Just thought I'd share my expierences with some home made fish food. I really had my doubts but they love this stuff and it has some nice properties. The jist of this is nothing new but just for the record all my fish gobble this stuff up and just peck at everything else I put in their reef tank.
I used a aquacon.com for the basis to this recipe and then I kind of experimented with a few things. I am not claiming to have discovered anything new here but just wanted to share with you my take on it all.
Ingredients:
1 small sweet potato (washed)
1 small handful of each of the following (fresh and washed): spinach, green lettuce, baby carrots, and broccoli
A few sprigs of parsley
5 raw jumbo shrimp
1 cooked/peeled jumbo shrimp
1 large king crab leg
1 small pkg of frozen MYSIS shrimp
1/2 cup of RO water
1/2 cup of dry powdered unflavored gelatin
Put all the veggies in a blender and liquify them, then add the 5 raw shrimp with shells on and all and keep mixing until the shell peices are smaller than beach sand. Then follow with the crab leg and do the same. Then the MYSIS. If it gets a bit thick during any of this just add some RO or aquarium water (sparingly) until it's just right. NO LARGE SHELLS in there now. You should have around 2 cups of mix here. Now cut up the cooked single shrimp into tiny little peices (like pin heads) and mix in.
Pour this mix in a bowl and set aside.
Now get 1/2 cup of RO and boil it then VERY SLOWLY mix in the 1/2 cup of dry gelatin until it is like a thick honey. Make sure you really mix this 100% so there are no pockets of dry gelatin in there. Oh yeah, this stuff will stink!
Pour the gelatin mix in your other stuff and mix, mix, mix it until smooth.
Pour into a cassarole type dish so you have this stuff spread it out til it's about 1/8" thick. Once it cools a while cut it into 1/2" by 1/2" or so squares. You will see that it is like Jello at this point and your cuts will stay in there. Then freeze it and put in a bunch of baggies. Keep frozen til you use it.
I cut some off of a square each day and get a few shavings that resemble wood shavings then I put in a cup, add aquarium water, let it thaw, and dump it in.
I have a bi-color blennie, a cleaner wrasse and a sissortail dartfish. They LOVE it I tell you and with the ingredients used it is way more nutritious than any store bought IMHO.
Now for some of the important properties I have seen: It floats, does not cloud the water, and it holds together very well in current. Fish can easily grab at a big chunk and rip at it like a dog to get smaller chunks off. They seem to like this action! It will hold together for a long time in the tank so do not overfeed. I would guess that the uneaten peices will last for days before it breaks down in filtration so be warned. I have seen one chunk that was lost in the rubble that had all the food washed out but left behind a clear chunk of what looks like clear jello (pure gelatin). That takes a little while to disappear. One thing that is nice is that ALL these ingredients are 100% natural. Gelatin is just highly concentrated animal protiens from bone and connective tissue. Lots of fish foods have gelatine in them.
I say if you like the above description give it a try. If you have very carnivorous fish you can adjust the recipe as needed and if you prefer pure veggies you can do that as well.
Enjoy.
I used a aquacon.com for the basis to this recipe and then I kind of experimented with a few things. I am not claiming to have discovered anything new here but just wanted to share with you my take on it all.
Ingredients:
1 small sweet potato (washed)
1 small handful of each of the following (fresh and washed): spinach, green lettuce, baby carrots, and broccoli
A few sprigs of parsley
5 raw jumbo shrimp
1 cooked/peeled jumbo shrimp
1 large king crab leg
1 small pkg of frozen MYSIS shrimp
1/2 cup of RO water
1/2 cup of dry powdered unflavored gelatin
Put all the veggies in a blender and liquify them, then add the 5 raw shrimp with shells on and all and keep mixing until the shell peices are smaller than beach sand. Then follow with the crab leg and do the same. Then the MYSIS. If it gets a bit thick during any of this just add some RO or aquarium water (sparingly) until it's just right. NO LARGE SHELLS in there now. You should have around 2 cups of mix here. Now cut up the cooked single shrimp into tiny little peices (like pin heads) and mix in.
Pour this mix in a bowl and set aside.
Now get 1/2 cup of RO and boil it then VERY SLOWLY mix in the 1/2 cup of dry gelatin until it is like a thick honey. Make sure you really mix this 100% so there are no pockets of dry gelatin in there. Oh yeah, this stuff will stink!
Pour the gelatin mix in your other stuff and mix, mix, mix it until smooth.
Pour into a cassarole type dish so you have this stuff spread it out til it's about 1/8" thick. Once it cools a while cut it into 1/2" by 1/2" or so squares. You will see that it is like Jello at this point and your cuts will stay in there. Then freeze it and put in a bunch of baggies. Keep frozen til you use it.
I cut some off of a square each day and get a few shavings that resemble wood shavings then I put in a cup, add aquarium water, let it thaw, and dump it in.
I have a bi-color blennie, a cleaner wrasse and a sissortail dartfish. They LOVE it I tell you and with the ingredients used it is way more nutritious than any store bought IMHO.
Now for some of the important properties I have seen: It floats, does not cloud the water, and it holds together very well in current. Fish can easily grab at a big chunk and rip at it like a dog to get smaller chunks off. They seem to like this action! It will hold together for a long time in the tank so do not overfeed. I would guess that the uneaten peices will last for days before it breaks down in filtration so be warned. I have seen one chunk that was lost in the rubble that had all the food washed out but left behind a clear chunk of what looks like clear jello (pure gelatin). That takes a little while to disappear. One thing that is nice is that ALL these ingredients are 100% natural. Gelatin is just highly concentrated animal protiens from bone and connective tissue. Lots of fish foods have gelatine in them.
I say if you like the above description give it a try. If you have very carnivorous fish you can adjust the recipe as needed and if you prefer pure veggies you can do that as well.
Enjoy.
