[Eldachleich]

I've been researching making my own fish food. There's alot of recipes and alot of variations. But after extinguishing google, I figured I would ask everyone on here. So what are your recipes? Do you make Cubes? Frozen? Paste? Flakes? How do you do it? I'm really interested to know what you guys are doing.

 

[zdnet]

Years ago, my search for the best quality fish food led me to Home Cooking Your Own Frozen Fishfood. Fish and shrimp like the prepared food. At meal time, they make a mad dash for the food and engage in a feeding frenzy. There is no left over food visible on the substrate. Tank water remain clear and clean - no need to change water ever. Fish and shrimp are healthy. Plants grow well.

 

[mistergreen]

I just made a frozen paste of raw squid and oysters. I didn't cook it. I added .5 cup of cooked gelatin to the mixture to fix the paste. Most of the fishes love it except for the gourami.

 

[zdnet]

I just made a frozen paste of raw squid and oysters.

Was there a particular reason for squid and oysters?

 

[mistergreen]

Was there a particular reason for squid and oysters?

I found some cheap frozen at the chinese grocery store and loaches love mollusks, to eat that is. You don't have to break the bank to get good raw seafood. Check the asian stores.

 

[vespers_]

i just give them worms and such i collect outside...

 

[iKine]

I used to make my own food with spurlina powder, shrimp, spinach, and other such ingredients.. but i've since got lazy.

 

[zdnet]

Home cooking a fish food that is used as a staple, not just a supplement, does take a lot of effort. But a single batch stored in the freezer can last a long long time.

What got me started was the deceptive labeling that I found in popular brand fish food. Also, when I didn't know exactly what was in the commercial fish food that I used, I found myself kept trying various brands hoping that they might be better. The results were often disappointing in some way.

Since using my own homemade fish food as the staple, I never lay eyes on any commercial fish food. The outcome in terms of fish health, plant health, water quality, etc. has been very satisfying.

 

[Eldachleich]

Anyone got any ingredient lists? Or maybe proportions of meat to fish to shrimp to veggies? What should it contain the most of? The least of? I want them to sink, if not slowly. But don't know if they float or sink.. How could I make them sink?

 

[JRMott]

Is there really a benefit (to the fish) to feeding homemade fish food vs a high quality commercially prepared food such as NLS, Omega, or Kens?

Perhaps there are cost savings if you have many tanks?

 

[DogFish]

When I kept cichlids I would keep a container in the freezer. Every time we had Seafood, I would put of small uncooked portion in the container. I'd have a collection of fish & shellfish to work with. I'd get dehydrated seaweed from the Asian market, or use diced spinach or kale. Toss in in the food processor turning it into baby food goo, put in a zip lock baggie and freeze it. Then break off chunk to feed.

Simple, fast and my fish looked great and were always in great breeding condition. I did fast them once or twice a week for a day and always did weekly water changes.

 

[sick lid]

Fasting is something that a lot of aquarists overlook. I too fast my fish at least once a week. Makes them forage more, and promotes more vigorous feeding, ensuring that little goes uneaten.

 

[Eldachleich]

Fasting is something that a lot of aquarists overlook. I too fast my fish at least once a week. Makes them forage more, and promotes more vigorous feeding, ensuring that little goes uneaten.

I think fasting is super important... I only do it one day a week though... People seem to forget that fish dont get food constantly in the wild..

 

[Eldachleich]

Is there really a benefit (to the fish) to feeding homemade fish food vs a high quality commercially prepared food such as NLS, Omega, or Kens?

Perhaps there are cost savings if you have many tanks?

Theres alot... I made one small tester batch... First off in the long run, its alot cheaper no matter how many tanks you have... my $10 in ingredients would have fed my fish for at least 6 months if not more.. I gave it all away though for people to try.. I wanted feedback.. I have at least a months worth of food though.. All the people I gave it to are having wonderful results as well..
Also you can control what your fish eat which is really nice... And theres a noticeable improvement in just about every aspect of the fish. Plus they go nuuuuuuuts for it... Within a week of feeding my cories my new food they started spawning. Not only that but they became more active and have started taking on noticeable color.. My leopard cories have gone from grey to a nice subdued gold color in a week. Plus again, you can control what they get. But my ultimate reason is because its fun. Why not? Its alot of fun to do, and the results are satisfying.. especially when you see all the fish losing their minds over it.
I guess I could compare it to jam. I make homemade jam, and everyone tells me how wonderful it tastes and how much better than store bought jam it is. With that always comes the comments about how it doesn't have any chemicals or artificial ingredients like store jam. I never bother to tell anyone that there very little difference between my jam and smuckers... They have the same exact ingredients... literally.. go look up a strawberry jam recipe and look at a smuckers label. Same ingredients.. They dont even add preservatives or anything. But mine still taste better. I feel its sort of like that with the fishfood. There's no real difference, but it's better somehow anyways.. well that and I can aboid hose pesky grains that come in alot of fish food..

 

[DogFish]

Is there really a benefit (to the fish) to feeding homemade fish food

Live foods are the best, homemade "RAW"would be next. When ever you start processing food it starts to lose nutritional value add in chemical preservatives and the nutritional value drops again.

 

[sampster5000]

My question is... have any of you seen even a slight difference in overall fish health, appearance, and activity when switching from commercial foods to your home made food recipe? I personally would love to switch to a home made recipe if 1) it saved me a good amount of money and 2) was proven to be much better to the fish when it comes to overall health. Until then I will be sticking to a variety of high quality foods for the majority of my fish with only a select few being fed shrimp and chicken from the grocery store (cichlids). I have moved on from low quality off brand fish food, especially flakes, and have moved to the higher quality foods once I saw proof of why those foods were bad (ex. containing lots of sawdust, fish meal etc).

 

[Eldachleich]

My question is... have any of you seen even a slight difference in overall fish health, appearance, and activity when switching from commercial foods to your home made food recipe? I personally would love to switch to a home made recipe if 1) it saved me a good amount of money and 2) was proven to be much better to the fish when it comes to overall health. Until then I will be sticking to a variety of high quality foods for the majority of my fish with only a select few being fed shrimp and chicken from the grocery store (cichlids). I have moved on from low quality off brand fish food, especially flakes, and have moved to the higher quality foods once I saw proof of why those foods were bad (ex. containing lots of sawdust, fish meal etc).

I would say yes.. it's only been a week and I can already see a major difference... And its huge money saver... Live food are good as mentioned.. I feed them those once a week... But their staple is going ot be switched to this as soon as I make a larger batch... Probably in a month or so when I run out. If you want I can send you some to sample.. As far as shrimp go, Mine just feed of what is left over, because I wanted a scavenger crew... I would research more for shrimp specific food...

 

[mistergreen]

Mine breed more often on home made foods.

 

[DogFish]

... with only a select few being fed shrimp and chicken from the grocery store (cichlids)...

Sounds like you already do know the answer or you wouldn't be feeding your cichlids this way. :biggrin:

It works for ALL fish. Not just "special" ones :wink:

I'd suggest to try beef heart for your cichlids. I used to soft thaw it and cut into chunks. I used a cheese grater to shave off small pcs. for both Africans & Angel fish.

BTW - Cookie Monster...My favorite muppet!!~!

 

[Eldachleich]

I'm so upset about cookie monster... He only eats cookies.. once in a while...
It was horrible to see him destroy celery