Oyster-Feast

Product Overviews: Oyster-Feast & Phyto-Feast

In a captive reef aquarium both LPS and SPS corals require nutrition to thrive. In my SPS dominated reefs I have always had a lot of fish and relied on fish poop as a source of nutrition to improve SPS growth and coloration. To further supplement the diets of my corals, I have also used certain feeds such as Oyster-Feast from Reef Nutrition. According to Chad Clayton, Reef Nutrition’s Live Feeds Supervisor, Oyster-Feast is their best all-around base feed for the majority of invertebrates in a reef tank. The positives associated with this food are as follows:

  • It’s a natural food source.
  • It’s sized appropriately for SPS corals (the smallest particles are in the 1 micron range).
  • There are a wide range of particle sizes for larger filter feeding invertebrates.
  • It’s very rich in protein and Omega-3 fatty acids.
  • The amino acid content is very stimulating to animals and it elicits a very strong feeding response, generating good polyp extension.
  • It stays in suspension when feeding.
  • You can target feed or disperse feed.
  • It has a refrigerated shelf-life of 6 months.
  • It comes in a variety of sizes, including 6 oz., 16 oz. and 32 oz. bottles.

In addition to Oyster-Feast, Chad recommends using Phyto-Feast as a second base feed. Order of dosage matters and it is best to add Oyster-Feast to the tank first followed by Phyto-Feast.

reef nutrition phyto feast

The Phyto-Feast Concentrate is Reef Nutrition’s blend of 6 different species of phytoplankton all grown at their algae farm in California. The benefits with Phyto-Feast include the following:

  • It works very well when used in tandem with Oyster-Feast.
  • The phytoplankton is a natural food source for a variety of filter feeders, including:
    • Non-photosynthetic corals.
    • Bivalve, non-photosynthetic animals such as thorny oysters and flame scallops.
    • Photosynthetic animals such as Tridacnid clams.
    • Zooplankton living within the reef rock.
    • Feather dusters.
  • It also helps zooplankton populations maintain their place in the reef tank community.
  • It’s the most concentrated product on the market, so more biomass for your money.
  • There are a variety of cell sizes.
  • Each species of algae has its own unique, nutritional profile and all species complement each other, delivering a variety of nutrition to the animals.
  • It has a refrigerated shelf-life of 5 months.
  • It comes in 6oz., 16oz. and 32 oz. bottles.

Oyster-Feast and Phyto-Feast can be used when the tank lights are on and it is not necessary to turn off the skimmer. Reed Mariculture, producer of Reef Nutrition, is the world\’s largest producer of marine microalgae concentrates and their products are used by over 500 hatcheries, universities, and marine ornamental operations in more than 70 countries around the world.

You can visit their website at Reefnutrition.com for more information on all of their products and I encourage you to check out their Feed Selector and Feed Calculator. The Feed Selector provides recommendations on products to use for specific animals while the Feed Calculator will help you determine how much feed to dose and how long it will last. Many hobbyists swear by their products and have seen great results, including myself, so give them a try. Your corals will be happy you did! For a closer look you can check out this video:

Additional Resources

If you would like some help with a new tank build, including help designing a custom aquarium, or help re-configuring your current setup then you can visit this page for more information. And if you are looking to add some equipment, I do sell GHL, Pax Bellum, Reef Octopus Calcium and Kalk Reactors and Royal Exclusiv products, including Dreamboxes, which is the equipment I use and recommend. I also sell Reef Brite metal halide and LED fixtures as well as Maxspect & IceCap Gyres.

As for additional insights and information, please explore my many other reef tank and SPS related articles as well as my YouTube channel. For an even deeper dive into reef tank care you can check out my Reef Keeping Master Class. This online course is an immersive and one of a kind educational tool designed to help reef aquarium hobbyists build and maintain a beautiful SPS reef tank. The course is a series of video presentations with some supplemental video from my YouTube channel. There are also quizzes to help students retain and understand the information presented in the course.

Need some frags…..I can help with that as well 🙂 Please visit my SPS Frag store to see what is available.

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