Rapashy Gel help

[Coyne]

I started feeding the Rapashy Gel Community food to my fish last week to some mixed results and Im hoping for some insight/advice/tips or tricks.

Does anybody (that uses this stuff) do anything other than whats on the instructions to entice their fish to eat it. Maybe make it thicker or thinner? Or mixing different flavors? Im currently using the Community mix and preparing it as directed. I cut them into small cubes the first couple days, but they were totally ignored by all but one of my BN Plecos. Now Im using a cheese grater to make them more "bite sized". There's a little more interest now, but there also seems to be a lot of leftovers still. Also, it seems to break down after about 15 mins. I was under the impression that it was supposed to stay around longer so that fish could kind of graze on it for a while.

I also picked up the Super Green and Meat pie mixes, but haven't tried them yet. I saw some reviews that recommended mixing the Community with the Meat Pie for better results.

 

[brennae]

I have also seen reviews where people mix Meat Pie and Community. I have both but have yet to try that. I mix as per the package directions. Some fish love it and others want nothing to do with it in my house.

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[mudraker]

I have mixed results too. I use the meat pie, soilent green and spawn and grow.
I've never had it dissolve in 15 minutes. If its doing that, I'd just feed less, targeting the fish that really like it until you make more, so it doesn't foul the water.
When I first tried it, most of my fish didn't like it either, so I started experimenting and making small amounts (1 tablespoon gel mix to 3 tablespoons boiling water) and adding a tiny bit liquid from those glass jars of minced garlic, about 1/8 of a teaspoon.
The fish love it, especially plecos. I found I had to limit their intake of it or they eat too much, bloat a little and poop a lot.

 

[brennae]

I never thought about the garlic thing but I'm certainly going to try it!!

 

[brennae]

I just tried making Community with the garlic juice. Gagged everyone in the house but haven't tested it on the fish yet. Lol

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[brennae]

I tried an experiment. So far my betta is the only taker. The cories are going nuts trying to find the food. I poured it into the base of a flower pot.

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[mudraker]

Is it holding up better? I mean, not dissolving in 15 minutes like before?

 

[brennae]

It's been over 15 min and it's still in gel form in the pot bases.

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[brennae]

This is after about 20 min and with fish and snails picking at it in another tank. Still go holding. I made it exactly with 3/4 cup water to 1/4 cup mix. Replacing a little water with the garlic juice.

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[MonkeyMonk86]

I use it and I had 1 dumb fish. I did what Ian said and "starved" it. Only offered it the Repashy. The dumb fish got smart after 3 days. All my fish like it, but I got brown algae... Wondering if it's high in phosphorous??? I give small cube and it stays together well and can be removed with turkey baster.


(Friend of Bill W., One day at a time)

 

[mudraker]

I haven't personally had that happen with it and at one point I was feeding various forms of it to almost a 1000 gallons worth of fish for over a month.
A lot of things, including food, can throw off the nutrient balance in the water so that whatever kind of algae spores you already have can get an advantage and take off growing.

 

[Coyne]

My fish are slowly starting to get used to it, but I have to run it through the cheese grater before they'll acknowledge it as food. The Harlequins go after it fairly well, as do the Serpaes. The Gold Tetras and Dwarf Gourami are still a bit shy. They seem healthy though, so the must be eating some (or finding something else). With the exception of one BN Plec, the rest of the fish all still ignore it in cube form.

I have a feeling that a lot of this batch will go to waste. I'll make the next one smaller and try to mix different flavors. I think I'll use less water as well so that maybe it will hold up longer once in the tank.

Id be afraid of whats in garlic "juice" from the store. I imagine there would be vinegar or some other preservative. I suppose the garlic could just be soaking in water. Regardless, I dont have any. I do have some vitamin/garlic supplement made specifically for fish that I could add in though.