Homemade Fish Food Ideas (DIY)

[Roachbeef19]

I use to make my own food and I'm going to again after watching brs do their homemade food. There way is hands down the best I seen

 

[Steffg]

So I have a couple of questions. Why is everyone just using fish fillets and not the whole fish, organs and all? So I make my own raw dog food, and one of the first things I was taught in that group was that organ meat is the most important thing to add to your food. It has the most vitamins and minerals in it. It's the healthiest. So my question is this. Is there a reason not to use WHOLE fish?

 

[Isaac Alves]

Has anyone tried to create something similar to MASSTICK? I've been doing something like it by using unused pellets and coral foods and using a mortar to mash up then soak them in selcon and garlic. With the right consistency, the mash tends to harden a bit. But I'd like to use something like Agar powder to make it more solidified so that it lasts longer in the water.

 

[Futuretotm]

So I have a couple of questions. Why is everyone just using fish fillets and not the whole fish, organs and all? So I make my own raw dog food, and one of the first things I was taught in that group was that organ meat is the most important thing to add to your food. It has the most vitamins and minerals in it. It's the healthiest. So my question is this. Is there a reason not to use WHOLE fish?

Anyone have any views on this? I catch fish all the time and would love to grind up everything minus the intestines perhaps...

 

[Isaac Alves]

Anyone have any views on this? I catch fish all the time and would love to grind up everything minus the intestines perhaps...

Are bones an issue? I'm assuming the Fishermen folk know hot to de-bone quickly. I have no idea.

 

[Steffg]

Are bones an issue? I'm assuming the Fishermen folk know hot to de-bone quickly. I have no idea.

I wouldn't think so based on my experience with raw feeding my dog.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Bumping this up! These are always fun!

 

[marin8n]

I've done the puree/ice cube trays plenty of times but now I just buy the mysis cubes and throw in pieces of frozen seafood as a snack for the angels/triggers. Wild fork, whole foods, and several others sell a pack of seafood/shell fish variety with no seasoning or additives, wild caught for a very reasonable price.

 

[CavalierReef]

I found this mixed package of sea food and thought it might be a good starter for a diy food. Aqua Star Uncooked Seafood Mix, 14 oz it contains Octopus, squid, shrimp, clams or mussels. Wal Mart carries it here in my area.

GregAW, I've used that blend with added Selcon and garlic.

 

[SantaMonica]

Don't forget you can freeze algae and feed it back when needed:



Of course, you can also just feed fresh.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I think this post from 2012? I don't know.. I like old school.

 

[Treefer32]

I follow the BRS recipe for homemade food. I don't like how liquidy the blender or food processor does. So, I use a cheese grater attachment on my kitchen mixer. I make sure all ingredients stay frozen and use some brute force pressing frozen seafood into the cheese grater to get fine chunks of meat, vs. liquified meat.

I use Costco for seafood - frozen raw scallops, shrimp, and maho ahi tuna.

I mix in a container of freeze dried Mysis to soak up the juices from the seafood. Fish eggs from BRS, amino acids, two bottles of selcon, broken up nori by hand, and a few other things for fish and coral coloration. I place the mixture all completely frozen into gallon baggies and weigh it. It's about 16 oz (1lb) per gallon baggie when flattened and thin enough to break off chunks. I've been doing this 2 years now and it works well, My fish love it. It has something for everyone and the aminos are probably just the right amount for the corals. I haven't found any fish that don't like it. My copperband loves it. I used to feed the frozen frozen reef frenzy stuff, and tried a month ago and my copperband wouldn't touch it. He's become a seafood snob for only my seafood mix.

 

[Felicitacs]

So unusual idea with Nori. How do you use such bricketes?

 

[Treefer32]

So unusual idea with Nori. How do you use such bricketes?

I'm not sure the question? I flatten out into freezer bags, just like Rods Food or Reef Frenzy frozen foods and break off tear chunks out of the baggie. The Nori pieces are embedded in the flattened food providing flavor and and nutrients to the other food and visa versa. Once in the water the Chunks of Nori break up further and my tangs love hunting for them and scooping them out of the water column. Works really well.

 

[GradientHurdle]

Step 1 Chop Nori, get from your local Asian Food store
CHOP CHOP

Hello. I am researching ways to make homemade fish food for my mixed reef tank. I really like your process and was wondering if you ever introduced a binder such as gelatin to make a cube? Thank you, Jared

 

[SantaMonica]

Gelatin will add nutrients to the water, without adding usable fish food. Although maybe it might feed some dissolved particles to the corals.

 

[GradientHurdle]

I originally learned of this idea watching this video...note 7:30 spot. There has been several threads that using Agar as a binder would not release unwanted nutrients. I have searched quite extensively to find a feeding system similar to this.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Asian Food Stores are your best places to find food from the sea. They had Lotto Stores in Virginia, one time I found live Tropical Red Macro Algae in the store. Tangs went nuts over this, their colors got so vivid you almost need sun glasses to watch them. At craft stores they have these little plastic containers that hold about a half teaspoon, with airtight plastic lids. They will hold frozen food for a very long time in the freezer. Also on Amazon;

240 Pieces Empty Paint Pot, Caffox 40 Strips Acrylic Mini Paint Container Strips Storage with Lids for Classrooms School Arts and Crafts Paint (3ml/ 0.1oz)​

 

[Projects with Sam]

My WholeFoods Seafood Medley Fish Food Recipe (this time)

This is my WholeFoods Seafood Medley fish food recipe. I make it enough and its easy enough to do a thread on it. Ingredients (in order of use): 5 Nori Sheets 1 Tsp. Spirulina Powder 1 Tsp. Rotifer Powder 2 Tsp. Copepod Powder 1 Lbs. WholeFoods Seafood Medley (1/2 the bag) 6 squirts - Selcon...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Treefer32]

Blended sea food is interesting. Wasn't sure if there's actually much for the fish to eat if it's liquified. But I have larger fish that could fit a whole fish in their belly, so blended microscopic food wouldn't be beneficial for them.

I use a cheese grater attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer. I keep all sea food frozen and run it through the cheese grater. This keeps the food from liquifying and it comes out as flakes. There's two sizes if of graters. I run shrimp, scallops, and tuna (raw and frozen) through the cheese grater into disposable aluminum trays. I keep ice under the tray that receives said frozen food. Then manually tear up nori, I add 1-2 bottles of selcon, some aminos, a couple cap fulls of powdered food from BRS to add color to the food and the fish. And then I add some type of oyster feast, fish eggs, something small for smaller fish as well as Benepet coral food. I usually do a freeze dried food of some type. My fish seem to like freeze dried mysis. (a whole container).

I Then mix all ingreadents gently into the frozen food so as not to crush the freeze drived food. Then I use gallon freezer bags and gently place on a scale. A 1 gallon freezer bag easily holds 16 oz (1lb) of food and I flatten it into a flat pack and place in freezer immediately before it thaws too much.

I've done 6-8 lbs, up to 16 lbs of this at once in a 3-4 hour period.

Rod's food is $18 for 6 oz (plus shipping). I do mine for around $25 for 16 oz. I save easily $400-600 a year by spending 3-4 making my own food.