Making fish food

[Chriss614]

I would really like to make a my own frozen food with a mixture of different foods to be a staple diet that will provide some variation in diet for all my fish. I currently only have spurilina flakes, some NLS pellets, and some raw frozen shrimp from Walmart. I imagine I need some mysis in my mix and probably plenty more.
My plan would be to find my desired ratio of all the things I want in the food, smash lots of garlic into water and thaw all the frozen foods in it for an hour or two, mix all the dry and frozen foods together with some of the garlic water, and finally put it all in icecube trays and freeze.
Please make your recommendations for what I should mix in and what kind of ratio you think it should be in.

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[Elricsfate]

There is a good bit of speculation by respected and knowledgeable people on these forums that garlic is more or less useless and has no actual beneficial effects in fish.

Just by way of adding my own experience... My wife takes flakes, pellets, frozen Mysis, blood worms, brine shrimp, and anything else I can find, puts it all in a bottle with a little bit of water, shakes it up real good, and stores it in the refrigerator. We then spray some food in each tank at feeding time and put it back in the fridge. We make enough food to last a few days, and when it runs out we make more.

Works fine. Nothing complex or extravagant involved.

 

[Chriss614]

There is a good bit of speculation by respected and knowledgeable people on these forums that garlic is more or less useless and has no actual beneficial effects in fish.

Just by way of adding my own experience... My wife takes flakes, pellets, frozen Mysis, blood worms, brine shrimp, and anything else I can find, puts it all in a bottle with a little bit of water, shakes it up real good, and stores it in the refrigerator. We then spray some food in each tank at feeding time and put it back in the fridge. We make enough food to last a few days, and when it runs out we make more.

Works fine. Nothing complex or extravagant involved.

So you don't freeze the food at all?

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[Elricsfate]

So you don't freeze the food at all?

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We buy the Mysis frozen, and leave the package in the freezer until we make the mix. The mix goes in the fridge, the remaining Mysis stays in the freezer.

But like I said, we don't make gallons of the stuff. We use a plastic squeeze bottle typically used for condiments, and fill it about half way (including the water). That lasts 3-4 days.

If you think about it, you can put ground beef in your fridge and leave it there for a week and then make hamburgers on the weekend. Why wouldn't you be able to store some fish food in the fridge for a few days? I realize eventually the meaty products will go bad, but that's not going to happen in a couple of days.

It's easier IMHo to just stick the tip of the bottle through the egg crate on top of the tank, give it a squeeze, and feed all manner of different foods at one time.

But, like I said, that's just how I do it. Not "the" way, just "a" way.

 

[Chriss614]

We buy the Mysis frozen, and leave the package in the freezer until we make the mix. The mix goes in the fridge, the remaining Mysis stays in the freezer.

But like I said, we don't make gallons of the stuff. We use a plastic squeeze bottle typically used for condiments, and fill it about half way (including the water). That lasts 3-4 days.

If you think about it, you can put ground beef in your fridge and leave it there for a week and then make hamburgers on the weekend. Why wouldn't you be able to store some fish food in the fridge for a few days? I realize eventually the meaty products will go bad, but that's not going to happen in a couple of days.

It's easier IMHo to just stick the tip of the bottle through the egg crate on top of the tank, give it a squeeze, and feed all manner of different foods at one time.

But, like I said, that's just how I do it. Not "the" way, just "a" way.

What mysis do you use?

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[LobsterOfJustice]

Leave the garlic out.

Don't over complicate it. Get a bag of frozen shrimp and a bag of frozen scallops, and run them (while still frozen) over a cheese grater. Ends up with perfect uniform sized chunks. Spoon it into a ziplock bag and lay it flat in the freezer.

I've tried to use a blender in the past and ended up with lots of large chunks, lots of very fine material, and only a small amount of food in the ideal size range.


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[Elricsfate]

What mysis do you use?

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I just buy the frozen cubes available at Petco.

But I like LoJ's cheese grater idea. May try that as well.

 

[Chriss614]

Leave the garlic out.

Don't over complicate it. Get a bag of frozen shrimp and a bag of frozen scallops, and run them (while still frozen) over a cheese grater. Ends up with perfect uniform sized chunks. Spoon it into a ziplock bag and lay it flat in the freezer.

I've tried to use a blender in the past and ended up with lots of large chunks, lots of very fine material, and only a small amount of food in the ideal size range.


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Thanks that sounds like a good idea I think I'll try that. So why do some people say garlic is so good?

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[Elricsfate]

Thanks that sounds like a good idea I think I'll try that. So why do some people say garlic is so good?

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I am not a chemist or fish nutritionist, so I cannot say with scientific certainty. But my impression is that it is simply an urban legend type deal. One person says it because someone else said it...and neither of them knows why.

 

[Chriss614]

I am not a chemist or fish nutritionist, so I cannot say with scientific certainty. But my impression is that it is simply an urban legend type deal. One person says it because someone else said it...and neither of them knows why.

Haha I guess it's not worth adding then. Thanks for letting me know.

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[AlSimmons]

This link might help.

http://melevsreef.com/food.html