Photomicrographs of Cyclopeeze!
- Thread starter MattM
- Start date
Louey":1nawiuh7 said:
Yeah, we ship DT's, but that just has to be kept cold. We really don't have the packing capability to ship frozen stuff.
Ask your LFS to start carrying it! Here's where we order from. Note that they only stock 1.6 lb blocks which would be about a 200 year supply. It is really concentrated - we do about a 10 gram scraping off the frozen block to feed about 2000 gallons.
They will repackage it into 3.5 oz packages for local retailers.
Marketing fluff translated/explained:
-- "biologically engineered".
Does not exist in nature.
-- "contain the highest known concentration of the fundamental and critical biological pigment Astaxanthene".
Full of food-coloring ("blood orange", which is fundamental only around Halloween).
-- "Complimenting this incredible pigmentation are previously unknown levels of the Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids".
Besides the "most critical" food-coloring, there is tons of fat in these critters.
-- "voraciously consumed by all animals because they are very rich in the attractant Betaine as well as other palatability factors".
To make sure someone eats this junk combo of food-coloring and fat, we've added tons of spices.
What's missing is even more striking:
-- Protein content (most important factor in food).
-- % of minerals, vitamins...
-- Ash % (inedible stuff).
LeoR
-- "biologically engineered".
Does not exist in nature.
-- "contain the highest known concentration of the fundamental and critical biological pigment Astaxanthene".
Full of food-coloring ("blood orange", which is fundamental only around Halloween).
-- "Complimenting this incredible pigmentation are previously unknown levels of the Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids".
Besides the "most critical" food-coloring, there is tons of fat in these critters.
-- "voraciously consumed by all animals because they are very rich in the attractant Betaine as well as other palatability factors".
To make sure someone eats this junk combo of food-coloring and fat, we've added tons of spices.
What's missing is even more striking:
-- Protein content (most important factor in food).
-- % of minerals, vitamins...
-- Ash % (inedible stuff).
LeoR
They spelled it wrong, but Astaxanthin is frequently used to maintain coloring in canaries and herps. I think they mean fundamental as a pigment, not as a source of nutrition. Maintaing good color in specimens is a good thing, IMO.
Its naturally occurring in the critters, I think, as is the Betaine.
I don't know why they call it cyclop-eze- they don't look much like cyclops in the pics...
Its naturally occurring in the critters, I think, as is the Betaine.
I don't know why they call it cyclop-eze- they don't look much like cyclops in the pics...
More info on Cyclop-eeze http://www.hatcheryinternational.com/pr ... rgent.html
I for one have been adding the Astaxanthin from BrineShrimpDirect to my home-made food mix for a couple years, and been very happy w/ it. I can't say for sure if it's made a difference, but for fish that have been in captivity for 3 years and 6 years, I'm pretty happy w/ the coloration of my blue-spotted Toby and Sailfin tang. They're both healthy as a horse, and look as good, if not better, color-wise, than the day I brought them home.
- Mac
- Mac
Brine shrimp can also reach 32% in fat content, so there is nothing revolutionary about fats in these pods. Also note that not all fats are good fats (omega-3 HUFA acids).
Some pods in nature store food reserves as oils, which gives them brilliant red color.
These "biologically engineered" critters may be just pods fed additional food-coloring and spices.
LeoR
P.S.
Only 3% ash does not sound credible for a critter with 10 legs.
Some pods in nature store food reserves as oils, which gives them brilliant red color.
These "biologically engineered" critters may be just pods fed additional food-coloring and spices.
LeoR
P.S.
Only 3% ash does not sound credible for a critter with 10 legs.
Check this link on astaxanthin www.astaxanthin.org
Slightly off topic,
I've never used astaxanthin, but where I work we get canthaxanthin added to our trout feed. Canthaxanthin(sp?) is a similar compound as astaxanthin.
Now this is totally anecdotal information, but from what I've seen from feeding this "food coloring" :roll: to our trout broodstock is an improvement in the quality of trout eggs. We occasionally would have soft eggs. This could be contributed to many different things, for example bacteria in incubating trays, hatching eggs above less mature eggs, nitogen gas saturation or stressed fish producing poorer quality eggs, etc.
This year we've been seeing a marked improvement on the strength of the eggshell, especially the brown trout which gave us soft eggs in the past. Our rainbow trout which usually perform fine had eggs that were very hard (like ball bearings :wink: ). Now I'm not sure if there will be a problem associated with very hard eggs, like possibly difficulty hatching, but I haven't heard or seen anything yet. I heard from another hatchery that they were feeding astaxanthin to improve fin condition as well.
It also has the added benefit of making our fish and eggs prettier too. I've heard some people think that the fish we stock are wild because the colors are so great.
Slightly off topic,
I've never used astaxanthin, but where I work we get canthaxanthin added to our trout feed. Canthaxanthin(sp?) is a similar compound as astaxanthin.
Now this is totally anecdotal information, but from what I've seen from feeding this "food coloring" :roll: to our trout broodstock is an improvement in the quality of trout eggs. We occasionally would have soft eggs. This could be contributed to many different things, for example bacteria in incubating trays, hatching eggs above less mature eggs, nitogen gas saturation or stressed fish producing poorer quality eggs, etc.
This year we've been seeing a marked improvement on the strength of the eggshell, especially the brown trout which gave us soft eggs in the past. Our rainbow trout which usually perform fine had eggs that were very hard (like ball bearings :wink: ). Now I'm not sure if there will be a problem associated with very hard eggs, like possibly difficulty hatching, but I haven't heard or seen anything yet. I heard from another hatchery that they were feeding astaxanthin to improve fin condition as well.
It also has the added benefit of making our fish and eggs prettier too. I've heard some people think that the fish we stock are wild because the colors are so great.
All hype aside, the FDA considers astaxanthin to be merely a color additive.
Moreover, FDA Regulation 8 73.355(c)(2) (21 CFR 73.355(c)(2)) requires that the quantity of astaxanthin in feed must not exceed 80 mg/kg (that's just 0.008% !).
Obviously, astaxanthin is far from being the best thing since sliced bread.
LeoR
Moreover, FDA Regulation 8 73.355(c)(2) (21 CFR 73.355(c)(2)) requires that the quantity of astaxanthin in feed must not exceed 80 mg/kg (that's just 0.008% !).
Obviously, astaxanthin is far from being the best thing since sliced bread.
LeoR
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