Astaxanthin

Anyone tried any of the Haematococcus powders that are on the market as health food supplements?
 
http://www.amazon.com/Hae...O/ref=pd_sim_sbs_gro_4

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Bump.

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Buy any of the Hawaiian ones... comes from Cyanotech

Ok thanks Gresham!

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

What's the proper way to use it as top dressing? I always just toss it in the blender with the rest of the mix.

how do you blender top dress?  Just dump the pellets, oil and powder in there?  You don't get chopped up pellets?
 
FWIW sticking it in liquid and storing it can be problematic (degradation of the astaxanthin), I highly advise against that.

Well that's why I'm asking. I didn't use it directly on dry food. I always just throw a teaspoon or two of it in the blender when I'm making a new batch of frozen food. Coupled with the salmon, spirulina and fish roe sacs it makes a beautiful orange mash.

Gotchyah. 
 
Astaxanthin isn't the most stable thing.  It will degrade in the presence of light, heat and moisture.  Care must be taken when used in a liquid/slurry like that (even when bring frozen).  I don't have much experience doing it myself as frozen products are not something we make.
 
Top dressing is easy... just think of shake and bake.
Coat the pellets in an oil
Toss in container with astaxanthin and shake.
 
On a commercial scale, its not that easy (I wish it was).

How long can pellets be kept once this is done? Or should it be done on a serving by serving basis?

The old "Naturose" astaxanthin that I used in my first few batches of frozen food worked very well, even when it was a year from opening it.  My broodstock were BRIGHT orange!  So far, nothing has worked as well as the Naturose did...
 
The only Haematococcus from Hawaii I've found is mixed with safflower oil and pt into gel caps.  I haven't had much luck...

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Sorry to be blunt... but that is far from knowing the heam was the source of the color.  I can tell you in the BEST of cases, from actual testing, heam stored in the perfect situation will loose its astaxanthin content by half in a year alone.  Add in water, etc, that will drop considerably. 
 
Why is there any issue with the oil its mixed with?  Safflower is fine to use.  Its all going to be caps.  Cyanotech doesn't cater to us, only to them (typical consumer pill popper)  They pay a lot better $$$$ then us

 A year max if stored under refrigeration, with no moisture or light and the least amount of oxygen.  The heam is only one concern, oil rancidity is another.  

 
I'm not arguing that the Haematococcus is less effective after a time, all I know is the Naturose stuff worked better than the last three I've tried.  My recipe is the same, my water parameters are the same.  I am currently using Paracoccus powder from Brine Shrimp Direct, and it doesn't do a thing.


 
I'm not sure if there is an issue or not, I was going to give it a shot since I can't find anything else.  The manufacturer says the Safflower Oil keeps the astaxanthin good.  It's worth a shot - it's not expensive.

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Kathy Leahy used to top dress her own foods - she might need to weigh in here.

With all the testing of different ones like Paracoccus, I really only found Haem to be effective.  It may help to a degree, and it does help with koi, but for marine fish, I haven't seen it improve color much  That being said, there are some neat things you can do with it.
 
There's never been anything near the quality of NutraRose  Curse you Cyanotech for having the vision to grow to a much larger market.
 
Oil bound is your best bet.  It'll be mixed with olive or another oil, don't worry about that aspect.  You use so little, it doesn't effect the nutritional profile all that greatly.  With oil, its a one step top dressing process.

So why can't we just get Nutrarose from said other market?

After speaking in person with a local fish food manufacturer, my understanding is that the price of naturose has skyrocketed from around $24 per kilo to several hundred per kilo because that is what the cosmetics industry will pay.

Having said that, it's still on eBay in 2oz packets.

But is the stuff on eBay any good?

I will be using the Safflower Oil mixed stuff from Hawaii in my next batch of broodstock food and will top dress some growout pellets too...I will let ya know Matt!

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Matt I've been using the eBay stuff for a few years and my fish have great color. Idk if its because of the product or the varied diet in general but I'm happy with my results.

I just got done telling you how... you buy the Hawaiian stuff.  

They sell inferior batches to Asia, whom repackages.  I suspect the Ebay is that as the NutroRose brand is no longer.
 
If I could buy it, I would.  We need hundreds of kg a year.

Who are you telling how to what?  Haha.
 
I already ordered some...patiently waiting for its arrival.  It's Hawaiian stuff called BioAstin.

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Ugh, no, quote fail... that was supposed to be attached to Matt's post 
 
Let me know how they smell

 
Lol re: quote fail.
 
How they smell?  The capsules?  Not like much...maybe kinda sweet?

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

The contents of the capsules  Sweet?  Sounds about right.

 
Yep the contents smells kinda sweet, not a strong smell.
 
I'm not sure how much of this stuff to use.  I think it might be a terrible fail to use the capsules!  Each capsule as 12 mg astaxanthin.  I added one capsule to 60 grams of pellets which made a nice mix as far as the pellet to oil ratio goes, but in order to add 1% astaxanthin I would need to use 50 capsules which I'm pretty sure would make pellet mush.  Hmmm...is my math off??
 
EDIT:  Hmm, wait a sec...isn't Naturose like 1.5% astaxanthin?  That would hugely impact my math! More research needed.
 

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

So...on looking for the actual % of astaxanthin in naturose, I notice naturose.com is still working and it appears you can still order it for $30 /100 grams.
 
So, new math...
 
If I have 60 grams of pellets and add 1% Naturose and Naturose is 1.5% astaxanthin that means I am adding 0.09 grams or 90 mg of astaxanthin.  So if my capsules are 12 mg then I need 7.5 capsules per 60 grams of food.  That's certainly more reasonable, but I think that would still be awfully sticky pellets!
 
If I get 100 capsules for $62.50 including shipping off Amazon.ca that give me enough astaxanthin to top dress 800 grams of pellets or add to homemade frozen food.  If I use this method to add to my frozen food this ingredient alone will cost more than the entire mix!
 
Ok, need different plan.
 
Another thought, I have seen written that astaxanthin is very stable when mixed with oil, so maybe when we buy this powder we should mix it with fish oil (or such) and store it this way.

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Yikes... they want $50 for 250 grams.  That site hasn't been active this whole time though, nice to see its up! 
 
I wouldn't say "very stable"... as a large oil user, I'd say its less risky, but it does loose strength.  Most manufacturers of oil put a 1 - 2 year shelf life on them.  I'd find the most stable oil to use, and that wouldn't be fish oil.  I know olive oil was one we looked into at first. 
 
Top dress with oil and powder.  Powder doesn't just have to be hem... try other stuff as well.  
 
Shoot for 150ppm to 250ppm.