Interview of Luis Menendez from Easy Reefs
Interview of Luis Menendez from Easy Reefs who introduce us the society, its history and their products such as fish food Masstick, phytoplankton Easybooster and coral foods EasySPS and EasyLPS.
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Récifalnews – Hello Luis. First of all, can you introduce yourself? Are you a hobbyist?
Luis – Hello, my name is Luis Menéndez and I ‘am part of the management team at Easy Reefs. I have had planted tanks in the past but reef tanks are my current passion and happily a hobby where you are able to learn every day. I have also been working in several companies in the sector.
I would also like to present some members of the Easy Reefs team. Firstly our Project Manager, Joan Xavier Aguilar who started Easy Reefs and continues to be the person in charge of the product development. His passion has always been reef tanks and since 2005 he has been focusing in coral feeding, both those we know as photosynthetic and the azooxanthellates.
In addition we have Inés Moraleda, who has a degree in marine sciences and is in charge of the production of the final products at Easy Reefs. She also works together with Joan Xavier in the product development and currently she is also our community manager in our different social media.
Récifalnews – Then, can you talk about the history of Easy Reefs?
Luis – Easy Reefs is the division for aquariums of the company Fitoplancton Marino S.L.
In 2005, Joan Xavier contacted Fitoplancton Marino to see if he could buy some lyophilized phytoplankton for his aquarium. Soon a relationship started with Fitoplancton and Easy Reefs started to commercialize lyophilized phytoplankton to supply a high quality product for aquariology.
In 2011, Fitoplancton offered him to develop a much more ambitious and innovative project for marine aquariums, and here we are today, with the same enthusiasm as the first day.
Récifalnews – What is the motto of the brand?
Luis – Perhaps it is the point from which we focus our activity and the impressive technology, scientific personnel and means that Fitoplancton Marino gives us from its different departments of Nutraceutical, Cosmetic, Human Nutrition and Aquaculture.
As I have already mentioned, before manufacturers, we are aquarists and that allows us to develop products that really work without losing sight of the fact that they must also make life Easy for the aquarist.
We believe that it is what an aquarium needs to be able to develop in equilibrium and give satisfaction and reward for the effort that a hobbyist requires for its maintenance.
The synergies with Fitoplancton Marino and our perspective, make it possible to create a truly innovative and functional products that demonstrate what they say with facts.
Récifalnews – The first thing that comes to mind when we think Easy Reefs is Masstick. Can you explain what it is to learn more about this product?
Luis – Masstick is a product that results astounding when seeing the reaction of very complicated fish to feed, hence its popularity, but it is that and much more.
The lyophilisation process preserves all the nutritional and organoleptic characteristics of the raw materials that compose it. This manufacturing process allows us to keep intact natural molecules that are involved in the olfactory process of finding food for fish (fish have specialized cells in the olfactory epithelium to detect these molecules), that’s what makes this food so irresistible.
Masstick is mainly composed of Shrimp of the species Palaemonetes varians, which provide a nutritional profile in terms of amino acids and essential fatty acids, optimal for the nutrition of marine reef fish.
We also incorporate 4 different species of microalgae with functional characteristics:
- Nannochloropsis gaditana for its lipid profile rich in EPA and ARA.
- Isochrysis galbana due to its lipid profile rich in DHA.
- Tetraselmis chuii for its high content in the antioxidant Superoxide Dismutase.
- Phaeodactylum tricornutum due to the high content of Betaglucans that enhance the immune system of fish, making them more resistant to parasites and diseases.
The presentation of the Masstick in laminated bags with a barrier to light and Oxygen, and humidity of less than 5% make the product optimally maintain all its properties for a long time. Once prepared, if we freeze it in its original bag, it will keep all its characteristics for 5 weeks.
The way to offer Masstick to the fish allows it to be dosed with great precision since being stuck to the glass or the rock we can determine how much food is going to be used and will not be lost in inaccessible places to them and end up contaminating the aquarium.
Another point to take into account about Masstick is that due to its composition based on crustaceans it has a protein to phosphate ratio of the lowest that exist. The reason is that phosphate is present in the skeleton of the fish that make up the flour that is normally used in food production and that end up being expelled through the faeces of the fish, increasing the phosphate and the problems that appear accordingly.
The Masstick does not contain any type of fish flour and only provides the Phosphorus essential for the healthy life of the fish.
Can you introduce other products that you propose?
Luis – We propose a strategy of integral feeding for the reef aquarium based on three pillars:
- Masstick: for feeding fish.
- Easybooster: phytoplankton for the microfauna, which is the basis of the balance of the aquarium.
Easybooster is a concentrated mixture of 4 species of microalgae that is presented in gel. It is the only really concentrated phytoplankton product that exists in the market and also does not need to be refrigerated to preserve its characteristics. It can be dosed automatically by peristaltic pump, which greatly facilitate its regularity in the aquarium and therefore the stability of the entire system.
- Easysps (powder) and EasyLPS (Pellets): For the feeding of SPS and LPS corals.
It is a products destined to the feeding through the polyps of the coral, that appears in two formats.
Easysps = particulated powder from 0.2 to 400 microns.
EasyLPS = pellets of 800 microns, to adapt them to the needs of the coral capture mode.
The growth and vigour of the corals is so high that many episodes of sexual reproduction of the corals in aquariums of many hobbyists are being reported. The coloration is shown in all its nuances as there are not so many zooxanthellae in the coral tissue. This is a natural mechanism by which the coral regulates, during the process of food digestion, the number of zooxanthellae depending on the amount and type of foo to which it has access.
What kind of raw materials do you use?
Luis – We basically use phytoplankton and zooplankton produced under human nutrition standards.
You are based in Spain, do all the product you propose are made by yourself?
Luis – We are located in a privileged geographical area, with Atlantic and Mediterranean climatic influence, which allows us to obtain raw materials of a very high biological value.
All our raw materials are produced in our Fitoplancton Marino production plant and in the 11300 Ha of our Veta La Palma facilities in the Doñana Natural Area (Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve). We have lyophilizers in each of the facilities to ensure lyophilisation with maximum freshness of the ingredients, so that we move from nature to the aquarium in perfect nutritional conditions.
We saw you zooplancton reactor with injection of Easyroti, Easyart, at Interzoo. Do you plan to produce new products after this?
Luis – We are already working on a new line of nutraceuticals for Fish, that is, foods with functional ingredients capable of stimulating color, or acting as antiparasitic, antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-stress and oxidative immune system enhancers. We are convinced that it will mean a revolution in the treatment and care of fish.
To conclude, do you have any arguments that make your products unique?
Luis – The combination of technical and scientific means at our disposal, the high biological value offered by our raw materials due to our unbeatable geographical situation, the enthusiasm in maintaining that nutritional value in our formulation and manufacturing processes, and above all, the love and passion with which we work every day so that Easy Reefs continues to be a benchmark of nutritional quality throughout the world.
Thank you very much for giving us this opportunity to get to know us a little better.
More informations about Easy Reefs on their website.
