Biofilm alternative

[fishmosy]

Decided to try out an alternative biofilm recipe. Really simple, just egg white and spirulina (although in this case I used a powder form of some marine microalgae). Mix it up and coat onto rocks. Leave to dry in the sun and thats it.

Heres an example.

My snail seemed to like it.

Yet to try it on the shrimp but will let you know how it goes.

[jayc]

Interesting.

Very creative dude.

Going to follow this with interest.

You could potentially use all sorts of nutritious foods instead of spirulina or algae.

[KillieOrCory]

Very cool idea. I wonder how this would go with Otocinclus cats and whiptail fry.

[jayc]

I'd love to advance my testing of Astaxanthin and Chlorella using this method.

 

What micro algae powder are you using and where did you buy it?

[fishmosy]

Very cool idea. I wonder how this would go with Otocinclus cats and whiptail fry.

I think that is where this was originally developed from. Feeding finicky plecos and whips. Should work well for pretty much anything which eats from a surface - snails, shrimp, plecs, loaches ect ect

[Elo500]

How long does it take the algea to grow before you drop it in the tank?

[fishmosy]

I'd love to advance my testing of Astaxanthin and Chlorella using this method.

 

What micro algae powder are you using and where did you buy it?

I'm using a dried mix for feeding rotifers. Its a mix of dried nannochloropsis, isochrysis galbana, yeast and a few other nutrients and bits and pieces. The bulk is nanno though, which is a green microalgae used for greenwater in marine aquaculture.

I wanted to see if the technique would work. If I had to buy new ingredients, I'd go with Spirulina as my base - simply because its readily available as well as being a nutritious microalgae.

[fishmosy]

How long does it take the algea to grow before you drop it in the tank?

Its an alternative to the algae/biofilm that naturally grows on surfaces submerged in water. So you dont grow the algae. You use a dried algae product like spirulina, mix with the egg white, paint the resulting algae paste onto the rock, let it set, and then its ready to feed.

[Squiggle]

Fantastic ideas Ben, definitely be watching your progress on this. I'd have to agree with jayc on this, Chlorella might be better as it's got a higher protein content than Spirulina.

[fishmosy]

Fantastic ideas Ben, definitely be watching your progress on this. I'd have to agree with jayc on this, Chlorella might be better as it's got a higher protein content than Spirulina.

I haven't investigated the nutritional profile of chlorella so you are probably right.

[fishmosy]

I had some food left over which hardened in the glass that I mixed it in. I broke it out and fed it to my CRS. They didnt climb all over it in masses like they do Boss Crack or Snow, but they did eat it.

[Squiggle]

I haven't investigated the nutritional profile of chlorella so you are probably right.

Yeah, it's got 65% protein, found that out while investigating the nutritional values of the ingredients of my foods, Spirulina has less than 10%.

[fishmosy]

Nice. Is chlorella readily available? What about cost?

[Squiggle]

Yeah, you can get a 500g tub on fleaBay for about $50-$60.

I get kilos wholesale, give me a yo if you want me to pick one up for you.

[fishmosy]

Thanks mate. May give you a yell at some point. Got plenty of the rotifer mix for the moment.

[jayc]

Gotta agree with Squigs.

Chlorella is way more nutritious pound for pound (for shrimp that is).

 

The ultimate mix would be 50:50 mix of Chlorella and Astaxanthin.

 

I'm in for some Chlorella if we are doing a group buy. 

Please let me know.

Edited November 2, 2014 by jayc

[Michael Petro]

I realize this thread is rather old, but has anyone tested this further?

 

Is this a viable alternative to the cubes I make with agar-agar? I am bio-film challenged and looking for supplements.

 

Also.... Would the shrimp care if it was "broken cell" Chlorella vs whole cell?

Edited February 26, 2015 by Michael Petro

[buck]

Im geting a product hopefully soon from glasgarten called bacter ae. I watched a YouTube review on it and he talks about how it rapidly created a biofilm

[inverted]

Where did you order this from Germany?

[Michael Petro]

Thanks,

 

Alpha Pro in the US sells it so I will try some.

[buck]

I got it from the us Still waiting for it :( it was shipped on the 22 of Feb

[buck]

I ordered it from a shop in the states, along with glasgartens shrimplet food and some knettle stix

[inverted]

Customs is probably trying to work out what it is.

[buck]

Yeah, hopefully the place that sent it declared it properly! Im sure its labels are all German too haha

[Squiggle]

The Bacter AE will be the main problem, bacterial content in any products are a no no & technically you can't ship foods in either. I looked at getting the Glasgarten range in a while ago & hit red lights at every turn.