/pellet) or frozen options (mysis/cyclopeeze) a better option for reducing nitrates and phosphates in the long run? Which breaks down "cleaner"?

[ManGups]

Not sure if there is a way to answer that. Not sure if this will help I feed twice in small quantities 3-4 minutes apart from each other and only that amount which can be eaten in 3~4 minutes. This is with the return off and powerheads on very slow speed.

 

Since I drop the food on the surface whatever is left after 5 ~6 mins I skim it out using a fish net. Agreed that some food does sink but since it not a whole bunch at one go - most get eaten by the time is reached the sand.

 

I have followed this and never have issue with N03 and PO4. I do however run GFO and Carbon.

[jestep]

What's your definition of highly stocked. Personally, I consider a single clown or damsel in a 5 to be overstocked. After a few months with a springers, I was having to do more than 100% water change per week, and only feeding 2 or 3 times total per week.

 

But to answer the question, good flake is probably the best bet. I believe it was prime reef flakes that were measured to have the lowest phosphate to protein ratio of any commercial food a few years back. There was also some brand of frozen brine shrimp that were right in there. I haven't seen any updated study though.

[bob115]

Really, its not going to matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. The amount of phosphates that we tend to aim for are so ridiculously low that any amount of food is going to overshoot it without controls in place (such as water changes or GFO). You're never going to find a food that's phosphorous or nitrogen free, and even if you somehow did, you wouldn't want it anyway.

 

That said, do try to keep rotting food to a minimum, but between foods, there probably isn't going to be a huge difference. Unless one is tremendously bad or something I guess.