DIY Fish Food

[Psychomatrix]

Ok since i have been here i have not seen any stickies about this topic and I think there should be. I love the convenience of opening a bottle pellets and just dropping them in. But for the more time giving MFK I have put together a basic recipe that you can follow with pics which are step by step.
I will follow up with the post form time to time with new recipes but I also welcome everyone to post and even put their own recipes here.

The simple reason for all of this is because I like to know what my fish I paid lost of cash for are eating I’m not a big fan of preservatives and artificial colours and flavours.

 

[Psychomatrix]

OK let’s get started



Things you will need
1 blender
1.5 packs of unflavoured 100% gelatine the packs I used were 85 grams each
You may need to know a butcher for this one 1 whole beef heart
1.5 lbs of shrimp (the one I got was fresh and un-peeled)
3 medium carrots enough to give you about 2 cups
2 cups of pumpkin or butter nut squash
1 medium sized beet root although any size you can get will do you can even use the canned slices if need be just one tin
2 table spoons of children’s multivitamin or 2 tables the Flintstones work well just crush them and dissolve them in some water.
3 cloves of garlic great for fighting ich
Now let’s not re-invent the wheel I love using colour bits but my fish are so big they just look at those little bits like what the hell are those things.
1 small bottle of Tetra Colour bits
Now you can use any food that you like this is not a must but I mean why the hell not.
Now you can expand on this and play with all kinds of this you want I even tried bananas with my discus and they love that. I even add spirulina powder now and then if I have.
I even have friends who hatch brine shrimp just to add to their food.

Ok let’s get started
Peel and clean everything if you have canned beets bonus and peeled shrimp even better if you don’t no problems I even them if you get shrimp in the shell and the shells are soft I use them all just rinse them in some clean water.











Oops my girlfriend add in a pic of dinner which made while doing this



The beef heart is going to be a bit tricky you will need a sharp knife or have the butcher do this for you cut off all the fat and the membrane from the outside of the heart then cube into one inch pieces. There are going to be some tendon like strands inside the heart these need to go as well







Once you have everything cleaned and cut into about 1 inch pieces it’s time to blend.



It does not matter what you blend but just keep blending until all is blended this is a good time to add in those vitamins if you have them or brine shrimp or spirulina powder.



Once everything is blended place in large mixing bowl and stir well.
At this point you can add in those colour bits or food of your choice.

Now the gelatine you use will have its own directions so will not be of much use here you will have to mix to suite this may take some experimentation if you mix a batch and it does not get to the consistency you want just mix up another batch of gelatine and add it in

Once you mix everything, separate the mix into large containers so that it’s about 1 inch thick in depth I sometimes use disposable baking trays or pie trays especially if I have to give out some.





Once the food sets up take them out the trays place in Ziploc freezer bags and cut and use as you need.

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I am sure your fish will thank you for it

 

[snyder810]

why do you use so much beefheart? i'd much rather use fish fillets instead, much more natural imo. and just curious how did you go about picking which ingredients to use (like the carrots and squash)?

 

[Psychomatrix]

well the beef heart is very lean and high in protien i use fish fillets in other recipie where i dont want such a high protien content, but i find the beef heart to help fish to put on size really fast and over all generally look really healthy

the other ingredients i chose based on nutritional value and taste i have had lots of fish and experimented with what they would eat i find they like foods which are high in natural sugars that why i opt for carrots, pumpkin, beets etc. i mean as i said i have even used bananas in these recipies and have had rave results among my discus. i had discus spawning so fast i had to seperate them so i could get a break.

the recipie is an old recipie that was given to me from my grandfather i am not scientist but i do know i have used this for about 20 somthing years on fish from gold fish to discus... i use to breed lots of discus and ask any one who breeds discus or knows of Jack Watley and they will know this recipie.

 

[thatone]

I was thinking of making a batch of homemade food this week. I am going to use a cichlid I had to cull this week, a little bit of salmon, earthworms, some dust and small pieces of pellets left in the bottom of a few fish food packages, dust and small pieces left in a can of freeze dried krill, and some spinach. This will all go into a gelatin also.

 

[Deaths Sting]

whats the the buoyancy like in the water? does it float or does it sink fast?

how would u alter the buoyancy?

 

[Psychomatrix]

well because i keep my food frozen it floats for about 2-3 mins then sinkd once it begins to thaw. but if you want it to sink right away just thaw it out first before you feed.

have you ever made that mix before thatone? it sounds interesting

 

[snyder810]

well the beef heart is very lean and high in protien i use fish fillets in other recipie where i dont want such a high protien content, but i find the beef heart to help fish to put on size really fast and over all generally look really healthy

the other ingredients i chose based on nutritional value and taste i have had lots of fish and experimented with what they would eat i find they like foods which are high in natural sugars that why i opt for carrots, pumpkin, beets etc. i mean as i said i have even used bananas in these recipies and have had rave results among my discus. i had discus spawning so fast i had to seperate them so i could get a break.

the recipie is an old recipie that was given to me from my grandfather i am not scientist but i do know i have used this for about 20 somthing years on fish from gold fish to discus... i use to breed lots of discus and ask any one who breeds discus or knows of Jack Watley and they will know this recipie.

got ya i was just curious.
does the food break apart easy and get messy or does it stay in a mass while fish nibble off bites. i've always been interested in making my own food but was never quite sure enough to try it.

 

[kzimmerman]

Excellent post. I vote for sticky. The bonus of this is you can mix and match the recipe to match the fish your feeding. One thing I never see is insects. Why not throw a bunch of mosquito larva or crickets in there? Many of the fish we keep feed extensively on insects in the wild. BTW, I don't see the need in peeling the carrots. Just wash em, they'll be okay. I myself never peel the carrots I eat, and I'm allright (Twitch twitch spasm)

 

[chesterthehero]

my gf made loach food... here is her thread on AC..

the loaches all love it.. the plecos eat it.. all the fish in the community tanks enjoy it.. the corys like it almost as much as the loaches... the cherry, amano and wood shrimp all eat it.. my feifang (semaprochilodus taeniurus) thinks its the most amazing stuff ever.. my dats wont touch it but well.. they are dats..