Give it to me!  how did my reef-food perform?! - It's been almost a week, let me know!

N

nvillacci

[I handed out the food last saturday. Im interested in knowing how the food performed in the 9 people who were able to get some from me.

Did it fit your needs, why or why not?

Did your fish eat it, why or why not?

Corals react to it?

Was it easy enough to use?

What would you have added or changed about it?

Is the price good for the amount you get?

If I added some more nutritioun supplements and ingrediants (golden perals cyclopeez) would you pay 1-2$ more for it.

Was there ANY problems with your food experience?

If I could get local stores to carry it, would you mind paying a bit more due to middle-man cost?

Let me know folks, im serious about this food and think its something many people would like. All natural food with a variety of ingrediants that feeds the whole tank eco-system. For a fair and resonable price.

Im trying to see how much it would be to get cube trays to fill. Im not sure this would work, as my food has some nice chunky bits in there, but if the public wants it, Ill do it.

Im making 20 packs this weekend to fill some orders, so If you want more let me know via email or PM.

Thanks Folks,
Nick Villacci]
 
[Hello Nick!

Well, I had sent a PM, as you know.....for me, the fish don't get it, because the pieces were so small. I don't have many coral to eat it - a frogspawn and an anemone certainly appreciated it!
Did it fit my needs? Well, it would have, if pieces in the mix were bigger. The fish ate what they could see :;):
Corals react to it? Well, the frogspawn and anemone got a good meal! It's hard to tell with polyps and mushrooms, but I'm sure they liked it, too.
Was it easy to use? Oh, yes! I left it frozen, and dunked it into the tank with my feeding tongs. Easy as pie!
Added or changed? Change - some bigger pieces for the fishies to eat. The mush part is good for coral, but fish have to be able to see it.
Price was very good! I know I wouldn't be able to make this stuff! Certainly appreciate it!
Pay more if different ingredients - hmm. You might consider that folks don't usually carry $1 bills. You might keep the price at an even $5 or $10. How that works out into quantity, I don't know. Something to think about.
Any problems? Just that in trying to break off a piece of frozen food, the baggie rips easily. You can get food-grade bags at Sam's Club, a whole lot of em in one box. Just another thought.
If you can get the stores to carry it - wow! You would be busy, the demand would be tough! But it brings up a whole lot of other problems - GQ public is a tough customer, and how long is the shelf life? What do you do if a package doesn't sell? Are you guaranting that there isn't something "wrong" with the food? It's all fresh, etc. But no, I wouldn't mind paying more, knowing where it comes from!
Cube trays? Hmm - how would you use just a part of a cube? Thaw it, cut it, and re-freeze? Me, I like the flat frozen sheet - easy to break a chunk.

Those are my thoughts, for what they are worth!]
 
[My fish loved it! I did not attempt to spot feed so my corals did not get much of it, I am sure they would like it thought.

I think bigger pieces would be great. I would like to see some cyclop in it and some selcon(if anything to keep my skimmer from going nuts). Honestly I have almost totally stopped using it becasue of that reason, I even un plugged my skimmer for 45 minutes but when it came back on it still filled up the cup on a matter of hours. My fish are mad at me though becasue they really liked the stuff.

I do have one reccomendation if you are going to sell to the LFS. Incorperate! It only costs like 150$ and you could not be sued for more than your buisness is worth. I know that may sound unnecessary but if some one crashes a tank and tries to blame you (sue you) then you will be happy you did. It might never happen but in this day and age you can be sued for anything and the burden is almost on you to prove it was not your fault, not for them to prove it was..]
 
[Nick,

The food clouded my tank very badly for about 3 hours and initially it shut down my euroreef skimmer's foam production for about a half day. I cleaned the skimmer collection cup the next day and the throat was cover in a white almost oily substance.

The food was way to soupy, it needs to be in about 1/16" pieces. The fish seemed to like it but I honestly didn't see any reaction from the majority of the corals. The yellow star polyps did like it alot and also the bristle worms.

Would this food meet my needs? Honestly I also stopped using it because of the clouding and skimmer issue. I personally like the food I make myself better. The food I make is not soupy at all but is probably harder to make due to the lack of liquid which makes it harder to process in the food processor. I would suggest eliminating the cod liver oil, thats what probably showed up as the oily substance in the skimmer.

Summary: Less liquid (small chunkier mixture), no cod liver oil (enough oil already in the raw foods) remove garlic (or have one batch with and one without, don't need garlic all the time) add cyclop eze (my corals loved this stuff), priced right, better quality (selcon,etc) would justify a little higher cost.

IMHO.... I think if you make a few adjustments you'll have a winner. :;):]
 
[Thanks Mitch and Kathy.
Kathy, I will definetly incorporate larger chuncks in this next batch. Try to remember dont puree everything:).

Mitch, I dont understand how super selco would keep your skimmer from going nuts? Please elaborate. Mitch, I take it you would not be interested in getting more food then because of the skimmer problem?

Thanks Folks.

Nick]
 
[I am interested in tryin the next batch.

My logic behind the selco is that when ever I use it it collapes the skimmer foam and would keep my skimmer from going nuts for at least an hour. But as barry said the amount of oils may be the problem and selco may make it worse. I think you are on to a good thing and my comments are nothing more than constructive critism. I think we would all prefer you make the food as it really puts off a foul odor whenever I make my little mix. Now if I could just get someone to clean my skimmer at their house :) LOL]
 
[Well... I can try using half the Cod Liver Oil I have been using, and see if that has any effect on the Skimmer. Only thing is.. Cod Liver Oil is high in HUFAs and other necessary Fatty Acids. So its one evil for another.]
 
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