New Fish Food Company: Aquarium Provisions

[cichlidsforme]

how would you stop bits of plywood getting into the food , good idea though for sure

[Underwater]

sanding and varnish

[cichlidsforme]

very thoughtfull idea

[darkdep]

Right now I put the food in the bags and let the gelatine set while they are flat packed.  I could use something like that to sandwich the bags, which would give the same effect except the bags would have the pattern too...not sure if that would look ok or not (or if I'm just being dumb )

I was thinking of using Eggcrate; that would give a similar effect and not require me to make anything

Pegasus:  why would you want it without Gelatine?  (Not that I'm opposed, just wondering?)

[babblefish1960]

Hey there darkdep,

You asked for it, so here it is,

We are thoroughly enjoying the meat lovers formula, as well as the omni-pro, the fish like it too , and this represents a disparate array of species as well.:wink:

The singular criticism we seemingly share with a host of others, is that with the present thickness and solidity of the blocks, I continually annoy the neighbours with my steel club hammer.

If you would like my humble opinion as to which way to go with this, I am in agreement that using an egg crate grill would be the cat's meow. This would enable the end user to chunk off meal sized bits rather easily and use more cubes if they so desired.

For at present, it requires a lot of bashing to get a small enough portion to feed the fish appropriately.

I noticed that Pet Circus has the growth and meat lovers, and for only $9.99, a fair price when you compare to hikari et alii.

[damarech]

The food is great.
BUT
Yes it is hard to get it to the right size.
Maybe try using those mini ice cube trays or even candy molds.

[darkdep]

Thank you for the feedback guys, making the food easier to use is my top priority.

[lucky777]

Hey guys just cut pieces off with steak knife, it's not very hard.


By the way any luck contacting the stores in cornwall???

[darkdep]

Soon...this was a paperwork week.  Spent so much time making food that I didn't do much getting registrations, etc done.  

[pegasus]

Fine Gelatin is use as a food binder.... but it too much of a belly stuffer. When I do mine, I found food combinations, their water content, etc to be very important to get the right consistency, also my Africans prefers their meat partly frozen, it never reach the bottom of the tank.

The rest is easy and do not require any special tool. I put the right amount of food in the zip lock bag making sure it fills the bottom. Flat on a table, I press the food outward, expulsing all air bubble. I use my hand or a roller to push it up with the desired thickness. All extra food is return to the batch; the idea is to not have any air space in the bag.

Next the molding... nothing special, with the back of a knife I'll just make faint lines over the zip lock bag. Commercially, I would put the bags on a cookie sheet and very slightly press with an egg crate, freeze for 2 hours then move and stack normally. (I would indent the pack on the reverse side of your packaging).

How do I know all this? Well I use to make it for other OVAS members but could not do it to all their specific needs. To do so, I would have probably end up using gelatin.

[gc]

Darkdep,
let us know when you start selling at SuperPet, I'd love to buy some food but I don't go to the meetings. Are you still making that website you were talking about at the beginning of this thread?

[darkdep]

Yep everything is still in the works.  I've been very sick the last couple week so things kinda ground to a halt temporarily.  

[Underwater]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm curious as how the website is coming along?

[darkdep]

An update for those who are interested:

It's been a very educational couple of months as we grasped with establishing relationships with suppliers, packaging companies, and so much more.  As of now, the Aquarium Provisions web site is up in fairly basic form (www.aquariumprovisions.com).  We're currently producing the 1lb packages, 1/2lb packages (Same size but much thinner, so the food is much easier to break up) and we will soon have a smaller 4oz (1/4lb) size available as soon as we receive the bags from our packaging supplier.

Arrangements are being made with suppliers to get this food into more stores.  I hope to have an arrangement with Big Als within the next few weeks, but it doesn't look like the food will be available at Super Pet anytime soon.  Right now your best bet is Pet Circus on Bank St, or Aquanourriplus. 

OVAS Banner Ads are going up shortly as well   Although I won't be selling the food directly (because of the relationships I'm trying to establish with the stores), I will be contributing food to the OVAS meetings for prizes.

I'd like to set up a "Testimonials" section on my site with some of your comments; if you'd allow me to use any you've made, please PM me and just give me your permission to do so.  I'd also, as always, be interested in any further comments from those who have been using the food for some time now.

Thanks to all for their support in this endeavour.  I appreciate it!