Food Nutrient Testing

[digitalreefer]

I finally got my centrifuge and am going to begin testing different foods for nutrient levels. We all know that overfeeding causes damage to our nutrient levels, but I'm curious to see exactly what foods are doing what kind of damage.

I'm going to be doing preliminary testing with test kits, but will do final testing on a Hannah meter (phosphates), and am looking for an accurate way to test for nitrates if anyone has any ideas (pinpoint? tests using a colorimeter?)

If anyone has any ideas for this or has a specific food they'd like to see tested, let me know. I'm going to be starting with my phyto, DT's phyto, and Omega 1 flake food.

Thoughts anyone?
Sean... this is in big part your doing... I'd love to hear from you on this one.

 

[GreshamH]

So your testing for if a certain product goes uneaten what will it brake down into?

 

[digitalreefer]

As far as the dry foods, yes. As for liquid foods (phyto, zooplankton, etc.), I'm going to spin the food out of solution and test the nutrient levels of the liquid they're suspended in.

 

[scumonkey]

how about cyclop-eeze flake & or frozen

 

[digitalreefer]

I can and will do that... I'm going to test what I have readily available first, then start with other foods, but will keep cyclo on the list.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

def. omega one flakes and Pappones method cubes (i will be willing to supply a cube or 2 of the pappones and the omega one flakes for testing...)....

 

[digitalreefer]

I have both veggie and standard Omega 1 flakes, so they're at the top of the list. Once I'm ready to start testing, I'll take you up on a couple of cubes for the other.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

you got it ... i actually stopped feeding it for a while cause it was a major concern of mine.....

 

[Paul B]

Can you test live blackworms?

 

[digitalreefer]

Can you test live blackworms?

I suppose I could, but I'm not sure what the purpose would be. If they're consumed before they die, there should be no problem, otherwise they would be dead blackworms and would simply break down over time like anything else.

 

[Spracklcat]

Can you give us an idea of your experimental design? Are you going to grind the foods, suspend them in water, and then use test kits? Something else? Is the centrifuge just to separate the suspended foods from the liquid?

One thing to consider too is that the food item itself may have a certain composition, but after a day in aquarium water it will have very different composition (and different nutrients (because of the bacteria and microalgae in the water column working on it...

 

[ShaunW]

Eric, don't you just want to remove the phosphate used to grow the cells? Centrifugation followed by the removal of the supernatant will get rid of most inorganic phosphate. You could always wash the cells before resuspension.

This is what I would do:
1. Centrifuge cells at lowest speed to pellet cells.
2. Pour off supernatant, keeping the pellet undisturbed.
3. Resuspend the pellet in pure/freshly made salt water.
4. Mix the cells into suspension.

If your concerned about left over phosphate/wash the cells.
5. Centrifuge cells again.
6. Pour off supernatant, keeping the pellet undisturbed.
7. Resuspend the pellet in pure/freshly made salt water.
8. Mix the cells into suspension.

What centrifuge did you end up getting?

 

[Paul B]

Oh nutrient levels, I thought you were testing for nutrition levels.
Never mind

 

[ShaunW]

Oh nutrient levels, I thought you were testing for nutrition levels.
Never mind

I think you were correct, and I changed the subject somewhat from the original post, :redface: .

This is a tough project, really comes down to accurate measuring and the relative breakdown/decay time of each food tested.

 

[GreshamH]

There's a lot of hurdles as well. With at least phyto, every species has a whole different protocol when using a centrifuge. Browns react far different then greens, etc. I can give you some guidence offline for the phyto end to a certain degree. Not to mention other factors such as shelf life, COC handling, etc.

 

[spskibitzer]

great idea...I was just getting ready to try and find info on this exact thing...can you test "Ocean Nutrition Formula Two" thanks in advance can't wait to view the findings