The most balanced food you can feed is either a good quality pellet or a well planned homemade frozen food.

Brine shrimp have their place - they are great for enticing newly acquired specimens as well as finicky fish. Brine shrimp have very little nutritional value because they have little flesh - they are mostly just exoskeleton. You can buy brine shrimp gut loaded with Spirulina algae which makes the shrimp a useful capsule for delivering Spirulina. :D However, the Spirulina brine shrimp seem to be slightly less palatable in my experience.

Mysis shrimp are high in HUFAs which also means they are fatty. "Healthy fats", but still fatty. For this reason, mysis shrimp should not be a sole food source, and also because they are not a complete diet. Mysis are great for fattening up skinny fish though. Anthias are one fish that really benefit from a significant amount of mysis in their diet.

Pacifica Plankton fall somewhere between mysis and brine shrimp as far as nutritional value goes. They tend to have a tougher shell though, and I have found many small fish will not accept them. Plankton helps improve yellow, orange, and red coloration.

Most fish in reef tanks are omnivorous which means they also need a considerable amount of algae. Along with grazing on the live rock, many fish will eat nori (seaweed) when offered on a "veggie clip", although many fish will not. The best way to deliver algae for fish that won't eat nori is in pellet or homemade food. My fish really love HBH Super Soft Spirulina pellets and they get several feedings a week of this food to help keep them healthy. Spirulina is also useful for constipation which can be lethal if not corrected. I have found clownfish to be particularly susceptible to constipation issues if they are not given a diet high enough in algae.



My homemade recipe includes:

Scallops
Wild Pacific Salmon
New Zealand Mussels
White Shrimp
Pollock or Cod
Squid
Nori
Gelatin
Florida Aqua Farms vitamins
Selcon
Garlic

Thanks Myka. Thanks everyone for the information. I have just bought a couple mysis shrimp packs from a local LFS for now. I just don't have the time this weekend to make my own food but I will definitely get into it in the near future. It sounds like a cool and fun thing to do not to mention the $$$ I'll save.
I do have a couple 16 oz jars of New Life Spectrum pellet at home. I only feed them pellets once a week since I always thought that brine shrimp is better than pellet :redface:

You're welcome. :) Those are good pellets - provided they are fresh! ;) I write the date on the container the day I open it, and I replace the container after a year if I haven't used it all up. I always buy the smallest jars.

I usually make some extra when I make food and sell it to the local reefers here. I'm moving to Edmonton in the very near future, so if you're not so inclined to make your own if you wait a few months you will likely see me post an ad for some homemade food. ;)

That is a good idea. I'll write the date on the second jar once I open it. I bought those from J&L and since I didn't want to pay for shipping, I bought 2 of everything I need. 2 jars of food, 2 heaters, etc.. Heck, I even bought 4L of Prime one time to avoid shipping charges. I wonder if that ever goes bad.
I might take you up on it if you do put some out for sale. I get first dibs :biggrin: