- [Matthew] Every fish and invertebrate will have
some sort of specialized diet.
With hundreds of food options,
it's downright impossible
for a beginner to make the right choice.
Rather than pull your hair out and waste tons of time
reading every single review,
here are the six essential foods that will feed 99%
of all of your livestock.
Food number one in our list, Hikari Mysis shrimp.
This is hands down my number one food
for all of my carnivorous fish, shrimp and anemones.
Here are all the reasons why Hikari Mysis shrimp
should be on your list of go-to foods.
Number one, it's packed with protein and not fillers.
Too many beginners rely on pellets to feed their livestock,
but pellets are so nutrient dense
that it's easy to over feed and cause a nutrient imbalance,
especially spikes in nitrates and phosphates
which can lead to huge algae blooms.
Hikari Mysis shrimp is packed with all the good proteins
and fats without any of the fillers.
The second reason I love Hikari Mysis shrimp is it's small
in size.
Beginner fish are usually smaller with smaller mouths.
Hikari Mysis shrimp is small.
So most of them will be able to eat it.
Just for a size contrast,
PE Mysis shrimp is huge, and most of my smaller shrimp
struggle to eat it. Don't get me wrong.
PE Mysis shrimp is an absolutely fantastic food
with more nutrient density than Hikari Mysis shrimp
but the larger size just means it's not right
for smaller fish.
The third reason I love Hikari Mysis shrimp,
no rinsing required.
I have tried four to five brands of Mysis shrimp.
And by far, Hikari is the cleanest.
Whether using the flat packs or the cubes,
it's virtually clear once you add your tank water.
That just means you don't need to waste time rinsing it.
Just add some tank water, let it thaw.
And it's ready for feeding.
The fourth reason I love Hikari Mysis shrimp
is it's super affordable.
I mean, it's just a great value.
And I think it's the cheapest option out there.
The cubes make things super simple
but I like the flat packs for sheer volume and value.
The fifth reason I love Hikari Mysis shrimp
is all of my carnivores just love it.
Out of all the foods I feed, Hikari Mysis shrimp
is probably the favorite for all of my fish,
my shrimp and my anemones.
It's a whole food. It's not ground up.
So it replicates the natural environment.
And I just think my livestock love the shape
and texture of it.
And the sixth and final reason I love Hikari Mysis shrimp,
it's a healthy option for your fish and inverts.
I also keep a flat pack of brine shrimp in my freezer
but only for an occasional treat.
Mysis shrimp is like feeding your livestock a well
balanced meal, while feeding them brine shrimp
is like giving them a bag of chips.
It's super tasty, but not very nutritious.
The moral of the story here is stock
up on hHikari Mysis shrimp as your first purchase.
Moving on to pellet foods,
the selection is just out of control.
We've chosen three for you.
And if you're curious how we narrowed it down
watch this video right here,
all about how to choose the right fish food.
The first pellet food option is reef nutrition's
TDO Chroma Boost, the small pellet.
The three main ingredients are krill, fish and squid.
Just a great selection for all of your carnivores.
I have personally used Chroma Boost
for almost a decade now, my fish love it.
My shrimp love it. My anemones love it.
And some of my larger corals even love it.
It's super nutrient dense.
So a small amount goes a long way.
I feed TDO Chroma Boost in place of my Hikari Mysis shrimp.
Just one to two times a week.
As an added bonus, TDO Chroma Boost
comes with Astaxanthin,
which is a reddish color pigment.
It will bring out the natural oranges
and red colors of your fish.
Next up we have Piscine energetic pellets
or PE pellets for short.
For those of you that don't know the Piscine
energetic story here is why their products are awesome.
A British Columbia based company, they harvest
and package invasive gut loaded freshwater Mysis shrimp
from lake Okanagan,
just north of the central Washington border.
So they're not only helping to remove and invasive species,
but they're also packaging a Mysis shrimp
that is ridiculously high in protein.
Since they're frozen food may be a bit too large
for smaller fish.
These PE pellets are a fantastic substitute.
So far, all of our options have been for carnivores.
So let's make the pivot to herbivorous food
with Hikari seaweed extreme. Seaweed extreme is awesome
because it contains over 67% natural seaweed.
And all of my fish love it, including the carnivores,
but I would consider these pellets an essential food item
for all of your herbivorous fish,
especially tangs, blennies and rabbit fish.
I feed all of my fish, including my carnivorous fish
at least once a week with seaweed extreme because
their small pellet size means everybody can eat it.
And I just think vegetables are a part of a healthy diet.
Moving away from pellets and on to seaweed.
There are several good options out there.
So feel free to experiment to see which ones
your fish prefer.
But I have found great luck over the years
with Julian Sprung's Sea Veggies green seaweed.
There's no fillers. There's no additives.
It's just 100% dried seaweed.
Seaweed clips or the innovative Marine Grazer work well
for most herbivores, or you can use the old rubber band
and rubble rock trick for all of those bashful herbivores
that tend to stay near the sand bed.
So far, all the food we have covered
will feed 99% of your fish and inverts,
but there is one food missing, coral food.
We're gonna recommend the original food
that got Bulk Reef supply started.
Of course, we're talking about Reef Chili.
This tiny bottle can feed your corals for months.
Super finely ground reef chili is packed
with zooplankton, phytoplankton, rotifers,
copepods, and way more.
There are other good, nay, great coral foods out there
but why not stick with the only one
with a five star rating and well over 200 reviews?
Rather than try to remember all the foods
we've already discussed,
we went ahead and made a bundle for you.
That includes everything except
the frozen Hikari Mysis shrimp.
You can either just add that to your cart,
but if you don't want to pay the extra shipping fee
for frozen foods, then I'm pretty sure
your local fish store will carry it as well.
You have your fish food bundle, but how much
of which food should you feed when, so that you don't
either starve your fish or add way too many nutrients
to the tank and cause an algae bloom.
Click here and we'll teach you all about it.
And as always everyone, thanks for watching.
Happy reefing, be well. We'll see you next time.