Pappone

[patrick214]

I have become interested in trying the pappone once I get my bubble king in. Looking for advice from anyone who has tried it. Do i need live food or just fresh and where would i be able to get this? The carbon source for bacteria has intrigued me for a while now and i finally have a skimmer that could be pappone worthy. I read that tanks have crashed dosing the pappone? I am very skeptical of trying something that could kill my reef as we have dropped alot of dollars to kill it by putting sugar in. Again any advice or experience is welcomed thanks!

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I blend my own food all the time but I do not use the true pappone method (Sugar and sometimes hormones) since a) I do not keep SPS and b) I have the same concerns that you do about adding stuff to the tank. I can say that making your own food is not only cheap but IMHO, the best food you can feed your tank. My fish get a wide variety of food, my corals get the same, my "food chain" life (pods and mysid) have taken off... All around good things.

I will let some of the people who had dabbled in pappone speak for themselves but as far as feeding your own fresh food, I am 100% in favor of it!!!

 

[patrick214]

Do you use live foods? I dont know anywhere near me to get fresh seafood...

 

[gwhiz]

I mostly use stuff (osters, clams, mussels, fish, etc) that you can get at the publix seafood counter along with normal fish foodstuffs (frozen brine, flake, etc.)

 

[xyzpdq0121]

As George said, You can pick up fresh at the supermarket. You just want to make sure it is uncooked without any preservites Cheapest place is an asian market like super H mart. You could shuck your own live oysters, mussles and clams if you really wanted to, I never have. I draw the line at putting a live fish in the blender though!!!

 

[patrick214]

haha i can show a big grouper my tank and then throw him in the blender

 

[soarin']

One thing I want to caution against is that phosphates used to preserve "wet" fresh scallops or even frozen ones.

I got some frozen ones that my gf bought to cook with and started cutting them up and putting them in my tank. I let them "thaw" a bit in some tank water in a cup before feeding them and started noticing that they would not smell bad even if I left them overnight in the cup as an experiment.

Apparently scallops can spoil pretty fast so they soak them in sodium tetraphosphate before selling them to people. This may be in other stuff too, but just check before you use it.

I was researching making my own feed mix and came across the story of one guy who bought some "fresh" scallops at a market and after cooking them found that they were too soapy-tasting to eat. A guy who used to add the preservatives to the scallops confirmed that the soapy taste was from too much preservatives added to the scallops.

On the other hand, I read that scallops can be chopped up quite finely so it makes good filter-feeder food -- just make sure you get good ingredients.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Soarin';119965 wrote: One thing I want to caution against is that phosphates used to preserve "wet" fresh scallops or even frozen ones.

I got some frozen ones that my gf bought to cook with and started cutting them up and putting them in my tank. I let them "thaw" a bit in some tank water in a cup before feeding them and started noticing that they would not smell bad even if I left them overnight in the cup as an experiment.

Apparently scallops can spoil pretty fast so they soak them in sodium tetraphosphate before selling them to people. This may be in other stuff too, but just check before you use it.

I was researching making my own feed mix and came across the story of one guy who bought some "fresh" scallops at a market and after cooking them found that they were too soapy-tasting to eat. A guy who used to add the preservatives to the scallops confirmed that the soapy taste was from too much preservatives added to the scallops.

On the other hand, I read that scallops can be chopped up quite finely so it makes good filter-feeder food -- just make sure you get good ingredients.

Yes good point... You want DRY packed scallops not WET. You can tell the difference by the sheen and how plump they are. Wet packed scallops will be plumper and almost milky. If in questions ask the guy behind the counter, if he seems to know what you are talking about good bet he will know if they are wet or dry. Harry's farmers market sells dry for sure.

 

[FutureInterest]

Look for a thread on here by Jessezm. It documents his pappone usage. The results so far are positive.

 

[soarin']

One thing I want to mention to people who are concerned about / plagued by nitrates -- there is a wonderful thread with Anthony Calfo about having a "remote deep sand bed" -- basically sand in a bucket that you run water through.

He says that a 55 gallon tank with sand was enough to clean the water for a 2k tank, and that you run the water over the bed fast enough and keep the sand fine enough so that particles can't settle out. This way you avoid all the problems of having a deep sand bed and get amazing nitrate reduction / water cleaning.

I am working out a way to start one for myself, but the concept is really simple -- just put a bunch of sand in a 5g bucket and run your tank water over it. People posting in the thread said that they tried it and it really works.

Here is the epic 40+ page thread:

 

[soarin']

The reason I mentioned that above is that I am worried all the extra feeding would cause huge nitrates in my tank, and I am sure others feel the same way -- this might be a way to let us to do more "pappone" style feeding and still keep great water quality.

(in case that isn't clear in the post above -- I'm not trying to go offtopic)

 

[patrick214]

I am not really concerned with nitrates as i have a DSB. I think many of the problems of a DSB can be mitigated by quality flow, a nice skimmer, and a relatively nutrient poor environment. If i understand correctly the point behind pappone is that it provides lots of food to corals while providing a carbon source to promote bacteria growth which is than removed by skimming, essentially allowing you to feed alot and still achieve a nutrient poor environment. if i am wrong someone please correct me.

 

[mvm]

They actually soak them in sodium tripoly phosphate to get them to absorb more water. Get dry pack scallops and you'll be fine. They are more expensive though, as scallops cost more than the water that sodium tripoly causes them to absorb. The Dekalb farmers market is a great place to get fresh seafood.

Soarin';119965 wrote: One thing I want to caution against is that phosphates used to preserve "wet" fresh scallops or even frozen ones.

I got some frozen ones that my gf bought to cook with and started cutting them up and putting them in my tank. I let them "thaw" a bit in some tank water in a cup before feeding them and started noticing that they would not smell bad even if I left them overnight in the cup as an experiment.

Apparently scallops can spoil pretty fast so they soak them in sodium tetraphosphate before selling them to people. This may be in other stuff too, but just check before you use it.

I was researching making my own feed mix and came across the story of one guy who bought some "fresh" scallops at a market and after cooking them found that they were too soapy-tasting to eat. A guy who used to add the preservatives to the scallops confirmed that the soapy taste was from too much preservatives added to the scallops.

On the other hand, I read that scallops can be chopped up quite finely so it makes good filter-feeder food -- just make sure you get good ingredients.

 

[mvm]

Ha. Didn't read all the way through. Brandon beat me to it. You must have worked in restaurants (or a foodie), right?

Xyzpdq0121;119972 wrote: Yes good point... You want DRY packed scallops not WET. You can tell the difference by the sheen and how plump they are. Wet packed scallops will be plumper and almost milky. If in questions ask the guy behind the counter, if he seems to know what you are talking about good bet he will know if they are wet or dry. Harry's farmers market sells dry for sure.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Both, I put myself through Grad school as a Sous Chef..

 

[roland jacques]

Patrick214;119919 wrote: i finally have a skimmer that could be pappone worthy.

Do you know, or did you order, your BK skimmer with the new titanium mesh wheel. I'm wondering if is available yet in the US? sorry for the side track

 

[patrick214]

Ordered the new bubble king supermarin a couple weeks ago. Its rated for like 700 gallons or sometin but ive been told we should get it early next week.

 

[roland jacques]

I like that model you got, it a nice improvement over their old insump.

I,d like to see some pictures when you get it in.