# Naturose vs Cyclop-eeze



## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

I'm sure this has probably been beaten to death... and I found several posts where people recommend "use one of these" but none where people actually compare them. Maybe I didnt look hard enough.

Anyway, what are your opinions? If I were to buy one which would be better?

I'm asking specifically for my Orange Terribilis. I got mine from Stacey and I know she used naturose... and hers look amazing, but I just figured I'd see what people thought about Cyclop-eeze before I buy anything.

Also, this may seem like a weird question... but from my understanding its the Astaxanthin that helps with *red* coloration, whereas carotenoids help with *yellow* coloration. So, should I try using both to boost the colors on my *orange* terribilis? haha


Thanks in advance!


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

Clarify what you want to do with it.
To feed tads or to dust flies for frogs...
Cyclopeeze has a little oil to it, and won't really work too well to dust flies, (naturose works great for that) but cyclopeeze is great for tad food.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid, specifically one of the xanthophylls and works well with reds, oranges and depending on the species to a lesser extent with yellows. 

Naturose is one of the natural sources for astaxanthin as it is the whole algae; Haematococcus pluvialis. There are other carotenoids in the algae but the distribution and type change depending on enviromental conditions and stress placed on the algae. 

Cyclopeeze is either a freeze dried or frozen marine copepod that has ingested and either stored or manufactured astaxanthin for pigmentation. Some of the analysis show that 94% of the carotenoids in cyclopeeze are astaxanthin. 
As noted above the slight oily nature (which in part due to omega three fatty acids) can make it hard to get to stick to the fruit flies. 

There are pros and cons to both.. for example, while there is a oily texture to the cyclopeeze, absorption of carotenoids in the digestive tract is based on available fats and there is sufficient evidence to show that omega threes can increase absorbtion. 

Some comments,

Ed


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## SeanyG (Dec 18, 2009)

If you get a small coffee grinder. You can grind them down to powder. Havnt tried it yet but going to use it as soon as I get some extra change.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

At the moment I am trying to get something to dust the flies/crickets/etc. (no tads yet)

I think I read somewhere else that someone else used a mortar and pestle to grind the cyclopeeze in with their other supplements like repcal d3 or herptivite. Would this help with the "sticking" aspect of dusting the food items?

Ed, thanks for the clarification on the astaxanthin.

So are you recommending I dont bother alternating with something like paprika in addition to the cyclopeeze?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

The red carotenoids in paprika are very polar and unless the amphibian contains specific selective uptake of the those red carotenoids, they tend to be excreted. Generally when compared to astaxanthin and canthaxanthin, the ability (as reported anecdotally) of those carotenoids to affect red pigment is fairly limited however that doesn't mean that any uptake of those carotenoids is useless as many carotenoids appear to be pretty important in immune responses. 
In addition paprika also supplies beta carotene. 

Ed


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I never thought abot dusting with cyclopeeze, I just feed it to tadpoles. Might have to try it


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