# home made fish food



## NatureBoy (3 Aug 2013)

After watching a bored bleeding heart tetra eat a passing bit of vegetation the other day, it made me wonder whether my fish were getting their 5 a day.

I also think I overdid the free live food from my water butt this summer - novelty of having tons of daphnia and mosquito larvae.

On a hunch I defrosted a frozen pea, de-shelled it and dropped it in the tank. The fish went ballistic with the pea changing owner between the diamond tetras and the bleeding hearts. Spurred on I tried a bit of frozen spinach and sure enough every fish was tearing at the wilted greens.

Fast forward a couple of days and a bit of research and here is my homemade fish supper designed to entice, enhance colour, and give a balanced satisfying meal:-

about 15 raw frozen tiger prawns (sustainable apparently)
a smelly handful of raw white fish scraps from fish monger
an even smellier cup full of dried shrimps from thai grocers (boiled for a while to remove salt and rehydrate)
1 anchovy fillet, again soaked in hot water to remove any salt
two sheets of nori sushi sea weed
three table spoons of frozen petis pois
two table spoons frozen sweet corn
two nuggets of frozen spinach
about a third of a courgette (blanched)
a small chunk of iceberg lettuce to taste (blanched)
2 cloves of garlic (blanched)
2 teaspoons of normal paprika
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1 sachet of Dr Oetker gelatine to bind and set it all
Whizz up the food stuff in a food processor, makes about a pint, then add the gelatine following packet instructions, leave to set in a baking tray or something in the fridge.

As I was making it, I tested the mix by putting a tiny bit it the tank and they went ballistic for it.

I'll take some pics or maybe a video of the feeding frenzy, and hopefully some vibrant and healthy fish soon.

A satisfying process that I'm sure many of you do, but was a first for me and feel like I've had a break through moment with my fish keeping these last few days .


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## oldbloke (3 Aug 2013)

It's a fair point.
i have caught roach and rudd on blanket weed.


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## NatureBoy (3 Aug 2013)

oldbloke said:


> It's a fair point.
> i have caught roach and rudd on blanket weed.


 
yeah and roach love a bit of sweet corn


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## oldbloke (3 Aug 2013)

NatureBoy said:


> yeah and roach love a bit of sweet corn


 
They certainly do, as do a lot of other fish.


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## oldbloke (4 Aug 2013)

Have you tasted this?
Made into little cakes and fried, a couple of new potatoes, a small serving of sauce tartare............


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## NatureBoy (4 Aug 2013)

oldbloke said:


> Have you tasted this?
> Made into little cakes and fried, a couple of new potatoes, a small serving of sauce tartare............


 
you could do I reckon - I've just made the batch into little patties and put them in the freezer, they look like fritters ready to go!

I've got enough for about six months I reckon and for the ingredients used it cost about £4-5 quid. They went mad for it again today, kind of hoovering it up bait ball style


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## NatureBoy (7 Aug 2013)

All I can say is this recipe is having a dramatic effect on the fish! I was feeding new life spectrum before but I never saw the depth of colours that are coming out on the bleeding heart tetras - deep reds and purples depending on the light.

please excuse the quality of the photos as just trying to quickly get the colours across. fish are super active at the moment and all a bit of a blur, but there is a vibrancy that was never there before. 

After only four days of feeding exclusively the homemade food, I'm seeing loads more energy in the fish too, they have energy to burn, and spend it displaying their new colours to each other! Can't wait to see where the colours etc go, but also hoping it brings on a bit of breeding behaviour.


















Like I say terrible quality pics  but hopefully you can see the colours coming through.


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## ghostsword (7 Aug 2013)

I learned something today.. And will be sharing this recipe with the world.. Superb.


___________________________
Luis 
@ghostsword


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## LancsRick (7 Aug 2013)

I fully understand the protein mix with the veg, but any reason for quite such an extravagant selection and the spices?


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## NatureBoy (7 Aug 2013)

ghostsword said:


> I learned something today.. And will be sharing this recipe with the world.. Superb.
> 
> 
> ___________________________
> ...


 
wow cheers! The thinking was to put through a range of carotenoids rather than focus on say astaxanthin solely. There should be astaxanthin from the prawns and dried shrimp, but I wanted to also add paprika as evidence suggests this can have a greater effect on hues....and is super cheap! 
This article provides a strong case to support use of paprika...
Effects of Oleoresin Paprika (Capsicum annum) and Synthetic Carotenoids (Canthaxantin and Astaxanthin) on Pigmentation Levels and Growth in Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss W.


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## NatureBoy (7 Aug 2013)

...the turmeric was just a hunch...


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## ale36 (7 Aug 2013)

i think we need to see the Finish product!!


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## Ady34 (7 Aug 2013)

ale36 said:


> i think we need to see the Finish product!!


 
i think he needs to package it and sell it 
Natureboy, your bleeding hearts look stunning.


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## tim (7 Aug 2013)

Nice recipie  your fish do look good for it, doesn't turmeric have antibacterial properties, will have to try this myself.


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## NatureBoy (7 Aug 2013)

Ady34 said:


> i think he needs to package it and sell it
> Natureboy, your bleeding hearts look stunning.


 
Thanks - they truly are a beautiful fish - and they know it! they spend all day showing off to each other...
thing is, I reckon their colours are going to get even more intense, will keep you posted...


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## NatureBoy (7 Aug 2013)

tim said:


> Nice recipie  your fish do look good for it, doesn't turmeric have antibacterial properties, will have to try this myself.


 
i believe so, turmeric is something of a wonder stuff by all accounts. I was principally interested in its carotenoid, curcumin, as a potential colour enhancer. The only thing I've read as a caution is it may restrict blood vessels, but used sparingly and i reckon its fine.


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## NatureBoy (9 Aug 2013)

I got home today and saw the fish looking mega dandy, every day their colours are improving more and more, this is a week into home made food. They were quite a timid fish up to last week, but now they are super confident. The neons were spawning yesterday morning also, which is awesome, though I think they were snacking on the eggs immediately after. This is in moderately hard water.


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## Gill (9 Aug 2013)

a few friends feed frozen spinach to their fish and they go mad for it.
Tempted to have a go at this.


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## sciencefiction (9 Aug 2013)

Oh, that's great stuff. The fish are looking really great. I'd love to try that someday.
I only got to the point of smashing some blanched garlic with microwaved peas and the fish went mad for it before their faces cringed after a go at the garlic parts.


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## Ady34 (10 Aug 2013)

This is what we want to see. Super conditioned fish living in our lush green tanks....the ideal combo 
Do you think this food will be ok long term or more of a conditioner? Are you feeding once, twice or more times a day?
Really tempted to make some and see the effects for myself, is there any science behind the concoction, or just what you thought would be a good idea?
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Gill (10 Aug 2013)

Think, I will Add Some of the Live foods I am Growing as well. And some Live Mealworms instead of the fish. And maybe some Crickets and grubs.


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## NatureBoy (10 Aug 2013)

Gill said:


> Think, I will Add Some of the Live foods I am Growing as well. And some Live Mealworms instead of the fish. And maybe some Crickets and grubs.


 
Sounds good! I'm sure they'd go mad for the tweaks, just make sure the live foods come from a safe source as one of the priorities of my choices was to limit any possibility of introducing intestinal parasites / pathogens, etc.

Go easy on the garlic! like for humans, a little goes a long way


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## NatureBoy (10 Aug 2013)

Ady34 said:


> This is what we want to see. Super conditioned fish living in our lush green tanks....the ideal combo
> Do you think this food will be ok long term or more of a conditioner? Are you feeding once, twice or more times a day?
> Really tempted to make some and see the effects for myself, is there any science behind the concoction, or just what you thought would be a good idea?
> Cheerio,
> Ady.


 
Hi, my intention is to use this food long term - it's meant to be balanced and provide a rich staple diet, if anyone reading this has any doubts or concerns about this please chip in!

The choices I made were based on science and lot of research of what people are already doing (discus breeders / cichlid owners / top end flake and pellet manufacturers: all looking to maximise pigmentation and conditioning), a bit of my own experience, and a bit of _kandokoro_ (Takashi Amano uses this word to describe the moment where you have a bit of a breakthrough with your thinking).

Another goal was to use ingredients that could be obtained all year and had a minimal risk of introducing intestinal parasites, etc

I also wanted to see if I could gather all the ingredients on one trip up the high street rather than rely on expensive supplements, in this regard I was keen to use nori seaweed, frozen spinach, frozen peas, frozen sweetcorn, paprika, turmeric and naturally occurring anstaxathin (prawns / dried shrimp) to achieve a "rainbow" of carotenoids rather than say spend all my money on spirulina / and anstaxathin supplements (I'm sure they are both awesome). The overall mix seeks to provide the proteins, carbs, oils, vitamins and minerals that they need at a freshness and taste level that would be hard to match from a top end pellet / flake.


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## bluemoon280 (10 Aug 2013)

Quick question,  are you keeping this frozen or just in the fridge?
Not sure how long it would keep defrosted? 
Regards


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## NatureBoy (10 Aug 2013)

bluemoon280 said:


> Quick question, are you keeping this frozen or just in the fridge?
> Not sure how long it would keep defrosted?
> Regards


 
It's frozen, and squashed into a stack of thin pancakes, each one it a little sandwich bag, it's really simple that way to snap off the size you require. The gelatine gives it just that extra bind to stop it breaking apart until the fish tear into it.


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## ale36 (11 Aug 2013)

Still wanting pictures


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## Fern (15 Aug 2013)

I followed your 'recipe', I put the mixture in ice cube trays that have mini sized compartments, froze it, then put the little cubes into a freezer bag. Defrost when needed and put in tank, my fish love it! Thank you!
Fern


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## ale36 (15 Aug 2013)

I want to see pictures!!!!


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## dean (16 Aug 2013)

I used a similar recipe for years in my fish house, never had any problems everything bred from Discus to tanganyikans  
I altered the mix depending on the fish, I had one with more fish meat/prawns in than the other had more veg.
You can knock up a kilo of this great food for a lot less than commercially available foods 
I put it in large self seal backs about 500g per bag, spread it to all corners so it was less than 5mm thick (easy to break pieces of) then just stack the bags on top of each other to get them flat.
Last 6 months easily in the freezer
If you want alternative recipe just google "shrimp mix" you will probably end up on a cichlid site
Just a word of warning
"Use the blender when the other half is out for the day and give it a good soak to get rid of the fishy smell"


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## ltsai (16 Aug 2013)

I started experimenting with mine too. They seem to love it especially the angel, gourami and betta. 

Can't wait to use up the rest of my commercial food and start my own.


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## dean (16 Aug 2013)

One stop shop - good oriental grocers I love wing yip in Manchester


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## NatureBoy (16 Aug 2013)

dean said:


> I used a similar recipe for years in my fish house, never had any problems everything bred from Discus to tanganyikans
> I altered the mix depending on the fish, I had one with more fish meat/prawns in than the other had more veg.
> You can knock up a kilo of this great food for a lot less than commercially available foods
> I put it in large self seal backs about 500g per bag, spread it to all corners so it was less than 5mm thick (easy to break pieces of) then just stack the bags on top of each other to get them flat.
> ...


 

Ha, I pretended I was making thai fishcakes! It makes sense to alter the veg / protein mix depending on type I think I've got "meat and two veg" community fish. It's great to hear your recipe served you well even breeding discus...definitely makes me confident to stay on this path. cheers


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## dean (17 Aug 2013)

It's good stuff
Ideal if you go on holiday
Brake it up to into the size you want fed and any non fish keeper can feed your fish without over feeding


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## dean (17 Aug 2013)

If you need it very fine then grate the fish while its frozen


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## Crossocheilus (24 Jul 2014)

Hmm this is interesting, I tried something like this a while back, using about 2 parts veg to 1 part meat but the fish seemed uninterested. This was copper harlequins and pearl gouramis. Surely in the wild these fish eat mainly live foods such as bloodworm and mosquito larvae and supplement that with a bit of algae so it would make sense to feed a predominantly fish based food. I may well be completely wrong but that was my experience and thinking,  but I can't deny your bleeding hearts look great.


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## NatureBoy (24 Jul 2014)

Crossocheilus said:


> Hmm this is interesting, I tried something like this a while back, using about 2 parts veg to 1 part meat but the fish seemed uninterested. This was copper harlequins and pearl gouramis. Surely in the wild these fish eat mainly live foods such as bloodworm and mosquito larvae and supplement that with a bit of algae so it would make sense to feed a predominantly fish based food. I may well be completely wrong but that was my experience and thinking,  but I can't deny your bleeding hearts look great.


copper harlequins go mad for the recipe i posted too, I'd love to try on discus too


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## Crossocheilus (24 Jul 2014)

Perhaps I should retry using this recipe, it is proven to work


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## NatureBoy (28 Jul 2014)

This video  takes homemade fish food to another level! It's quite long winded, and weirdly edited, but the detail and insight is awesome. I'll certainly be incorporating the ideas into my next batch...


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## mattb180 (17 Aug 2014)

Really interesting video. 

I have given this a go this week. I made mine with squid, prawns, sardine and mussels. Added a small amount of paprika. I have noticed a slight improvement in colour and my CPD's were spawning this morning so could have something to do with it.

It was very interesting to find out that vegetarian fish actually only eat algae etc for the protein contained within from microorganisms. In that case I am guessing that adding spirulina etc to homemade fish food would be quite pointless!


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (17 Aug 2014)

I've just bought some repashy powder the other day. Looks good and has some decent ingredients. 

Anyone else use the community plus one?


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (17 Aug 2014)




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