Origami September 28, 2012 Share September 28, 2012 I began a conversation with Phil Gilbert, a director over at Polyp Lab about Reef Roids, a coral food. He's sent me a bunch of small sample bottles of the product after I mentioned I'd like to share some with the club. I'll be handing the samples out to accepting members at our next meeting. Anyway, I'm curious as to whether anybody here has used this product and what you think of it? I tried some last night (for the first time) and something immediately different that I noticed was that it went into solution with a cup of tank water almost immediately. Nothing floating on the surface. No clumping that required effort to break up. The corals definitely showed a feeding response. A chalice and some brain corals immediately started putting out feeders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin September 28, 2012 Share September 28, 2012 does it require refrigeration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami September 28, 2012 Author Share September 28, 2012 does it require refrigeration? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k September 28, 2012 Share September 28, 2012 I've been using Reef Roids for a while now and I like it better than many of the other coral foods out there because it sinks rapidly and doesn't come back up to the surface like most other phyto foods. As I recall, you (Tom) said it tasted the most fishiest of the 3 phyto foods that we sampled along with those good IPA's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals September 28, 2012 Share September 28, 2012 Mmmmmm... Fishy IPA... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin September 29, 2012 Share September 29, 2012 do you guys turn off your power heads while feeding this stuff or leave it on? I read people doing both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 September 29, 2012 Share September 29, 2012 Those jars they come in last forever! A little goes a long way. I used reefroids and like them. Didn't raise my nitrates. The fish don't bother eating it either since it's like powder and dissolves so fast. I would use reef chili, but the fish would eat a lot of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami September 29, 2012 Author Share September 29, 2012 I've been using Reef Roids for a while now and I like it better than many of the other coral foods out there because it sinks rapidly and doesn't come back up to the surface like most other phyto foods. As I recall, you (Tom) said it tasted the most fishiest of the 3 phyto foods that we sampled along with those good IPA's. Hey, one of those was roids, wasn't it? I knew they tasted familiar! I had an interesting experience today with them. The power went out at the house for 40 minutes. The supply of filled and, when the power came back on, the skimmer overflowed. (I have since fixed the Apex programming so it doesn't do that .) Anyway, the polyps on a knobby candelabrum gorgonian I have were retracted and the pores tightly closed. After fixing the skimmer situation, I decided to go ahead and feed the tank some reef-roids just to see if the chalice and war coral responded similarly to the day before even in these less than optimal conditions. They did. But here's the real surprise: After adding the roids to the water, within a minute or two, the gorgonian began to open back up – a dozen polyps here and a dozen there were extending to feed. I was startled by the response. This is after being completely retracted and sealed off. After another ten minutes, more polyps were extended. Though the entire gorgonian did not open in response to this one feeding, I was very excited and impressed by the reaction under these conditions. Amazing. I've used reef chili before, but never saw anything quite like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k September 29, 2012 Share September 29, 2012 I feed this stuff very liberally- I'll often make the water cloudy with it. Maybe a full tablespoon at a time. Fish eat it too- especially the Mollies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt bills September 29, 2012 Share September 29, 2012 Tom where did you get it from Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami September 29, 2012 Author Share September 29, 2012 Directly from PolypLab, the manufacturer. I wanted more information, so I called them. I think that they sell thru distribution, though. You'll have to look them up. I want to swing by your place this morning, Matt. Maybe we can feed your tank some? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis Scott September 30, 2012 Share September 30, 2012 I have been using reef roids along with brightwell coral amino to feed my corals for almost a couple years with great success. I usually feed one to twice a week. Here's my process: Turn off return pump and skimmer (all filtration). Leaving the powerheads on, I feed the tank brightwell coral amino. 5 min into this feeding I turn off the powerheads nad let the corals feed for another 15min. After that, I mix the reef roids in a shot glass and then use a plastic syring to spot feed my corals. Let them feed for about 15min then cut the power heads back on. 5-10min later cut the return pump and skimmer (all filtration) back on. Once I was on a feeding schedule the corals really started to show exceptional growth response. If anyone is interested you can purchase these from marinedepot.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 1, 2012 Author Share October 1, 2012 Directly from PolypLab, the manufacturer. I wanted more information, so I called them. I think that they sell thru distribution, though. You'll have to look them up. I want to swing by your place this morning, Matt. Maybe we can feed your tank some? Saw some pretty neat things in Matt Bills' tank on Saturday when we tried a sample in his tank. I'll let him report on what he, his wife, and I saw. I'll try to catch some video of a feeding response in the next couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt bills October 1, 2012 Share October 1, 2012 My Tank reaction to ReefRoids pn Saturday Turn off skimmer left the return pump and powerheads on. I like how Roids disolved in the pre feed bowl. Basically looks like a cloud of food. Dumped it rate into the tank no spoting feeding 5 min into this feeding I saw my brain feeders come out, never saw that before. Leather and toadstoal came out really strong. Zoathiods perked up. Let them feed for about 15min then cut the skimmer on. I am going to feed it again Tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 1, 2012 Author Share October 1, 2012 I had an interesting experience today with them. The power went out at the house for 40 minutes. The supply of filled and, when the power came back on, the skimmer overflowed. (I have since fixed the Apex programming so it doesn't do that .) Anyway, the polyps on a knobby candelabrum gorgonian I have were retracted and the pores tightly closed. After fixing the skimmer situation, I decided to go ahead and feed the tank some reef-roids just to see if the chalice and war coral responded similarly to the day before even in these less than optimal conditions. They did. But here's the real surprise: After adding the roids to the water, within a minute or two, the gorgonian began to open back up – a dozen polyps here and a dozen there were extending to feed. I was startled by the response. This is after being completely retracted and sealed off. After another ten minutes, more polyps were extended. Though the entire gorgonian did not open in response to this one feeding, I was very excited and impressed by the reaction under these conditions. Amazing. I did pull out my phone to record what I saw. My first attempt at really using my phone to record something in my tank. Unfortunately, the color balance is not what it could / should have been but here's a look at what I saw just a moment after feeding the Reef Roids and another short video of what the gorgonian looked like ten minutes later. YouTube links: First video Second video [YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9ROKdwHW-Y[/YouTube] [YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK0FHdOxK90[/YouTube] (I just figured out how to embed YouTube! Will have to add that to the tutorial.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Weaver October 1, 2012 Share October 1, 2012 Are you guys feeding reef roids in full daylight or actinic only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 1, 2012 Author Share October 1, 2012 Are you guys feeding reef roids in full daylight or actinic only? Mine has been done in full daylight, but also in the morning before the lights came on. The videos were under daylight conditions, though I've not mastered custom white balancing the video on my phone (I don't know if it's even possible). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt bills October 1, 2012 Share October 1, 2012 Full light for me I only have one feeding under my belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt bills October 2, 2012 Share October 2, 2012 I added another dose of reef roids this morning before my main lights come one. I saw about the same responces as before on my corals. I am not putting much in maybe a 1/4 on the sample tube. Tom did you add half that sample tube when you where here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 2, 2012 Author Share October 2, 2012 I added another dose of reef roids this morning before my main lights come one. I saw about the same responces as before on my corals. I am not putting much in maybe a 1/4 on the sample tube. Tom did you add half that sample tube when you where here? Probably close to half but that's less than the recommended 1 tsp per 100 gallons for a feeding. I'm still interested in hearing or seeing how other members' tanks have fared if they've used this food. Again, I have about two hundred sample vials that I scored for our next meeting to give out. Maybe we'll hear more about how members' tanks respond to the food then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt bills October 3, 2012 Share October 3, 2012 I dont think i put enough in. I would like to have bunch more of the experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf October 3, 2012 Share October 3, 2012 I dont think i put enough in. I would like to have bunch more of the experiment. +1 me to!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 3, 2012 Author Share October 3, 2012 I'll have those samples to give out at the meeting. The vials are small but you might be able to get two feedings out of one for an average tank. Maybe up to four for a nano. I'm hoping that, after people have tried it, that they come back to this thread and post observations. Now, there's an experiment! I've made four feedings of my tank thus far and I've: 1. Seen a strong feeding response from some LPS and gorgonian. 2. My zoanthids seem to be coloring up. This could be my imagination, but I was thinking to myself the other day that my Eagle Eye zoas just didn't look as vibrant as before the tank crash last summer. Maybe they were just underfed beforehand. 3. The SPS seem to like it, but it's too early to say if it's impacting growth or color. However, if the corals are eating it, it's a dense source of nutrition / energy and that's got to go somewhere. 4. I've not noticed any issues with elevated Nitrates or Phosphates. This could be because these are supposedly suspended, non-dissolving nutrient particles that are easily skimmed out once the skimmer comes back on after a feeding cycle, thus easily cleaning the water column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw October 4, 2012 Share October 4, 2012 Tom - is there any effect on the skimmer? I guess the real question is, did you turn off the return pump and skimmer to feed, and then turn tham back on? I'm wondering if this is something that could be dropped in the tank in the morning to give the corals a nice feeding without having to worry about turning off the pumps or having the skimmer overflow as a reaction to the feeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin October 22, 2012 Share October 22, 2012 i put 1/3 of the tube in the tank today and both the corals and fish went nuts. thanks for the sample. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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