Michael's DIY Food Recipe

[michaelg]

Hopefully the recipe will not be lost this time

 

Ingredients- procure at a large oriental market

 

1 whole fish- filleted or whole- guts are good- whatever is cheap, but not a fatty fish such as salmon

10-12 whole shrimp heads and all

10 mussels

6 clams (using juice as well)

1-2 whole squid (cut out ink bladder)

6 oysters (these I usually get frozen)

3 sheets of Nori

1/4 cup or so of other dried seaweed

2 tsps spirulina powder (brine shrimp direct)

3 cubes of freeze dried plankton (Hikari brand or equivalent)

1 tbs boyd's vitachem (or equivalent vitamin suppliment)

if desired golden pearls and selcon (or add when thawing)

saltwater

 

The trick is to get a whole range of food sizes to feed all sizes of mouths.  Using a blender (don't use a food processor unless it has a super tight lid, most do not- been there and have worn that mess) with a dedicated top part (unless you are single or make it when the SO is out of the country), you want to add about a cup of salt water, then some of each ingredient, grinding it up along the way (really pulvarize some of the shrimp and oysters and clams with juice to start).  I set aside some of the shrimp and squid and hand chop.  The Nori should be presoaked in some salt water or it will jam up in the blades.  Just keep adding grinding and adding as little water as possible to keep it concentrated. About 1/2 way through you want to work it in pulses, and finally at the end, toss in some of the shrimp and squid that you set aside (chopped to fit in a fishes mouth).   The above amounts make a full blender of food.  After mixed, transfer to ziplock baggies, lay flat and freeze.  Don't over fill the bags.  I like to keep them thin as it makes it much easier to break off chunks at feeding time (rather than using a good kitchen knife and getting yourself in more trouble.

 

Disclaimer- this recipe has been empiracally determined based on health of my tank and needs of the particular inhabitants.  I do not know how it compares nutritionally with commercial brands, though I think I have thought it out well and covered the bases.  Make sure ingredients are fresh, and use good hygene in the kitchen.  Vary it with high quality dried foods, etc.  

 

Secondary disclaimer-  I kid you not about the above spousal warnings.  This stuff is pretty stinky to make and takes some  patience to clean up.  Don't blame me if you end up on the couch!

 

Michael

[pez]

I can vouche for the stinky part.  Your hands smell like it after you feed it.  But *all* my fish like it.  One of few things my bangaiis will eat.

 

-T

[dgasmd]

Thanks Michael. I will try a baggy if you can spare one at the meeting and see how things go. I am likely to do a batch later if things go OK.

 

Alberto

[michaelg]

Tom- the frozen smell is nothing compared to the fresh stuff!  I think I've become immune to it though.

[ridetheducati]

Eric B's recipe:

 

** 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 - ark shells, periwinkles, etc. found frozen in Asian markets.

 

blend coarse ingredients in food processor, mix in fine ingredients (Artemia, powders, flake, Selco), freeze in flats

 

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

 

OPTIONAL: I also make a pigment complex of multiple fresh and health food purchased pigmented animal and plant sources ( such as vegetables with rich colors, carotenoids, etc), mixed with some of the fish food, liquefied, and fed to corals at night.

[michaelg]

That is the original recipe that I deviated from- Eric put it up on the MARSH site some years back, and has a recipe in his book as well I believe (sorry I forgot to mention it in this writing).  Some of the ingredients are difficult to find in his recipe- such as the urchin.  It is continually evolving to some extent, and varies with batch to batch.  There is nothing magical to it- and from talking with him during the first batch I was making- the key is to use a bunch of different stuff.  The exact proportions are rough as well.  Hope that helps.

[eddi]

Michael,

 

I plan on following your recipe this Sunday and making a batch.  If you are interested message me here or by e-mail and I will let you know how it went.

 

 

Eddi

[michaelg]

Alberto's recipe:

Not to answer for Michaelg, but here is my recipe:

 

1 fish fillet (preferably white fish)

10-14 large shrimp

oysters

clams

3 different types of flake foods (formula 1+2+3)

spirulina flakes

about 1/2 cup of specttrum pellet food

2-3 sheets of nori

3-4 squirts of nultivitamins for children

2-3 squirts of selcon

60-80 cc of garlic extract

half teaspoon of shreded garlic

one large krill frozen pack

one large brine shrimp packet

one large mysis shrimp packet

one frozen pack of blood worms

one frozen pack of octopus

3-4 tiny spoons of ESV freeze dryed plankton

just about anything else I may find or have on hand

 

The best thing to do is to go to the fish market and get all the fresh stuff at once and bring it home. The frozen foods can be obtained in the LFS. This stuff will make thick mud and will last well over 6 months when frozen. I suggest you freeze it in thin sheets rather than stuff the zip lock bags because it will take forever to thaw out if you don't. Good luck.

[michaelg]

Steve's recipe- see thread "tank food party" for photos.

1 whole mackeral

2 chunks of rockfish

1 octopus

10-14 large shrimp no heads/tails, partially skinned

12 oysters

12 oz mussels

8-10 scallops

2/3 bag chopped roasted seaweed

1/2 small bottle Selcon

"sushi eggs" aka fish roe

Quarter block Cyclop-eeze

Golden Pearls

Freeze dried krill

8 large cubes brine shrimp

Quarter block large frozen mysis shrimp (also from brineshrimpdirect but it's not on their website)

Tahitian Blend

3-4 tiny spoons of ESV freeze dryed plankton

1/8th bottle DTs

[Sph2sail]

See the thread Tank food party for full details!

 

s

[Aquariareview]

My recipe is alot like all of yours with 4 exceptions.

 

1:2 tsp Marc Wiess Black Powder. All of the soft inverts seem to love it and it's immune systems boosting is good for every thing that gets some.

 

2: 1 tsp cyanne pepper, another immune system builder that also adds pigmentation to brighten the colors of both fish and coral. Many corals will eat it if you direct feed with a pipet or turkey baster.

 

3: I add some fresh seaweed from my refuge.

 

4: Last and most important, I Use a product called "OPC3" as an additional additive.

 

OPC3 is an extreme anti-oxident called olgameric-proanthocyanadine. It boosts the immune system of all living tissue. Its source is from red wine and grape seeds. Since I have been using it in my systems the growth of soft Coral has been crazy. Also the healing of soft coral after prop cuts is very fast. It has the function of fighting cancer in mammals and it seems to reverse tissue loss in stony coral. I have been enriching food for my systems for 4 years and have done a lot of testing in small lab systems and cannot praise this stuff enough.

 

I add 3 tsp of the istonix OPC3 to a blender full as the last part of the process.

Email me for a source for it.

Also My family takes it (the OPC not the fish food) every day

[michaelg]

Nathan- you should talk to Dr. Mac about these.  He is doing a study with the aquaculture people at UMd on feeds for corals.  Might be interesting to get some solid data.

 

Michael

[Aquariareview]

I will do.

[Sph2sail]

2: 1 tsp cyanne pepper, another immune system builder that also adds pigmentation to brighten the colors of both fish and coral. Many corals will eat it if you direct feed with a pipet or turkey baster.

Is that cayenne pepper (the hot stuff) or cyanne pepper (I've never heard of it).  ??

 

s

[michaelg]

I'm sure it is the hot pepper- the main active ingredient is a compound know as capsaisin.  A guy down the hall has patents on it's use for medicinal use  Does all kinds of stuff.

[Marty]

I knew there was a reason I liked Cajun food!!  

[Aquariareview]

Cayenne the hot pepper, very finely ground, Capsaicin has been touted to have major effects on tumors and on immune systems in people.

 

I hit this board from my wireless pocket pc. errors happen.

[Sph2sail]

Is it HOT for the corals too?  Or is that just a mammalian reaction only?

 

s

[Aquariareview]

I don't think polyp based life has taste buds. I read somewhere that coral eats based on particle size. (Marc Wiess has published some stuff on this).

 

The Capsaicin in the Cayenne is one of the ingredients in some of his invert foods. I have been using it for years in both my fish and invert foods.

 

There have been studies done to show that natives of Thailand have almost no strokes because their plasma fibrinogen, a clotting factor, was significantly lower. than people who eat a more western diet. Capsaicin is also used as a topical analgesic for muscle and dental pain and it is the main ingredient in pepper spray.

 

I eat a diet with a lot of spicy hot food. and a real hot dish (high Capsaicin) will almost make you high,

 

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

[Guest Ruh Roh]

If you pooped where you ate, you might not want to have taste buds either  [tom]

[michaelg]

Capsaisin acts on a specific intracellular receptor.  Taste bud neurons are sensative to it, though it can act on a lot of different cell types as well.  Interestingly, birds do not have the receptors in their mouths- Squirrels do though, thus "the secret ingredient in squirrel proof bird seed".  Do fish even have tongues?