Fish food ideas.

[tyler1503]

Hi everyone. I'm looking to improve my homemade fish food recipe. I believe the recipe I use now is nutritious enough, but I want some extra ingredients to help improve colour. I get a great feeding response to this recipe and my fish are fat and healthy, but you can never have too much colour!
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
My recipe now is;
4 prawns/table shrimp.
1 mussel.
3 squid rings.
Part of a flathead fillet about 3 inches square (preferably the flathead, but any white meat ocean fish the store has is good enough).
A cube or 2 of mysis.
A teaspoon of spirulina powder.
1/2 a teaspoon of ground pellets
1/2 a teaspoon of ground flake.
A cube of rotifers (I don't add this now as it's for a fowlr, but when I end up moving some coral into this tank, I'll be adding the rotifers)
I also feed nori separately.
I've heard krill and salmon are great for enhancing colour, but I don't have easy access to krill (my LFS very rarely stocks it and the next LFS is 5 hours away) and salmon is very oily so I imagine it could leave a lot of unwanted nutrients in the water.
I'm interested to know what results people get from from raw crab meat
I'm more interested in foods to improve fish colour as opposed to coral colour, but all suggestions are welcome!
Thanks in advance.

 

[tyler1503]

I also plan on feeding live black worms when I have a large enough fish population, but that may be a while away. Just thought it was worth mentioning

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I've heard krill and salmon are great for enhancing colour, but I don't have easy access to krill (my LFS very rarely stocks it and the next LFS is 5 hours away) and salmon is very oily so I imagine it could leave a lot of unwanted nutrients in the water.

The oil may be undesirable for other reasons, but it doesn't contain much N and P.

 

[tyler1503]

Thanks randy!
After a bit more research it seems the oils are bad for the digestive system. I was under the impression it was good for the fishes digestive system in small doses. I thought it acted as a bit of a lubricant and made it easier for the fish to digest food. Are there any other reasons I should be aware of?
Also, bump for new ingredient ideas!

 

[Triggreef]

Tough to find good food from the market to use in our tanks. After listening to an in depth seminar from Larry's reef frenzy, I gave up on making my own. I bumped up pe mysis feeding, & I feed live black worms once a day. Highly suggest dumping what your doing& getting on the black worm wagon. Seriously i'm feeding about half of what I was & my fish have never been fatter.

 

[tyler1503]

My fish seem very healthy feeding on my mix and as an ex chef, theirs something satisfying about seeing all my fish gobble up all the good stuff I can prepare myself.
With that said, once I have a larger fish population I will be including live black worms as a relatively large part of the diet. I've heard great success stories about using black worms and would love to be able to share my own success story eventually.

 

[Paul B]

I also plan on feeding live black worms when I have a large enough fish population, but that may be a while away. Just thought it was worth mentioning

If you feed the live worms, almost all of that other stuff will not be needed. I feed worms, clams and occasionally Mysis and virtually all my fish except my copperband are spawning some of them are over 20 years old.

The oil may be undesirable for other reasons, but it doesn't contain much N and P.

Oh Randy I hate to do this but I totally dis agree with that. Fish practically live on oil. A fishes liver is about 20% of the fishes weight so when a fish eats another fish, as they usually do, they are getting almost 20% of their meal as fish oil because the liver in a fish is almost all oil. Fish use oil for buoyancy to help their swim bladder but some fish such as sharks use the oil in their liver for all their buoyancy.
See the fry in this picture from the Keys? Those fry make up the majority or fish food on a reef. If you dive you see this constantly. Those fry are more than 20% oil because new born fry have a yolk sack which is all oil. I add fish oil to any dry foods I add to my tank and would never feed anything dry without fish oil on it.
I can't discuss chemistry with you, but fish oiol, that is my thing. I have a degree in fish oil. OK, maybe not. :dizzy:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Oh Randy I hate to do this but I totally dis agree with that.

Disagree with what? I didn't say it was bad for fish. I said it "may be undesirable for other reasons", and what I was thinking of was an oily scum that might get on the water surface, especially if there is no overflow.

 

[redfishbluefish]

You might wish to compare your recipe to the one Eric Borneman published some time ago:


Eric Borneman's Famous Fish/Coral Food Recipe
Fish food and coral food (coral food is liquefied)


Ingredients
- a whole fresh sea fish
- 10 whole shrimp - I squeeze the heads
- 1 pound fresh mussels - cracked and scraped out
- 1 pound fresh clams including clam juice
- 1 8 oz container fresh oysters
- 1-2 fresh or frozen squid, whole
- 1 package frozen sea urchin cubes
- 1 12 oz package artemia (brine shrimp, frozen), thawed
- 6 types of dried seaweed Nori, Wakame, Hijiki, Dulse, Ano, etc.) - available at Whole Foods market, health food stores, Asian markets.
about 2 g. powdered sea greens/antioxidants or immune boost complex
- 2 tbsp. marine flake
- 2 tbsp. VibraGro
- 2 tbsp. powdered spirulina
- 1 tbsp Super Selco


Optional (found frozen in Asian markets)
- ark shells
- periwinkles, etc...


Method
- Blend coarse ingredients in food processor
- Mix in fine ingredients (Artemia, powders, flake, Selco)
- Freeze in flats


Preparation
- Soak the seaweeds in fresh (declorinated) water until soft.
- Thaw all of the frozen ingredients in a bowl.
- Remove shells from all seafood.
- Crush all dry ingedients into a powder. A mortar and pestle is best, but various other kitchen implements (2 spoons, 1 spoon and a -
small plate) can be used.
- Add liquid vitamins to the powdered ingredients.
- Liquify all of the ingredients in a blender.
- Freeze in Ziplock bags in thin flats or in small compartment ice cube trays (cut pieces in half, or quarters for feeding convenience and
store in Ziplock bags after frozen).


Feeding Recommendations


Start by feeding small amounts (1/2 tsp per 50 gallons of system water per day) to begin with. You can gradually increase the amount, until you start to see water quality problems, then back off on the quantity a bit. The food can be administered at night (when most corals actively feed) or with the use of a turkey baster (dissolve the ration in a container of tank water and inject directly onto the corals).


This coral food is pure, high potency nutrition for your corals. Using a high powered protein skimmer in your tank will greatly assist you in keeping the accumulation of uneaten food to a safe level.


This makes a LOT of food...approximately 10-12 quart size Ziploc flats.

 

[Paul B]

Disagree with what? I didn't say it was bad for fish. I said it "may be undesirable for other reasons", and what I was thinking of was an oily scum that might get on the water surface,

OK Randy, you "almost" got me. Some oils like Mobil, and BP will leave a permanent oil slick on your tank, "but" fish oil does not. I don't know why as you are the chemist but I put it right on the surface of my water occasionally and then put flake food right into the slick. I used to do that all the time and it will immediately stop the skimmer, but after a short while that fish oil dissipates completely leaving no trace and if I look back at my 35 year old notes from when I used to do that, the water seemed clearer after it dissipated. I don't know why fish oil does that and other oils don't, but I am sure you do. Maybe because it is organic unlike mineral oils. But it does disappear. Try it. But don't use Mobil oil. :nono:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

OK Randy, you "almost" got me. Some oils like Mobil, and BP will leave a permanent oil slick on your tank, "but" fish oil does not. I don't know why as you are the chemist but I put it right on the surface of my water occasionally and then put flake food right into the slick. I used to do that all the time and it will immediately stop the skimmer, but after a short while that fish oil dissipates completely leaving no trace and if I look back at my 35 year old notes from when I used to do that, the water seemed clearer after it dissipated. I don't know why fish oil does that and other oils don't, but I am sure you do. Maybe because it is organic unlike mineral oils. But it does disappear. Try it. But don't use Mobil oil. :nono:

OK, I'l take your word for it.

 

[Paul B]

No, I think you should try it, then you can tell me why it disappears. I think it may be the next boon for this hobby. :noidea:

 

[tyler1503]

Thanks for the input paul, it was actually your thread on that topic that made me want to try black worms. I understand it's great for the health of the fish, but I want more colour too. Have you noticed any boost in colour since using them?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for the input paul, it was actually your thread on that topic that made me want to try black worms. I understand it's great for the health of the fish, but I want more colour too. Have you noticed any boost in colour since using them?

Probably just turns them black.

 

[tyler1503]

Haha a pure black valentini would be so awesome!
I'm looking to bring out mostly the blues, greens and yellows in my fish.

 

[Rob Top1]

I make my own food as well but in bulk. A pound of this around of that. Have had recent imports go nuts over it. Had an ornate butterfly eatting it an hour after acclimated. Which I thought was cool. So black worms huh...I have always been apprehensive about feeding foods of a non marine origin to my marine fish. Anyone have a link I can check out?

 

[tyler1503]

I make my own food as well but in bulk. A pound of this around of that. Have had recent imports go nuts over it. Had an ornate butterfly eatting it an hour after acclimated. Which I thought was cool. So black worms huh...I have always been apprehensive about feeding foods of a non marine origin to my marine fish. Anyone have a link I can check out?

I don't have enough fish to make mine in bulk. That mix I posted above feeds my fish for about a month a and a half.
I've always had great success getting fish to feed on my mix too. LFS fish, wild caught fish, fish from a friend, they all love it! That's one reason why I don't want to give up on my own mix completely, I just want to improve it. I freeze mine in slabs so I can cut it up at any size to feed any sized fish. I have a 1 inch goby and a 2ft snowflake eel (he only gets this mix if I don't have any fresh squid on hand, which is very rare) that I can feed the same food to. It's cheap, easy and very healthy.
I don't have the link, but Paul B's thread here on R2R about black worms was an interesting read. I'm sure you'll find it pretty easily using the search function.

 

[Paul B]

I understand it's great for the health of the fish, but I want more colour too. Have you noticed any boost in colour since using them?

Virtually all of my fish except the copperband and manta ray are spawning and spawning fish are as healthy as they can be. If they are not spawning or showing spawning behavour they are not very healthy and because of that, not as colorful as they should be. Fish get their best color's when spawning to attract mates. Just like Al Gore invented global warming, I invented black worms. To me, they are the single most important thing in this hobby and if it were not for them. (and Supermodels) I would not be in this hobby. I would probably collect stamps, bungee jump or just argue with Randy. So for the best color and the healthiest fish, feed live blackworms and you can suppliment that with clams. But forget the blender or food processer unless you are making clam chowder (which I made yeaterday).
Freeze the clams whole and shave off paper thin slices. Thats all you need besides worms. Shrimp, octopus, tater tots, calamari, scallops, spam or raymon noodles are not needed.

 

[tyler1503]

Virtually all of my fish except the copperband and manta ray are spawning and spawning fish are as healthy as they can be. If they are not spawning or showing spawning behavour they are not very healthy and because of that, not as colorful as they should be. Fish get their best color's when spawning to attract mates. Just like Al Gore invented global warming, I invented black worms. To me, they are the single most important thing in this hobby and if it were not for them. (and Supermodels) I would not be in this hobby. I would probably collect stamps, bungee jump or just argue with Randy. So for the best color and the healthiest fish, feed live blackworms and you can suppliment that with clams. But forget the blender or food processer unless you are making clam chowder (which I made yeaterday).
Freeze the clams whole and shave off paper thin slices. Thats all you need besides worms. Shrimp, octopus, tater tots, calamari, scallops, spam or raymon noodles are not needed.

But I love the noodles
Thanks for the info paul. I'll definitely be feeding them eventually. The LFS rarely gets live ones in, just freeze dried so it may be a while before I can experiment a bit. I'm too curious to stick to one food long term, but if I have half the success you have, I'll definitely be using them for good.

 

[Paul B]

Forget freeze dried. Almost useless.