Fish-food economics

[katt]

yes best done alone.....

Ok, will see if we have V-8 here, if not will find something with goodness in it.

[Batch]

I can make a nice dinner for myself with what's on the table there.

Yes, that's because it's all food for human consumption. It's just that once prepped for the fish you might not find it so appealing.

Here's how:

http://www.loaches.com/articles/home-co ... n-fishfood

Martin.

Actually it looked good to me. Have you tried it over pasta? Tho maybe I'd use tomato sause rather than the V8.

Batch

[andyroo]

My cousin in Edmonton used to make his own in the early '80s. I remember he had a problem with a freezer-burned batch and lost a lot of fish before he realized where the problem was.

Questions:
1) to avoid the liver or cook the liver seperately could you avoid cooking all together? Many nutrients/vitamins broken down in cooking and freezing.
2) i worry about feeding potentially frozen-in-the-middle pieces to larger fish who might/will swallow the ice. What possibillities could avoid freezing all together? Smaller batches? Salt (for marine fish)? Vodka? (':wink:')
3) any thoughts on using egg in the mix? I always thought of an egg as a big snail- a blob of protein and fat surrounded by CaCo3 shell.
4) put mix into ice-trays for single feedings/packaging?

[andyroo]

next question:
what about type of fih-meat used? Olier versus drier?
Nutrition vs mess.
Smelts, herring, tinned salmon, tuna?
And of course nothing of an unsustainable harvest.
Carp for the fishermen/fishermen's neighbours among us? Cooked for pathogens.
In terms of cost, if you've got a heavy-duty blender you can get fish heads for soups etc... for cheep.
Also cheep are frozen 1kg blocks of squid, particularly from a bait store.

[Diana]

I have used:
Canned Salmon (Worst batch ever- fish did not like it)
Tinned Sardines (in water- still using these)
Frozen mixed shellfish sort of stuff (Still using it)

Smaller batches would probably keep in the fridge for a week, but maybe not. I think you would lose the economy of this method, unless you were prepared to use the remaining ingredients somehow (people food...) or had enough tanks that a reasonably priced batch could be fed before it spoiled.

How about storing it frozen, then defrosting it overnight in the fridge? Those thin sheets ought to defrost all the way through that fast. Maybe freeze it in smaller bags, a 'one meal' size (Whatever that is for your tanks)

I tried reusing the frozen bloodworm (or whatever) cubed trays. The food I made had too many lumps in it, and would not settle into the cubes. More blending would have fixed this.

Food proscesser works pretty well, too.

[mistergreen]

My cousin in Edmonton used to make his own in the early '80s. I remember he had a problem with a freezer-burned batch and lost a lot of fish before he realized where the problem was.

what problem can come from freezer burn besides tasting weird?

eggs sounds good especially fish eggs.. If you buy a whole fish you might get roe you can feed the fish.

[Martin Thoene]

Here's a couple of vids of my tasting commitee at work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldN6XivD988

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-e-dKrbvRk

Martin.

[Mad Duff]

Great vids Martin

eggs sounds good especially fish eggs.. If you buy a whole fish you might get roe you can feed the fish.

I have just started getting frozen lobster eggs for my loaches and they love them

[Jim Powers]

I'm guessing from the looks of it, there isn't a problem cleaning up uneaten food.
I have got to go get me a blender.

[Martin Thoene]

As you can see, they go completely nuts (and actually these vids aren't the really crazy examples I have seen) and break the food up and swish it around. It can get like a mini snow-storm occasionally. Once they get the big bits they'll all go around searching for the little bits. There's also a bunch of Corydoras in there so they go after all the small stuff.

Generally, the tank looks spotless within 15 minuites.

Martin.

[katt]

those vids say`s it all.....

I`ve been feeding a fish, shrimp, veg mix. ( broccoli, carrots, shelled peas.)
And it`s soon done. So come next week I will be trying your`s.

Thank`s again for sharing.

If people are getting freezer burn food, then there not packageing it right.

[mistergreen]

Great vids Martin

eggs sounds good especially fish eggs.. If you buy a whole fish you might get roe you can feed the fish.

I have just started getting frozen lobster eggs for my loaches and they love them

Oh man,
They're going to expect lobster eggs everytime they see you.

ps. I'm going to try this using agar agar instead of gelatin. It solidifies at room temperature and is more sturdy. I was thinking it could be chopped up to feeding portions before freezing would make things easier.

[Diana]

Package it in the large flat bags, per Martin's instructions. Let it set up sort of halfway.
Then press something into the bag to create score joints where you will later break it apart.
What you use to score it will need to be thin, but not sharp. You are creating long, thin dents in the semi-frozen material without tearing the bag. The back of a knife might work.

[Martin Thoene]

That's a good idea Diana. andyroo, I don't believe that oily fish would be a good idea. I can see that giving problems in the aquarium.

Martin.

[mistergreen]

Package it in the large flat bags, per Martin's instructions. Let it set up sort of halfway.
Then press something into the bag to create score joints where you will later break it apart.
What you use to score it will need to be thin, but not sharp. You are creating long, thin dents in the semi-frozen material without tearing the bag. The back of a knife might work.

I was thinking of the same thing

There are lots of variations we can make off this. I'm not sure about the v8 though (acid). Tilapia is a pretty cheap fish to use. And I'm growing snails. I wonder if I should put them in the blender too. ewww.
They are apple/escargot type snails though... I rather enjoy escargot myself.