Reef Chili

[TNT]

Does anyone here feed reef chili to their corals? I am thinking of making an order but thought I would check in here first too see if it is worth it.

Thanks in advance

[Whoyah]

I have heard it is pretty good stuff but never tried it myself.

[perpetual98]

I'm thinking that I'm going to make some coral food using Borneman's recipe. I'll probably be able to make quite a bit of food for less than you can get reef chili for, and I would think that the DIY food would be at least as good as something you can buy, plus you have the benefit of knowing what's in it.

This is from the article on about.com:

Ingredients:

Seafoods:

* 6 fresh mussels
* 6 fresh clams
* 6 fresh oysters
* 3 whole shrimp (fresh or frozen)

These seafoods contain blood or blood components, which are rich in nutrients. If one or more of these ingredients are not available, you may substitute similiar items (not precooked, canned or containing additional additives or other ingredients).

Frozen Aquarium Foods

* 1/2 package frozen sea urchins (aquarium pack)
* 1/2 package frozen fish roe (aquarium pack)
* 4 oz. decapsulated Artemia nauplii

The decapsulated (deshelled) Artemia are readily accepted my most corals as they do not have the shells, which many corals will reject. Frozen brine shrimp may be substituted however, as with the Artemia, the shells may cause some corals to reject them. These ingredients are an excellent source of nutritional ingredients.

Dried Seaweeds

* 1/4 cup of red, green and brown seaweeds after soaking.

Dried seaweeds can be found in pet shops and health food stores or in the Asian section of most food stores. Do not use roasted or other products which have flavors or other indredients added to them. Seaweeds are an excellent food for zoanthids and other soft corals which feed on plant matter. Natural sea weeds are also an excellent source of iodine.

Aquarium Foods & Supplements

* 2 oz. (1 small container) Marine Flake Food
* 2 oz. (1 small container) Tiny food pellets
* 1 tbsp Liquid vitamins (Selco, or other vitamin/amino acid supplements)

Preparation

1. Soak the seaweeds in fresh (declorinated) water until soft.
2. Thaw all of the frozen ingredients in a bowl.
3. Remove shells from all seafood.
4. Crush all dry ingedients into a powder. A mortar and pestle is best, but various other kitchen implements (2 spoons, 1 spoon and a small plate) can be used.
5. Add liquid vitamins to the powdered ingredients.
6. Liquify all of the ingredients in a blender.
7. Freeze in Ziplock bags in thin flats or in small compartment ice cube trays (cut pieces in half, or quarters for feeding convenience and store in Ziplock bags after frozen).

Feeding Recommendations

Start by feeding small amounts (1/2 tsp per 50 gallons of system water per day) to begin with. You can gradually increase the amount, until you start to see water quality problems, then back off on the quantity a bit. The food can be administered at night (when most corals actively feed) or with the use of a turkey baster (dissolve the ration in a container of tank water and inject directly onto the corals).

This coral food is pure, high potency nutrition for your corals. Using a high powered protein skimmer in your tank will greatly assist you in keeping the accumulation of uneaten food to a safe level.