Home grown live foods

[Killerdrgn]

Just wondering since i have a bunch of spare tanks, is there anything I could grow at home besides pods, brine shrimp, algae, and worms that I would be able to feed to the fish and coral?
Example, when I had freshwater tanks I would grow guppies to feed to the bigger fish. Is there anything on the same level on the saltwater side?

 

[Domboski]

What kind of fish do you have or plan on having in the future?

 

[Killerdrgn]

I have a clown and a dottyback in my 29 and 4 clowns in a 90. I have no clue what else i would want at the moment. Just a general discussion for future reference. And something to put my spare tanks to use.

 

[georgelc86]

What about ghost shrimp Killer?

 

[Killerdrgn]

What about ghost shrimp Killer?

Would they breed and be a continuous supply of food? That might be a good idea. Are they saltwater or freshwater?

 

[Domboski]

All of the items that seem to be more practical to grow at home fall into the categories you listed as not of interest (pods, brine shrimp, algae, and worms ). Ghost shrimp are fresh to brackish water. Grass shrimp are brackish to salt.

Rotifers are about the easiest to culture but you'll also need a culture of phytoplankton to feed them. Adding rotifers to your tank will be a good food source for your corals. Should your clowns lay eggs, rotifers are also a good food source for rearing the hatchlings.

Right now I am culturing:

Nano Chloropus (phytoplankton)
Tetraselmis (phytoplankton)
Rotifers
FuzzyPhytes (red macro algae. Just started to try and culture)


Others that are practical to culture:

Tigger Pods
Brine Shrimp (BBS and Adult)
Amphipods
Copepods

More advanced:

If you have several tanks and would like to try something a little more challenging you could culture mysis shrimp. Check this thread for some good links: Mysis. If you could raise the mysis I would be your number one customer

Grass Shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp or cleaner shrimp is something you can try as well if you are looking for a challenge.

If you had predatory fish mollies would have been good to have on hand again.

I am probably leaving some others out so hopefully someone else will chime in.

 

[Killerdrgn]

All of the items that seem to be more practical to grow at home fall into the categories you listed as not of interest (pods, brine shrimp, algae, and worms ).

I didn't say i wasn't interested, they just were the ones I already knew about. Is it possible to grow plankton in tanks? I always saw them in the soda bottles.

I kinda just wanted to do something simple where all i might need to actually do is feed it and replace water every so often. But if it's and interesting enough project then maybe go all in.

I was actually kinda thinking about raising crayfish and then to feed then to fish just blenderize them.

 

[Domboski]

I didn't say i wasn't interested, they just were the ones I already knew about. Is it possible to grow plankton in tanks? I always saw them in the soda bottles.

You can do it in tanks. You just need to make sure things like phyto and rotifers are constantly kept a float using water current. It is easier to use air to create that current in a soda bottle but it doesn't mean you can not do so in a tank. Tigger pods would be much easier to culture in a tank than a bottle IMO.

 

[georgelc86]

Quick link Killer. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=1075+1468&pcatid=1468

 

[Killerdrgn]

Thanks anything else that can be grown? I may try to do the algae and pods thing. Just would need a primer on how to do it in tanks.

 

[Domboski]

Here is tigger pod info: http://www.reefnutrition.com/tiggerpods/more_about_tp.htm#tiggerpodscare

 

[wrasseman]

its alot cheaper to buy food than to grow it i did copopods and they cost $30-$40 to grow for a couple of 5 gallon batches and they provided microscopic food for my tanks for a few weeks .cyclopeeze is cheaper and not so much of a SCIENCE project !cut n feed ya know ? to each his own ,thats just my opinion?