Best food mixture/dosing method to feed NPS temperate tank?

[AquaticEngineer]

As of recently I have been feeding my anemones and sculpins a frozen mixed food. It has a little bit of everything in it and I have fed my tropical reef the same stuff for several years. Largest being mysis, smallest being cyclops.

 

I have been thawing out a cube a day and just using a turkey baster or eye dropper to spot feed everything and then let the rest ciruclate in the tank.

 

The plan is to get a couple koralia power heads to place in the tank so that I can kill the main filtration and still have water flow while I feed so that the filter doesn't remove everything to quickly. ( I was going to go vortechs, but cost and 1" of double paned glass discouraged that )

 

What I'm looking into now is a way to use the bonus mini fridge I have, along with a magnetic stirrer, and a paristaltic dosing pump to automate what I've been doing manually. Also looking into running some ozone on the system into the skimmer.

 

So really I'm looking for suggestions on setups others have done, along with suggestions for the best types of food to use.

[Rehype]

Check with uhuru. He had a system setup to feed his nps tank.It looked like it worked very well.

[C-Rad]

What I'm looking into now is a way to use the bonus mini fridge I have, along with a magnetic stirrer, and a paristaltic dosing pump to automate what I've been doing manually.

That sounds very similar to what Steve Weast set up for his temperate tank. Maybe you can email him and get pictures and/or advice, and permission to post them publicly.

 

I went the low budget route. I got the Korallias, and connected a dial type timer switch (for a bathroom heater) and a "normally closed" (normally on) relay wired into a power strip. When I turn the timer dial, it turns off power to my return pump and chiller, and turns on a powerhead that circulates water through my sump (but not through the tank. Then I manually add food, and walk away. When the timer interval is over (up to an hour), things automatically go back to normal. I like it because I can't forget to turn my return pump back on, and I don't have to wait around after I put food in. I do that twice per day. The parts cost about $35.

[AquaticEngineer]

That is pretty slick, got any plans on how I could replicate something similar?

 

I think I am going to get another coralife powerstrip with the built in timers like I use for the lights on my tropical reef. I think It only goes in half hour incriments though. Basically when the timer comes on for the powerheads and the doser, it'll just kick off the main pump, then half hour-hour later it'll just all kick back the other way.

 

I think I'm going to just leave the magnetic stirrer running on constant low so that nothing ever settles and goes funky.

 

I need to figure out a good food source that will keep well in a liquid form in the fridge, gonna try and get away from the frozen food except for occasional spot feeding. Any recommendations?

[franklypre]

IME liquid foods have more PO4 as well as other preservatives, unless you want to grow your own phyto(which still comes with some pretty high levels of PO4, NO3, and even contains copper depending on what you feed the phyto. I use Pappone, it's an Italian designed DIY recipe, it has really made my suncoral grow in the last 2 months, I know that's not all that impressive. However when you see the SPS in the same tank and take into consideration the fact that this recipe actually makes my tank levels run better, it's hard to argue. I have tunicates, tons of sponge, colonial dusters, clams, all sorts of NPS and filterfeeders throughout the tank. And why not go LED on the lighting, you don't even have to use high powered LED.

[AquaticEngineer]

I will definately look into the Pappone, let me know if u have a link or recipe to share

 

I am also looking into the Reef Nutrition line of foods....Oyster, Rotifers, Artic pods.

 

For sure going with LED lighting

[Fishfreak218]

Reef Nutrition foods as well as Fauna Marine foods and DT's foods are all commonly used to feed. You should check them all out, but it depends what nps organisms your planning to keep

[AquaticEngineer]

To start with it'll almost solely be anemones. I'd like to keep some scallops in the tank but that is a ways out.

[franklypre]

You use mollusks that are strictly fresh. In general, you use 5 mussels, 5 clams, 5 shrimp, and 5 oysters. You put all of these into a container (no shells, just meat), then add 250 mL of RO water, then add 1or 2 tablespoon of sugar, however some also use fructose. Then you blend everything vigorously until the whole mixture reaches the consistency of cream. At this point the pappone is enriched with the polypeptide hormone somatropin or GH. In general, you use about 1.33 mg of somatropin, which corresponds to the 4 unit vial. You then mix and prepare the cubes, then put them away in the freezer. I usually make a double batch and I add Aquavitro Fuel instead of growth hormones due to the legality and cost of them.