I can't remember the website or article I read concerning the cricket gel waters so can't post a link here for you to check up. Its just that I find it hard to beleive a gelled water source is better than a very shadow dish of water or just giving lots of fresh vegetables and greens for crickets to eat and gain their moisture from it as well. Since you want hard evidence and I unfortunately, can't provide it, I will let others who do have it post.
For the feeding amounts, from what I have read the amount of time to offer crickets or other insect feeders for dragons under a year old, is 5-10 minutes, not 10-15 minutes. To say what amount of food to actually give, is very difficult as each bearded dragon varies in their appetite and metabolism, just as we do. Some dragons can eat tons of crickets and grow slowly, others eat much less and grow fast and every variation in between. It can also depend on the quality of feeder insects giving. If the insects are not gettting a good healthy diet for them, or are not even fed before being offered, then the dragons are not getting much either from the crickets, thus they don't grow as well as dragons the same age eating the same amount of crickets or other insects.
Bearded dragon hatchlings (roughtly 1 wk - 4 months), fed 2-3 times a day can eat as many as 10-50 appropriate crickets per meal. Giving that range, it is very hard to give a specific number to offer for any giving age group, especially in dragons under a year old (a year old and older it is much easier to say only offer a dozen 2-3 times a week, or a few insects every day, as once adults they don't need all that much protein to thrive)
KNowing your dragon(s) is realy the only way to base how much to feed. If in a 5-10 minute period, your dragon stops eating after 3 minutes and getting 15 crickets, you are pretty safe to just over 15 crickets on the next feeding, giving a few extra to see if the dragon is a bit more hungry that feeding then last, or offering a bit less, especially once they are eating greens regularly (typically after 4 months, dragons show more interest in greens, though some eat it right off the bet and others take longer to acquire a taste for greens).
Notice the condition of your dragon. There are many areas on the dragon that indicate if they are getting too fat or are not being fed enough. On the dragon's head, just being the eyes, t here should be two identical mounds or small rises/bumps, roughly the same length as the eye from corner to corner. If these are a noticable hump, then the dragon is being fed enough and had a healthy store of fat, if fallen in or flush with the rest of the head, then the dragon isn't getting enough food and should be feed either more frequently, or offered more insects. The tail base is another indicator of health. It should be thick and no sign of the pelvic bones should be visible. There are also fat stores under the arms though I don't find these as noticeable unless the dragon is more overweight than at a healthy weight. They also seem to develop jowles (fatty bulges under the jaw and neck) that don't seem to be just the folds for the beard.
Hope this helps you in determining how much to feed your dragon. It is a bit easier to know if your dragon is getting too fat when they are adults, when they don't need all that extra energy to grow. Breeding females of course, do need extra portein, nutrients and calcium, because they are producing eggs and offspring but typically, if she isn't being bred, you really only have to offer extra calcium, as any eggs she does produce will be infertile.
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PHLdyPayne
that it causes problems in the crickets or by association in the beardies? We use the Nature Bites food/water/gutload but we can always quit or add to it if we need to.