Zeaxanthin

Questions about food and water.
Post Reply
User avatar
Julia_Crab
Zoea I
Zoea I
Posts: 106
Joined: 02 Dec 2004, 16:11
Location: Oakland, CA
Contact:

Zeaxanthin

Post by Julia_Crab »

I'm reading Crustacean Nutrition by the World Aquaculture Society. It's a hard slog, let me tell you. But I have finished the chapter on carotenoids. I will be writing an article on all the information found in that chapter, but I think for the time being, it's very important that people are aware of a couple of things.

Astaxanthin is the critical carotenoid as far as crustacean health is concerned. It is 10 times more potent than the next most powerful carotenoid, and that is the form that crustaceans can use most efficiently. They can convert other carotenoids into astaxanthin, but it costs them in efficiency. It turns out that beta carotene is actually one of the weakest carotenoids as they affect crab health and biology. Zeaxanthin is a better substance if you cannot get astaxanthin, it is the quickest to convert biologically to astaxanthin. Beta carotene requires time and several oxidative steps to achieve the same end.

Krill, krill oil, copepods, spirulina (even more than you serve already), capsicum (red bell pepper), and xanthophyll-containing foods such as oats, wheat and corn are very important in crustacean diet. Crayfish are high in astaxanthin as well. "Biosynthesis or deposition of carotenoids may be adversely affected by poor lipid nutrition." More oily foods -- fresh seafood would be better than dried. It appears that good feed ratios of astaxanthin are about 1% - 100 mg/100 g of diet. This is for prawns, but can be applied to our crabs as well. They should have constant access to low levels of astaxanthin, or at the least, slightly higher levels of zeaxanthin.

I just compiled a list of zeaxanthin-containing foods. Refer to:

http://www.epicurean-hermit.com (Link updated by Wai)
Kerie (aka Julia Crab)

Member, Crustacean Society, 2005

See my

crabs:
http://crabstreetjournal.com/photos/ent ... ?cat=10239

Like them? My

store:
http://www.cafepress.com/crabhappy

Feed your crabs:
http://www.epicurean-hermit.com
User avatar
Wai
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2892
Joined: 01 Nov 2004, 14:12
Gender: Male
Hermit crabs: 2
Total gallons: 45
Total tanks: 1
Location: Victoria, Australia
Contact:

Post by Wai »

Great find! I'll sticky this one...
Wai
Image
User avatar
hermiesrokmysox
Megalopa
Megalopa
Posts: 968
Joined: 16 Nov 2005, 13:08
Hermit crabs: 7
Location: OH

Post by hermiesrokmysox »

i saw you post this one the CSJ too!
by the way, why are there "sticky"'s anyway?
♥Hollywood♥LittleRed♥Qwerty♥Peanut♥Sprite♥Pip♥Paisly
http://hermielog2008.blogspot.com/
hey, im back. :)
User avatar
Julia_Crab
Zoea I
Zoea I
Posts: 106
Joined: 02 Dec 2004, 16:11
Location: Oakland, CA
Contact:

Post by Julia_Crab »

Stickys stay at the top of a particular forum so they don't get lost in the day-to-day posts.
Kerie (aka Julia Crab)

Member, Crustacean Society, 2005

See my

crabs:
http://crabstreetjournal.com/photos/ent ... ?cat=10239

Like them? My

store:
http://www.cafepress.com/crabhappy

Feed your crabs:
http://www.epicurean-hermit.com
User avatar
Wai
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2892
Joined: 01 Nov 2004, 14:12
Gender: Male
Hermit crabs: 2
Total gallons: 45
Total tanks: 1
Location: Victoria, Australia
Contact:

Post by Wai »

As Kerie explained, Stickys are made for important topics containing very useful information that everyone should read about.
Wai
Image
User avatar
hermiesrokmysox
Megalopa
Megalopa
Posts: 968
Joined: 16 Nov 2005, 13:08
Hermit crabs: 7
Location: OH

Post by hermiesrokmysox »

o, i get it!
that's a good idea.
(sticky=sticky notes)
:D
♥Hollywood♥LittleRed♥Qwerty♥Peanut♥Sprite♥Pip♥Paisly
http://hermielog2008.blogspot.com/
hey, im back. :)
User avatar
I_love_my_hermie23
Zoea I
Zoea I
Posts: 151
Joined: 28 Sep 2006, 03:45
Location: MI

Post by I_love_my_hermie23 »

So Whats bad n whts good
\from ur friend
-b-
r.i.p.-*boo* 11/11/06
User avatar
Wai
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2892
Joined: 01 Nov 2004, 14:12
Gender: Male
Hermit crabs: 2
Total gallons: 45
Total tanks: 1
Location: Victoria, Australia
Contact:

Re: Zeaxanthin

Post by Wai »

Just to bump this topic, I am a bit worried that my hermit crabs don't have any astaxanthin in their diet. I'm not sure if Eris's recent colour change from his moult is a positive indication of his dietary astaxanthin levels.

I don't want to resort to raw supplements from vitamin stores, so what crab-friendly sources of astaxanthin are there?
Wai
Image
User avatar
ladybug15057
Coenobita
Coenobita
Posts: 3098
Joined: 03 Mar 2008, 04:12
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 82
Total gallons: 305
Total tanks: 7
Location: Southwestern Pa., U.S.

Re: Zeaxanthin

Post by ladybug15057 »

For those who would like a listing of foods where they do not need to join to view, please see:

http://www.hermitcrabcuisine.com/

Wai at one time the food listings use to be viewable by the public, but for over a year now one needs to be a member to view them.
Marie (aka ladybug15057)

If you are contacted privately (via pm or e-mail) and enticed to join another forum, please contact a Crab Crew member. This is an unethical practice.
CrabbyJo
Coenobita
Coenobita
Posts: 1849
Joined: 21 Jan 2009, 13:31
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 7
Total gallons: 85
Total tanks: 4
Location: Alaska

Re: Zeaxanthin

Post by CrabbyJo »

Wai, you will notice that Julia Crab listed in her article above some of the foods rich in those substances. I wrote some down, intending to make up a mix for my crabs.
I'm going to grind up: oats, wheat, corn meal, some dried (from fresh if I can find them) mealworms (as the copepods part of the list) and some spirulina. Hopefully the crabs will like this. :)
I have to find a local source for the mealworms, and am not sure where to look. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!
6 hermit crabs - 3 PPs and 3 Equadorians
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please feel free to share information from this website, but please be sure to give credit and a link back to the information. Failure to give credit is plagiarism. Don't take credit for someone else's information.
Post Reply