Does anyone on here make their own homemade food mixtures??

[whodeydan76]

Does anyone on here make their own home made fresh fish food and then freeze it? If so what ingredients do you start with? I am looking to save a little dough here and there. This is close to the most expensive hobby I have ever been a part of. lol

[cloak]

Check this out.

http://www.melevsreef.com/food.html

[kabe87]

I used to. But I too little won't mix up well... and if I make the recipes online, that's way too much and I end up throwing more than half of it. Anyways, as for the recipe. I think it had salmon, shrimps, broccoli, carrots, garlic, mussel, nori some vitamins and pellets.

[Susan Lohrer]

I buy mixed seafood from the grocery store (shrimp, fish, oysters, and squid, I think) and whiz it in the blender with some water then freeze it on a cookie sheet. Everyone in my tank likes it. I have to give an extra piece to my hermit crab or he steals it from the pencil urchin. I feed a little of that or some mysis every couple of days, but mostly I use flake food because it's easier and probably more balanced.

[klwheat]

I do. We start with the frozen seafood mix from Costco (calamari, scallops, muscles, shrimp) add some frozen various fish, some garlic guard, spirulina, and shredded nori (big can from the Asian market). Run in through the food processor, put into 1gallon bags (go thinner than you think) and freeze. 1 thumb-sized chunk every other day feeds both tanks...well, plus whole food (same stuff NOT blended) for the shark and ray. WAY cheaper and they all love it! Plus, NO additive phospates, etc

[Fish Bowl]

What type of fish and coral do you have? Depending on what you have I would change the recipe a bit but this is a cheaper version of my standard recipe that will last you a long time.

-8 oz Frozen Pack of Krill (Common in asian markets) ~ 7.99 per lb
-8 oz Squid w/o cartilage or eye sack ~ 1.40 per lb
-3 Live Oysters ~ .89 per Oyster.
-2 oz Vita Chem/Vitamin additive
-2 oz Selcon/Fat Additive

(Note: The above seafood items are all from asian markets w/ my local prices)
Food Process it until well mixed or slightly chunky depending on the types of fish you have.
Then use a small egg crate + small cookie sheet lined with wax paper (foil apparently works too but never tried) and then pour over the egg crate, wrap and freeze (easiest to put the whole thing in freezer)

If you don't mind spending a bit more for even better (and taking up significantly more room)then add in

Cockles (Costco has them seasonally)
Black Mussels (Prince Edward Island, also from Costco)
Dried Seaweed (Toasted is acceptable, but dried is better)
Salmon Fillet Meat (Wild is preferred but I have used Farmed before without ill effects)
Snow Crab Meat (Asian Markets)
Salmon Roe (Asian Markets)
Cyclopeze (LFS/Online)
Gracilaria/Ogo (LFS/Asian Market)
Spirulina Powder (Online)
Kelp Powder (Online)

Some other additional ingredients that I like to use, but only for smaller batches of food that get used quickly or should be otherwise avoided if possible are.

Scallops
Little Neck Clams/Cherry Stone Clams
Market Shrimp

The reason is because the 3 ingredients listed above are high in thiaminase which is only removed by cooking (continues to deplete Vitamin B regardless of freezing)
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_1/thiaminase.htm

One ingredient that many use that should be completely avoided is GARLIC, due to the damage it can cause to the internal organs of fish.
(Will have to find the reference article later)

[whodeydan76]

Currently my fish are a pair of black ice snowflakes, a hippo tang about the size of a fifty cent piece, a yellow tang, a diamond goby, a peppermint shrimp and a cleaner shrimp. The hippo is going to a friends 180 once he gets too big for my 93. I figure I'll evaluate him once a month once he is 3" long I'll pass him off to said friend so we can enjoy him in his reef. That way I get to enjoy him for now and then he can later.

I plan to add a LM blenny, a kole tang (mine from when I had my 75...a friend kept him for me) that is it on the fish for now...the corral I will have (also temp housed in the same friends tank) finger leather, blue and red mushrooms, red xenia, duncans, candy cane corral, and a cabbage leather. I have a small frag of an acan my boy bought at a frag swap for $10.

[sirreal63]

Check this out.

http://www.melevsreef.com/food.html

I have used a modified version of this for many years. A quarter of the mix is puree'd as finely as my overpowered blender can make it and rest is finely chopped for the fish. If you have a Whole Foods near you, get your seafood there, it will have no preservatives or additives in it.