Taking the DIY gel route

[RD.]

Post # 112 from that 10+ yr old Repashy thread.

"To think that anyone can simply look at a label, crunch some numbers, and somehow come up with exact inclusion rates, the bioavailability of nutrients, or quite frankly have any idea what is taking place behind the scenes is a bit naive to say the least. Some manufacturers hold certain cards very close to their chest for a reason, and aren't handing anything out on a silver platter for the competition to see."

I should start using copy/paste more often, eventually everything comes back around ......

 

[RD.]

Oh and John, you missed out on a LOT of fun threads back in the day. lol

 

[jjohnwm]

Oh and John, you missed out on a LOT of fun threads back in the day. lol

Lol, I keep finding those ancient threads when somebody decides to add some comment like "Great!" after the thread has been dormant for years. But they're new to me, so I read 'em and enjoy 'em and learn plenty of new-to-me info.

One thing that we should perhaps keep in mind when talking about and comparing gel foods is the big difference between a commercial mix like Repashy or Mazuri and a DIY goop like what I use. The commercial food is a mysterious powder that is mixed with water to create the gel; you're still relying upon them to determine what's in it and you have no control over how well its formulation will suit that type of fish. Feeding it is no different than feeding a dry commercially-prepared product; there are good ones, not-so-good ones, bad ones...and how good or bad they are is at least partially dependent upon your usage. If you have some Repashy mix that is blended perfectly for your Giant Goramy...I suspect it will be pretty substandard as a diet for your carnivorous catfish. But unless you doctor it up yourself or buy a different mix, you're stuck with what they offer.

A homemade gel food is not at all in the same category. It's mixed up entirely by the end user, and many of the ingredients, at least in my case, are commercial fishfoods that are supposedly adequate all by themselves. The gel aspect of this stuff is simply a way to present a variety of foods to your fish in a way that is pretty convenient and easily stored and fed. I have seasonal gluts of things like mayflies, grasshoppers, some aquatic plants, etc. and using them in a gel lets me take full advantage of their seasonal abundance by using them all year...rather than being forced to resort to feeding nothing but grasshoppers (as an example) for the several weeks in an effort to use them up.

The cheapness factor is a big one for me; I will buy big bags of nearly-expired pellets or even flakes at the local supplier, and incorporate them into the gel. That way they are frozen until use and don't degrade significantly after being mixed, and I save a ton of money on their heavily-discounted prices. You can also use the juice from thawed frozen foods to mix up the gel, which makes the otherwise-wasted nutrients in them available to your fish. (As an aside, those juices are also great for re-hydrating freeze-dried foods before use.)

I like the way a gel food, cut into the right size and shape of chunks, tends to be more attractive to a lot of fish than hard pellets. It's also a way to utilize flake foods, which I think are almost useless for anything other than very small fry. And because you are making it...you can create exactly the size and shape of food pieces that suits your fish best.

And for lots of folks like me, there is a certain intangible pleasure in the DIY aspect itself. If you "get" that, then you will like doing gels. If that sounds silly to you...well, trust me, it's only going to get worse the first time you look at your kitchen after a food-prep session.

The Romance of the Mad Scientist can collide with the Eternal Bliss of Matrimony with spectacularly bad results.

 

[RD.]

If you have some Repashy mix that is blended perfectly for your Giant Goramy...I suspect it will be pretty substandard as a diet for your carnivorous catfish. But unless you doctor it up yourself or buy a different mix, you're stuck with what they offer.

Most of these manufacturers such as Purina, Repashy, etc, have several different formulas designed for the nutritional requirements of various groups of fish. At least as best guessed, based on species raised commercially with the info then extrapolated to tropical species, as no real long term feed trials have been performed on most tropical species. But, one thing I will say about the commercial mixes, is one does have a pretty good reference point as far as nutrient levels, sans the water. Protein/fat/vitamins/minerals etc.

I understand the DIY factor, as well as the costs savings factor, of creating ones own formulas - and nothing wrong with that, but at the end of the day it can be pretty hit or miss when it comes to actual nutrient levels in each batch. Many yrs ago I made gel food, the old Swedish Shrimp mix for African cichlids, but I found absolutely nothing in that process that I would personally consider convenient. That, the mess when feeding, and the wife factor added in, and that feed trial was one of my shortest.

But I am lucky, most of my fish over the years would readily accept pellet food.

 

[jjohnwm]

Most of these manufacturers such as Purina, Repashy, etc, have several different formulas designed for the nutritional requirements of various groups of fish. At least as best guessed, based on species raised commercially with the info then extrapolated to tropical species, as no real long term feed trials have been performed on most tropical species. But, one thing I will say about the commercial mixes, is one does have a pretty good reference point as far as nutrient levels, sans the water. Protein/fat/vitamins/minerals etc.

I understand the DIY factor, as well as the costs savings factor, of creating ones own formulas - and nothing wrong with that, but at the end of the day it can be pretty hit or miss when it comes to actual nutrient levels in each batch. Many yrs ago I made gel food, the old Swedish Shrimp mix for African cichlids, but I found absolutely nothing in that process that I would personally consider convenient. That, the mess when feeding, and the wife factor added in, and that feed trial was one of my shortest.

But I am lucky, most of my fish over the years would readily accept pellet food.

Yeah, I get that "my" foods are pretty inconsistent in terms of nutritional value; I mean, no two batches are exactly the same. I hope that the variety, combined with the inclusion of commercial pellets and such, makes them adequate.

For sure, if I were to find a perfect, properly-balanced food pellet, then by definition adding anything else to the diet will be a negative step. But I don't think there is any such thing as a perfect food, and of course none will be perfect for all species, so I just keep plugging along...

I use a dedicated blender for the work...and we live far enough from town that when the wife goes shopping, I have plenty of time for a mixing session complete with clean-up. The Mad Scientist gene is strong in this one...

And, yeah, my interpretation of the word "convenient" is pretty loose.

 

[RD.]

I use a dedicated blender for the work...and we live far enough from town that when the wife goes shopping, I have plenty of time for a mixing session complete with clean-up.

LOL, perfect.