Masstick WARNING!!!

Retro Reefer · Jun 20, 2020

Masstick WARNING!!! Thought I would try feeding my Lobo some masstick because it readily sinks and Im so tired of shutting down all pumps and my sump back filling every time I feed my corals.. I mixed in a little reef roids with the masstick and made up tiny little balls out of the mixture (size of a BB) I dropped two balls onto my lobo and watched it suck them in with it's tentacles. About 30 minutes later I checked on the tank and I had two large 1" holes "burned" into my lobo :mad:;Facepalm There was a also fluorescent green gelatinous substance over and around each hole, when I used turkey baster to blow it off a bunch of flesh went with it leaving two large gaping holes exposing skeleton

I'm furious!! you would think anyone manufacturing a product would throughly test it first!! Stuff must be super acidic and I highly recommend not using in a reef tank!

TriggerFinger · Jun 20, 2020

Oh no!! I just bought some of this for my fish...the kind you have to mix up, not the preformed balls. Is this the first time you gave it to any coral? Can you share pics please?

andrewey · Jun 20, 2020

Interesting- I hadn't heard any reports of any issues with masstick and coral before. I tried looking up the ingredients, but unfortunately they're pretty cagey about the binder:

"Masstick is a blend of diverse, all natural, self-production, highly technical compounds..."

Sorry your lobo was hurt- I'd watch it closely to make sure it heals well and doesn't develop any secondary bacterial infections.

vetteguy53081 · Jun 20, 2020

Its intended for fish. Some for coral in fine suspended particles acceptable. There are additives as stated on package that allows it to gel that can cause issues,

andrewey · Jun 20, 2020

On their website, they say it is fine to feed corals, both directly and via broadcast feeding:

"Can Masstick be used to feed corals?

Yes, for both LPS corals and azooxanthellate corals. You can provide small portions as food for corals like Cinaryna, Caulastrea, Tubastrea, Dendrophylia, etc., or you can mix it with aquarium water to create a “soup” and spread it on azooxanthellate corals with small polyps like Menella, Guaiagorgia, Minabea, etc."

How much water did you mix with the masstick? I'm wondering if it was caused via dehydration at the spots you dropped the food?

Retro Reefer · Jun 20, 2020

andrewey said:
On their website, they say it is fine to feed corals, both directly and via broadcast feeding:

"Can Masstick be used to feed corals?

Yes, for both LPS corals and azooxanthellate corals. You can provide small portions as food for corals like Cinaryna, Caulastrea, Tubastrea, Dendrophylia, etc., or you can mix it with aquarium water to create a “soup” and spread it on azooxanthellate corals with small polyps like Menella, Guaiagorgia, Minabea, etc."

How much water did you mix with the masstick? I'm wondering if it was caused via dehydration at the spots you dropped the food?

Used the pellet version..

Retro Reefer · Jun 20, 2020

TriggerFinger said:
Oh no!! I just bought some of this for my fish...the kind you have to mix up, not the preformed balls. Is this the first time you gave it to any coral? Can you share pics please?

First time trying with coral, my fish won't hardly touch it on the glass so I figured I would try to use it in another capacity..

I actually tried to get pictures when it happened but it was very early and not enough light to get a focused shot. I didn't attempt any more because the coral was folded in on itself not presenting any clear shots and honestly I just hate taking pictures of injured or dying residents in my reef.

it's been about a week and coral appears to be mostly healed, there is some dead flesh still stuck in mouth to the right and you can clearly see the lost pigmentations in mouth on the left.

not the best picture but you can still see the damage.. dark area on left is lost pigmentation (this is where the hole was) and on the right you can just see a little piece of dead flesh still hanging where the small dark spot is.