How do you prep your fish food ?

[PJS]

A few months ago I decided to get a ATS for the tank. About the same time I was contemplating ways to portion out the fish food mixture in a more consistent way. I take a large flat of mysis, a small flat of bloodworms and put them in my tupperware container, once thawed I add garlic extract, Zoe and Selcon. I mix that all up and (had been) splitting the mix up in to two ziplock freezer bags and let them freeze flat, once frozen I would take a meat tenderizer hammer and bust them up. It worked but it was too easy to be inconsistent in how much I thawed each day to feed. Now I take the mixture and fill these candy trays, just to the top of the green, I got from the gettin' place and have the same size of "cube" to feed every day. Works very well.

I'm curious to see how other reefers are prepping their fish food...

 

[Sabellafella]

A few months ago I decided to get a ATS for the tank. About the same time I was contemplating ways to portion out the fish food mixture in a more consistent way. I take a large flat of mysis, a small flat of bloodworms and put them in my tupperware container, once thawed I add garlic extract, Zoe and Selcon. I mix that all up and (had been) splitting the mix up in to two ziplock freezer bags and let them freeze flat, once frozen I would take a meat tenderizer hammer and bust them up. It worked but it was too easy to be inconsistent in how much I thawed each day to feed. Now I take the mixture and fill these candy trays I got from the gettin' place and have the same size of "cube" to feed every day. Works very well.

I'm curious to see how other reefers are prepping their fish food...

Ill buy flat packs of lrs, pe, and brine. Then the good ol pantry knife to make some cubes. Instead of having to keep opening the packages(to freezer burn) ill chop up a weeks worth at a time, tossed in some sealed containers. But those candy trays work great!

 

[PJS]

Ill buy flat packs of lrs, pe, and brine. Then the good ol pantry knife to make some cubes. Instead of having to keep opening the packages(to freezer burn) ill chop up a weeks worth at a time, tossed in some sealed containers. But those candy trays work great!

You just inspired a thought. I should take a weeks worth out of the big ziplock to keep in the kitchen freezer and put the big bag in the deep freeze to avoid the freezer burn syndrome! Thanks my reefer brother!

 

[Sabellafella]

You just inspired a thought. I should take a weeks worth out of the big ziplock to keep in the kitchen freezer and put the big bag in the deep freeze to avoid the freezer burn syndrome! Thanks my reefer brother!

Your welcome! Yea if what your making last quite a while, then deffinitly should use a freezer bag. I get about 2 and a half months from my prefered foods. So theyll be sitting opened/stored in the freezer for a bit untill its all eaten

 

[Lionfish Lair]

These things are wonderful.

 

[Sabellafella]

These things are wonderful.

OH WOW! amazon? I was using my regular heat seal bar for a while but my meats come first lol!

 

[PJS]

These things are wonderful.

I'm all over that! Thanks Renee!

 

[laga77]

FYI, bloodworms are insect larvae and are not natural food source of marine fish. They are very low in protein and also no fat. Guaranteed Analysis:Crude Protein6.0% minCrude Fat0.5% minCrude Fiber0.9% maxMoisture89.0% maxPhosphorous0.01% min. There is always a debate about garlic, but the active ingredient that makes garlic so good is Allicin. Which has a chemical half life of 11 days. Any extract bought off the shelf is going to contain very little if any. All the vitamins fish need can be found in fresh seafood from the store. Chopped up clams, oysters, shrimp, squid, and salmon are all great. Nori can be added also. I use a food processor, freeze into cubes and store in bags. Mysis and fish eggs are also great. Look into PE mysis brand. They are very high in oil content.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Actually, black worms have a pretty good nutritional ranking.

Elissen, H., Hendrickx, T., Temmink, H., Laarhoven, B., & Buisman, C. (2015). Worm-it: converting organic wastes into sustainable fish feed by using aquatic worms. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed, 1(1), 67-74.

 

[laga77]

a small flat of bloodworms and put them in my tupperware container,

I'm curious to see how other reefers are prepping their fish food...

Frozen bloodworms are not the same as black worms. I feed black worms daily. Sometimes black worms are called bloodworms but they are not the same. Two different things. I also keep cultures of live white worms which I like better because they will live for days in SW as compared to 10 seconds for black worms. White worms are very labor intensive to collect and feed.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Just saying not all "worms" are created equal and blackworms are an awesome addition. You can add stuff to their water and they "absorb" it. At that time you can even freeze them.

 

[revhtree]

Nice thread!

 

[Jizu Puentes]

This is what I put in my latest batch. I didnt add garlic this time or coral food. I thaw all of this in a bowl, give it a good stir, then spoon it back into the plastic cubes. The extra is put into bags and frozen flat. When I feed I thaw one cube, mix in flakes and sometimes mix in pellets.

 

[FFKiwi]

A few months ago I decided to get a ATS for the tank. About the same time I was contemplating ways to portion out the fish food mixture in a more consistent way. I take a large flat of mysis, a small flat of bloodworms and put them in my tupperware container, once thawed I add garlic extract, Zoe and Selcon. I mix that all up and (had been) splitting the mix up in to two ziplock freezer bags and let them freeze flat, once frozen I would take a meat tenderizer hammer and bust them up. It worked but it was too easy to be inconsistent in how much I thawed each day to feed. Now I take the mixture and fill these candy trays, just to the top of the green, I got from the gettin' place and have the same size of "cube" to feed every day. Works very well.

I'm curious to see how other reefers are prepping their fish food...

Hey PJS- where is this place u see the little candy trays? =)

 

[4FordFamily]

Here's what I do!

 

[PJS]

FYI, bloodworms are insect larvae and are not natural food source of marine fish. They are very low in protein and also no fat. Guaranteed Analysis:Crude Protein6.0% minCrude Fat0.5% minCrude Fiber0.9% maxMoisture89.0% maxPhosphorous0.01% min. There is always a debate about garlic, but the active ingredient that makes garlic so good is Allicin. Which has a chemical half life of 11 days. Any extract bought off the shelf is going to contain very little if any. All the vitamins fish need can be found in fresh seafood from the store. Chopped up clams, oysters, shrimp, squid, and salmon are all great. Nori can be added also. I use a food processor, freeze into cubes and store in bags. Mysis and fish eggs are also great. Look into PE mysis brand. They are very high in oil content.

And this is why I love R2R!
Well it appears that I've been misinformed again , thanks for the information.

 

[PJS]

Just saying not all "worms" are created equal and blackworms are an awesome addition. You can add stuff to their water and they "absorb" it. At that time you can even freeze them.

So what you are saying is that the bloodworms that I've been adding, at most, are soaking in the Zoe and Selcon giving the fish some, if any, nutrition?

 

[PJS]

This is what I put in my latest batch. I didnt add garlic this time or coral food. I thaw all of this in a bowl, give it a good stir, then spoon it back into the plastic cubes. The extra is put into bags and frozen flat. When I feed I thaw one cube, mix in flakes and sometimes mix in pellets.

You've given me several ideas for my next batch, thanks for sharing!

 

[PJS]

Hey PJS- where is this place u see the little candy trays? =)

I got those sweet candy molds at Meijer's, for less than $2 per. They have different shapes but the green ones are the simple round ones I was looking for.

 

[laga77]

Just my $.02. I have 6 tanks,54 fish, and have not lost a fish to disease in 5 years. 5 years ago, I stopped using flake and pellet food and only feed live, fresh, and frozen foods. And nori. Too much crap in dry food.