Home made fish food ideas

[Sharkluver]

So I am doing an SAE project for animal companions and chose to change it. I was before going to breed fish but in a turn of events and lots of new fish I wasn't planning, I've instead decided to make my own fish food. Could you possibly give me some pointers on fish nutrition and what are the best things to add? I am going to make a carnivore, omnivore, herbivore, and mixture as close to commercial fish food as possible. I know fish food has lots of vitamins and gives the fish a complete diet but the food I feed my fish from Tetra includes ground up fish, flour, gluten, vitamins, and preservatives. I this really good for fish? Any ideas, info, stories, lessons, etc would be great, I have a lot to learn about fish nutrition.
Here is the list of ideas I have to far.
Veggie mix
Zucchini
shelled peas
cucumber
romaine lettuce
carrots

Meat mix
freeze-dried beef heart
freeze dried tubifex worms
tuna
clam
pink salmon

Food closest to commercial fish food
full ground up fish
sweet potato
cooked rice
flour
cooked oats
ground up pellets

 

[Viridis]

What's SAE?

How scientific do you need to make it?

I would start here:

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How long do you have to do this project? This could easily become years of research depending on how in-depth you want to go.

Mixing various ingredients together (i.e. "DIY food") is generally best guess, and includes enough to pretty much cover the bases, while not being really all that specific. For a truly specific mix, you'll have to learn about the natural diet of the fish, the nutritional requirements of the specific species (i.e. do African rift lake algivores need higher K or Mg levels than those in the Central America, or S.E. Asia?), things such as bioavailability (high bio-availability can be easier to overdose), preservation of nutrients, &c.

Then there's things like Oxalic acid reacting with calcium, caretenoids and Vit.A (and the types/forms of Vit.A), the nutrient absorbed from the water column, and so on and so forth.

 

[Sharkluver]

It is going to say simple. I have until the end of the year to complete it. I was planning on mixing a variety of foods as close to their natural diet together and compare it to the health of the fish when they were fed fish flakes and to show some of the nasty things that are added to fish food like fillers.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

It is going to say simple. I have until the end of the year to complete it. I was planning on mixing a variety of foods as close to their natural diet together and compare it to the health of the fish when they were fed fish flakes and to show some of the nasty things that are added to fish food like fillers.

Be sure to add spirulina flour to your veggie mix,it's a good source of protein apparently.

 

[Sharkluver]

I looked into getting some but the cheapest I can find some is $12 at Walmart and I don't know if I can budget that much for one ingredient.

 

[Jesseliu13]

I make my own fishfood mix. I feed them to all the tanks (except stingrays and arowana). Frozen food mixes are easy if you know what your fish's needs are. Dont worry about the Vitamin parts of the nutrition. most foods you put in will cover it. my staple frozen food base is -

No need for all these crazy expensive vegetables. its not worth it. peas has tons of nutrition in it itself. and its cheap too.

2 parts Bluefish (a very oily fish, but i go fishing alot, and its a by-catch. Free and nutritious. full of protein) Free
1 part Shrimp (peeled just in case of sharp edges, i dont devein.) 7$
1 part Canned Peas (any kinda peas works, i just use the low sodium ones.) 0.47$

I add Fresh garlic pureed. Food coloration isnt needed, but thats free for you to add. just put them in a food processor.

Total cost was 8$ pretty much and easy to make. all my fish love it and eat it no problem. i feed it every day. just keep up with your water changes.

 

[Sharkluver]

Thanks, I didn't know it was that simple. I thought you needed a large variety of ingredients to offer a variety of nutrients but it's nice to know that I don't need tons of ingredients.

 

[Viridis]

I make my own fishfood mix. I feed them to all the tanks (except stingrays and arowana). Frozen food mixes are easy if you know what your fish's needs are. Dont worry about the Vitamin parts of the nutrition. most foods you put in will cover it. my staple frozen food base is -

No need for all these crazy expensive vegetables. its not worth it. peas has tons of nutrition in it itself. and its cheap too.

2 parts Bluefish (a very oily fish, but i go fishing alot, and its a by-catch. Free and nutritious. full of protein) Free
1 part Shrimp (peeled just in case of sharp edges, i dont devein.) 7$
1 part Canned Peas (any kinda peas works, i just use the low sodium ones.) 0.47$

I add Fresh garlic pureed. Food coloration isnt needed, but thats free for you to add. just put them in a food processor.

Total cost was 8$ pretty much and easy to make. all my fish love it and eat it no problem. i feed it every day. just keep up with your water changes.

How do you know a simple mix will cover everything without testing it?

Peas contain oxalic acid (granted not as much as most leaf vegetables) which reacts with calcium. and removing the shrimps carapace removes a large source of calcium.

The shrimp contain Thiaminase, though the B1 in the peas may mitigate this problem, to what degree I'm not sure. The fish might as well, however I couldn't find an answer to this after some research.

I don't know what species "bluefish" is; Pomatomus saltatrix? If so, they can have high concentrations of PCB, which has shown to lead to liver damage in animals, among other things (1 2 3 ). Do you use the whole fish or just the parts humans eat? If so, this would be wasting a large source of nutrients (stomach contents, bones, liver, &c.).

This mix also doesn't have a great Ca: P ratio, at about 1:2.57 (1:5.7 without the garlic) assuming you only used the meat/muscle, and the shrimp is raw, never frozen. Ideal is 1:1-2:1 (at least in terrestrial animals). Now since fish can use waterborne Ca from the water column, I'm not sure how this affects it, though it's still something to point out. I'm actully going to look into this... I might be off here.

Just as a tangent-

Clearly this mix appears to work for you; I'm not saying it wouldn't. I'm just pointing out mixing together a few ingredients and having the fish eat it doesn't necessarily make it a "great" or "nutritious" staple food.

Most of this rambling is also just me thinking "out loud".

Thanks, I didn't know it was that simple. I thought you needed a large variety of ingredients to offer a variety of nutrients but it's nice to know that I don't need tons of ingredients.

If your mix is lacking in specific nutrients, they should be added. That's why so many nutrients are added to fish food.

 

[Jesseliu13]

How do you know a simple mix will cover everything without testing it?

Peas contain oxalic acid (granted not as much as most leaf vegetables) which reacts with calcium. and removing the shrimps carapace removes a large source of calcium.

The shrimp contain Thiaminase, though the B1 in the peas may mitigate this problem, to what degree I'm not sure. The fish might as well, however I couldn't find an answer to this after some research.

I don't know what species "bluefish" is; Pomatomus saltatrix? If so, they can have high concentrations of PCB, which has shown to lead to liver damage in animals, among other things (1 2 3 ). Do you use the whole fish or just the parts humans eat? If so, this would be wasting a large source of nutrients (stomach contents, bones, liver, &c.).

This mix also doesn't have a great Ca: P ratio, at about 1:2.57 (1:5.7 without the garlic) assuming you only used the meat/muscle, and the shrimp is raw, never frozen. Ideal is 1:1-2:1 (at least in terrestrial animals). Now since fish can use waterborne Ca from the water column, I'm not sure how this affects it, though it's still something to point out. I'm actully going to look into this... I might be off here.

Just as a tangent-

Clearly this mix appears to work for you; I'm not saying it wouldn't. I'm just pointing out mixing together a few ingredients and having the fish eat it doesn't necessarily make it a "great" or "nutritious" staple food.

Most of this rambling is also just me thinking "out loud".




If your mix is lacking in specific nutrients, they should be added. That's why so many nutrients are added to fish food.

This is quite the info. I consider this great insight, but There are a few things i'd like to point out. Peas is commonly used in frozen food mixes, particularly ones meant for discus. If you research and ask many of the top breeders and sellers (discus hans, kenny discus etc) they use Peas as Binder and Filler. Rather than using a wheat of some sort. Oxilic Acid is found in alot of vegetables so i wouldnt worry too much about that. Spinach has a much higher amount. As for the calcium. Calcium IS needed in fish growth. But they can be found in many other sources. The Peas itself contains calcium.

As for the PCB, This has been a concern world wide. It may be more apparent in migratory fish such as Bluefish and Stripers. I only use the Fillets. You have a higher risk of contaminations using the organs rather than just the fillets. The organs itself process and filter out the chemical, and may hold it within them. Fillets are just a safer choice. also the carcasses go into my crab trap .

As for the Percentages - in the wild, fish's diets are never Ideally 100% complete. Neither is yours. The best way you can balance this is a varied diet. I do still feed Pellets from time to time to make up for any kind of loss of vitamins.

In the end, its just a fish. No one wants to mistreat their own, but there are limits to each person's ideals. As for mine, I see my fish happily eating and eager to eat. Great growth rates and performance. Only thing i have to complain about my food is that water changes cant be skipped. Its a messy food. even for Discus.

 

[Viridis]

This is quite the info. I consider this great insight, but There are a few things i'd like to point out. Peas is commonly used in frozen food mixes, particularly ones meant for discus. If you research and ask many of the top breeders and sellers (discus hans, kenny discus etc) they use Peas as Binder and Filler. Rather than using a wheat of some sort. Oxilic Acid is found in alot of vegetables so i wouldnt worry too much about that. Spinach has a much higher amount. As for the calcium. Calcium IS needed in fish growth. But they can be found in many other sources. The Peas itself contains calcium.

I do wonder if the use of peas is really because of the nutritional value (which pretty much any other green plant matter at the store contains; some in higher amounts), or if it's just because somebody swore by it in the 80's, and nobody has bothered to try changing it. It wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened; not necessarily just in fish, but with "exotic" pet foods in general (a few examples in reptiles comes to mind). Clearly it works, but would it work just as well with dandelion leaves, Opuntia cladodes, or Chicory for example?

There's also the fact that while a certain food may results in fast growing fish, that doesn't necessarily make them healthier fish. If breeding for profit and raising thousands of fry, sure this makes sense, but to get the best breeding stock, does it?
Anyways, I digress....

I agree the level of oxalic acid in peas is likely not much to worry about (maybe with things like Amaranth, spinach and purslane. I don't know the acceptable levels for fish off-hand). However it's still something that should be taken into consideration.

Calcium is found in peas yes, but --and while I'm not a food chemist-- having more phosphorous than calcium, the Ca: P ratio is still the wrong way. But as I mentioned in my previous reply, I don't know how waterborne Ca, if present, interacts with dietary sources. From the one paper I've found, it seems to be showing a 1:1-2:1 ratio being proper, but I haven't finished reading it yet.

As for the Percentages - in the wild, fish's diets are never Ideally 100% complete. Neither is yours. The best way you can balance this is a varied diet. I do still feed Pellets from time to time to make up for any kind of loss of vitamins.

True. Wild fish are by no means "perfectly healthy" and neither is their diet. I feed mine a variety of stuff as well. Mostly out of convenience, partly because there isn't enough research to even start creating species specific diets, nor do I have the time or resources to do it myself .

In the end, its just a fish. No one wants to mistreat their own, but there are limits to each person's ideals. As for mine, I see my fish happily eating and eager to eat. Great growth rates and performance. Only thing i have to complain about my food is that water changes cant be skipped. Its a messy food. even for Discus.

Fair enough!
I hope I didn't come off as rude... I tend to come off a little blunt at times haha.