Homemade fish food

[dan2x38]

I used the African rcipe here with a few slight mods. It is a bit of work but well worth the effort. I have a large batch. I only made 1/4 of the size in that recipe. I have 90 pieces big enough to feed 4 well stocked tanks downstairs. One piece also feeds 6 tanks in my fishroom 3 being inverts.

The end result the fish all love it including the shrimps. In one tank I have a pair of pearl gouramis they are picky eaters and shy at feeding time waiting until last to feed. Well 2nd time feeding this food they were out there munching away chasing others for bits. The fish were even pulling small pieces off the filter intakes. It was gone in record time.

I do have to be careful it is easy to over feed. It cost me less then $6 I think for a huge lot. I know exactly what is in there. One of my store bought wafer foods has copper sulphate in it and MSG... what the? 

[Agnate]

Yeah, I mixed up a full batch of this stuff last year and I could never use all of it.  I didn't realize it would make so much!  It's mostly freezer burnt, now, unfortunately.  I'll have to make some more of it up, as all my fish loved it, but I'll remember to cut the recipe into at least 1/4, hehe!

There's copper sulfate and MSG in your wafer food?  Yikes.

[zima]

Now both of you are picking my curiosity. Which recipe are you talking about? Can someone post a link please?

[RossW]

Now both of you are picking my curiosity. Which recipe are you talking about? Can someone post a link please?

http://ovas.ca/index.php?page=12

[bitterman]

I've been thinking of doing a krill and Spirulina  treat using this recipe as a base. Would be a great color enhancer for cichlid's...... but I need a source for large amounts of whole krill cheap, would also need the spirulina ... as I ran out it... I would probably put some Free Dried Mysis in it also.

Krill, Freeze Dried Mysis, 2-3X the Spirulina APW used and Multi-Vitamin treat? Hmmm... LOL

Feed in a couple times a week to help condition the fish and help with color and boost the immune system.

Bruce

[KLKelly]

I make my own gel food also.  I'll never buy store bought again. There even was an article on melamine being in fish food a while back.  Made me nervous.  I just thaw enough for five days and voila.  The fish love it.  I also add an acidophilus pill to the batch and they seem to love a little garlic in it also.

[zima]

Wow, this does look yummy! Can't believe I didn't notice the article before. I'll definitely try it and post some feedback.

Does anyone want to share the costs of a bottle of multi-vitamins, spirulina powder, and gelatin?

[beowulf]

I prefer not to use any sort of gelatin as it ends ups polluting the water.  I make my batch and then just freeze it as is.

[KLKelly]

How does it stay together and not dissolve in the water?

[sas]

I love this recipe also. Great if you have big fish to feed. Too bad I can't get my teenage son to eat it. Might stave off those fridge raids. Just kidding.
I make it every 9 months or so.
Sorry I can't remember prices but I use the Kent Zoe freshwater vitamin & mineral supplement probably bought at Big Als, Spirulina powder bought at my local health store, and Knox gelatin from the grocery store.
My guys don't give the food a chance to pollute the water.
I freeze mine in ziploc bags and try to spread the mix thinly so it's easy to crack off chunks when frozen.
The only part I dislike is putting it into the bags to freeze, I tend to get green gunk all over.

[beowulf]

I freeze mine in ziploc bags and try to spread the mix thinly so it's easy to crack off chunks when frozen.
The only part I dislike is putting it into the bags to freeze, I tend to get green gunk all over.

I do the exact same thing works great and easy to break off a small piece.  I thought about finding small ice cube trays and putting it in those but never think about it when I am out shopping.

[Adam]

Shrimp, broccoli, peas.  Has anyone tried adding anything else to it? Spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini?  Maybe even a little garlic.  I'm going to make some but I've found that when you blend it too much, it tends to dissolve into little particles that no one eats after all the large portions are gone. 

I also want to know about the gelatin and if it is necessary.

[dan2x38]

Yeah, I mixed up a full batch of this stuff last year and I could never use all of it.  I didn't realize it would make so much!  It's mostly freezer burnt, now, unfortunately.  I'll have to make some more of it up, as all my fish loved it, but I'll remember to cut the recipe into at least 1/4, hehe!

There's copper sulfate and MSG in your wafer food?  Yikes.

Hikari- Algae Wafers

I also added carrots. I used bay food strained peas the only ingredients are peas and water. The Zoe multi-vit I already had I think it was around $12 for 300ml something like that but you only use a small amount.

Maybe a bunch of us could do a grouip order of a lb or so of spirlina? The big pain about this is packaging it after it is mixed. I thought about ice cube trays but 1/4 of the recipe I had 90 pieces 2 cm square.

[petfisheric]

Maybe try a canning funnel for putting it into bags? It's a stout, wide funnel for keeping the mouths of the jars clean when home canning. I use it when bagging up something like homemade pizza sauce in zip lock bags. If you hold the bag around the base of the funnel & fill, it keeps the zip lock part clean. Easier & faster with 2 people, but the determined could do it on their own.

Here's a pic:

http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Canning/tool-funnel.html

They're pretty cheap, even the metal versions & now is the time to pick one up.

[dan2x38]

Oh God you would not want it in bags. It has to be small cm square pieces. There is a lot of foo din one cm. believe me.

[groupie02]

Dan, the trick with bags is to put a thin layer in the bag so that you can break it easily into smaller chunks when feeding.

[sas]

Hikari- Algae Wafers

I also added carrots. I used bay food strained peas the only ingredients are peas and water. The Zoe multi-vit I already had I think it was around $12 for 300ml something like that but you only use a small amount.

Maybe a bunch of us could do a grouip order of a lb or so of spirlina? The big pain about this is packaging it after it is mixed. I thought about ice cube trays but 1/4 of the recipe I had 90 pieces 2 cm square.

Dan,   Are you sure about the Hikari Algae Wafers? I know Wardley Algae disks have copper sulfate in them. I ended up losing quite a few cherry shrimp before I realized this. I then switched to the Hikari wafers.
I don't see it listed on the ingredients and you've got me worried. Sure I see MSG but no copper.
Oh and the Wardley Spirulina Discs have copper sulfate in them as well.


Thanks petfisheric for that link.

[dan2x38]

Dan,   Are you sure about the Hikari Algae Wafers? I know Wardley Algae disks have copper sulfate in them. I ended up losing quite a few cherry shrimp before I realized this. I then switched to the Hikari wafers.
I don't see it listed on the ingredients and you've got me worried. Sure I see MSG but no copper.
Oh and the Wardley Spirulina Discs have copper sulfate in them as well.

Thanks petfisheric for that link.

I am sure MSG is, monsodium glutamate... This is an ingredient in Hikari Algae Wafers. I most have been confused by the zinic sulfate one of my others do have copper sulfate though can't find it now...

Oh I found it the copper sulfate is in my Wardley Shrimp Pellets