Does anyone make their own marine fish food?

[Rmckoy]

Have access to a great Korean grocery with an outstanding fresh sea food selection - all the standard fare and then bonuses like conch.
bought a coffee grinder dedicated to the fish food to keep kitchen gear clean.
Put them up in heavy duty sandwhich bags, but my challenge is getting a consistency friable enough to break off into chips like Rods - have to use a pair of needle nose to get a daily dose
ideas?

Freeze in a freezer bag .
pack in a thin layer not too thick that you can easily break it off
Easy to pack in the freezer too

 

[ajtomase]

Only a little. I also have tangs and butterfly fish. My hippo tang has never seen nori or seaweed and is one of the most beautiful hippo's I have ever seen and this one is a few years old.



My last one lived about 10 years and also never saw nori. Clams are the best food for salt water fish and nothing else is needed. Clams are filter feeders and loaded with minerals including calcium.

Shrimp, octopus, squid, silversides, whitefish and tilapia are not good salt water food choices for a variety of reasons.
Clams also supply needed living bacteria which I feel is why I never have a sick fish and never have to quarantine.

Clams are also the best food for these butterflies. My last hippo also lived about 10 years.
The true statement "Great Success" is only if your fish die of old age and spawn constantly if they are the type of fish that can spawn in tank.



I also have to feed some mysis because that is the only thing my pipefish will eat.

what kind of pipefish is that? really like the colors on it!

 

[CanuckReefer]

@CanuckReefer
Share your recipe ?

Just saw this lol... sure!

Whatever wild caught whitefish is on sale ( NOT Tilapia, Its often, haddock or sole in mine) , wild caught shrimp ( I use Argentine Reds), Rope grown live mussels, Wild caught scallop, Dulse ( a type of red seaweed similar to Two Little Fishes purple, but cheaper in my experience), nori sheets , RODI.

If you dont have mussels clams also a great option.

I encourage wild caught with the shellfish especially, as alot of the stuff you find in supermarkets is loaded with antibiotics from overseas fish farming. If I'm not eating that junk, neither should my fish.

As zoawhat mentions RINSE well in RODI , add ingredients in roughly equal parts to your blender, a bit of RODI ( Judgement call here, for a 3/4 full blender, I would add about a 1/8 to a 1/4 cup) and pulse consistently till you get to a fairly small chunky paste. I dont puree mine completely. I also make sure the wife is out during this process as she gets grossed out by the whole thing lol.

I use small sections of 'plastic egg crate ' the kind you see used in a false ceiling for return air vents etc. A sheet of parchment paper and a small baking pan. Just spoon the paste and smooth it over the egg crate sitting on the parchment paper. Freeze overnight, and whack it like an ice cube tray after. Store in zip locks in freezer.

 

[sfin52]

Freeze in a freezer bag .
pack in a thin layer not too thick that you can easily break it off
Easy to pack in the freezer too

I freeze on cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper freeze cut into cubes place in freezer bags.

 

[Paul B]

what kind of pipefish is that? really like the colors on it!

Janss pipefish.

 

[Bars]

Oh I always like these threads! Despite the smell of pure death when you blend it and slightly less so when feeding, my fish go absolutely nuts for homemade food. I usually buy about $40 of stuff from the Asian market which will easily last me a year feeding ~ 10 mid size fish 3 times a day. Much cheaper than any store bought fish food.

Just made my second batch after a succesful year with the first one. I don't have acces to fresh seafood (and any ''fresh'' food I might be able to get is probably a lot less fresh than frozen I'd guess), so I always get frozen squid, oysters and those huge shrimp. I also make sure to add a bunch of fish eggs, lobster eggs and for this batch I got a few packs of red plankton. Added a bunch of different gross looking fish too this time around. I believe they were yellow croakers and silver pomfret. Not a big fan of those though, as my mixer couldn't slice them up very well. Did remove the heads and fins, but I still find huge chunks of flesh/skin ocassionaly.

Throw everything together, put them in ziplock bags and enjoy the horrendous smell coming from your freezer for a week or so. Seriously, don't mix it anywhere near your house and wear gloves. My hands smelled for hours even after washing multiple times. And ideally use a dedicated freezer, at least until it's frozen.

 

[Miami Reef]

@Paul B

Can you explain why feeding squid is not good?

I personally want to make my own fish food. I like clams and mussels and opting out of shrimp and squid would make me make the switch as I hate looking at those.

 

[homer1475]

@Paul B

Can you explain why feeding squid is not good?

I personally want to make my own fish food. I like clams and mussels and opting out of shrimp and squid would make me make the switch as I hate looking at those.

Sfin52, it;s not that they are bad foods, they are certainly better than dry foods but those foods mentioned all have a little detrimental problem. When you feed squid, octopus or shrimp you are only feeding the muscles of those animals. Thats the parts we Humans eat but most of us are not cold blooded fish. Cold blooded fish need the guts and stomach contents of the food. In the sea, fish eat whole squid, octopus, shrimp and fish.

They need the bones and oil from the fish prey and definitely need the living bacteria in the guts if you want them to be and stay immune from just about everything.

I personally can get whole squid from seafood suppliers, and like using that(but I use the entire whole squid). I also add some TD chromoboost, and algae max pellets, as well as some cut up nori, raw shrimp, PE msysis, PE calanus, whole shelled clams, shelled mussels, and haddock(I have plenty of access to that).

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Only a little. I also have tangs and butterfly fish. My hippo tang has never seen nori or seaweed and is one of the most beautiful hippo's I have ever seen and this one is a few years old.



My last one lived about 10 years and also never saw nori. Clams are the best food for salt water fish and nothing else is needed. Clams are filter feeders and loaded with minerals including calcium.

Shrimp, octopus, squid, silversides, whitefish and tilapia are not good salt water food choices for a variety of reasons.
Clams also supply needed living bacteria which I feel is why I never have a sick fish and never have to quarantine.

Clams are also the best food for these butterflies. My last hippo also lived about 10 years.
The true statement "Great Success" is only if your fish die of old age and spawn constantly if they are the type of fish that can spawn in tank.



I also have to feed some mysis because that is the only thing my pipefish will eat.

Do you ever freeze your clams or do you feed fresh food only? Do you make frozen cubes or blend anything with your clams?

 

[sfin52]

Do you ever freeze your clams or do you feed fresh food only? Do you make frozen cubes or blend anything with your clams?

I freeze in cubes with my other ingredients.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Do you ever freeze your clams or do you feed fresh food only? Do you make frozen cubes or blend anything with your clams?

Same as above. I freeze them first for about an hour so they are easier to defrost for 5 and pop open. Fish love clams!

 

[Paul B]

Can you explain why feeding squid is not good?

It's not that it's not good, but whole foods are much better. The squid you are feeding is just the muscles but the nutrition for fish is in the guts. Shellfish are much better because they are eating the entire animal like they do in the sea.

We Humans eat just the muscle, but most of us are not fish.

 

[J1a]

If you are adventurous, try some fish livers. It's so extremely nutrient dense. Fishes go crazy for those.

Another great option is fish roes. If you can find whole pieces from the markets, it's much fresher and cheaper than bottled varieties.

 

[Koh23]

When i make my mix, ingridients vary based on what fish i can find, but, in every case i buy "whole" fish, meaning that you need to clean it.

So all of gut, blood, organs.... Goes into one mix, all meat goes into antoher...

This "blood" mix turns into paste, very smelly, i dont feed often with this, but when i do..... Everything in tank goes crazy....

Of course, it polutes water a lot, but...worth it i guess...

Still have to try mussel, everytime i go to store - out of stock

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I've made my own foods in the past.
Has anyone ever tried salmon? It is a local fish here and readily available....
Thanks
D

 

[J1a]

When i make my mix, ingridients vary based on what fish i can find, but, in every case i buy "whole" fish, meaning that you need to clean it.

So all of gut, blood, organs.... Goes into one mix, all meat goes into antoher...

This "blood" mix turns into paste, very smelly, i dont feed often with this, but when i do..... Everything in tank goes crazy....

Of course, it polutes water a lot, but...worth it i guess...

Still have to try mussel, everytime i go to store - out of stock

For the internal organs, such as liver, I cut them into smaller pieces rather than blend them. Much cleaner and easier to feed imo.

Live mussels are really good. I would avoid any refrigerated ones just to avoid any preservative.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

It's not that it's not good, but whole foods are much better. The squid you are feeding is just the muscles but the nutrition for fish is in the guts. Shellfish are much better because they are eating the entire animal like they do in the sea.

We Humans eat just the muscle, but most of us are not fish.

What about aquaman

 

[Duncan62]

Does any one make there own marine fish food
I was thinking about trying it
But wasn’t sure what to put in it or
If it would be cheaper to just buy it from the fish store
Thanks in advance

Many years ago I made plakes from krill and algea. Kept brine shrimp growing. It was a lot of trouble but necessary. There are so many quality and affordable foods available now I'll buy a big part of mine. Go to the fish market. Frozen seafood and a grater makes a nice treat for everyone.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Gotta love those Mussels!