DIY Fish Pellets - MFK Style!
- Thread starter MonsterPeacock
- Start date
The fact that a protein has become denatured via heat, does not equate to the amino acids or fatty acids, being no longer bioavailable to a fish. Denatured simply means that the protein structure has changed, no different than what takes place with the amino acids when one poaches an egg.
As previously explained fatty acids will begin to oxidize, break down, and spoil, the moment that your food comes out of the oven. Sans preservatives in some form or another, the same thing will take place even when stored in a freezer. These DIY pellets will be going rancid long before 6 months rolls around.
Again, as explained in your other thread certain nutrients will be lost, when you are using vitamins designed for human intake. As an example, very few species of fish found on this planet are capable of producing their own Vitamin C, so it is essential that it is supplied via the diet. Using vitamins such as Centrum, Vita-Chem, etc that contain basic ascorbic acid will not hold up well to any form of heat, nor will they hold up during storage. They will begin to degrade from the moment that they are exposed to moisture, heat, and/or oxygen.
Also, most of the carnivorous/predatory type species do not produce the correct enzymes in significant amounts (such as amylase) to properly assimilate starch/flour. With those species starch must be used in limited quantities (not 25%) or it will definitely effect the overall digestibility of the feed.
There are workarounds to this & other problems that could arise with home made foods. Should you be interested, I could elaborate.
Below is a past discussion that I started with regards to using garlic in fish feed.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?458994-Garlic-and-the-Prevention-of-Disease
Simply put, it's good for them and helps prevent sickness & disease. There are a lot of off the self fish foods that contain garlic. Do some looking on line and you'll see. There's been studies on it and the benefits of feeding it to your fish.
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hey, cool video .... so i gotta ask but maybe i missed it in the video or the thread here... what is the cost difference from buying your reg food as to making your own ?
and you have any video of your tank anywere ? the tank behind you in the video looks nice, wouldnt mind seeing it
and you have any video of your tank anywere ? the tank behind you in the video looks nice, wouldnt mind seeing it
NLS!
RD: honest question, would you need to add preservative to keep it longer then a few months? or freeze dry? And what is a suggestive method for storing bulk fish food like pellets? freezer? Thx in advance.
Op: you have an awesome idea and the fact your first try was somewhat successful is a lot to say! Rd knows a heck of a lot about fish nutrition, the fact that your fish absorb about half the nutrients you give them would mean with 25% starch/filler they only have access to 75% of the potential nutrients, breaking down half of what they eat, means that's 38% retention, not exact but you can see where I'm coming from.
Go S. Vettel #1 rb8
Even freeze dried and/or dehydrated food can eventually spoil, it depends on the final moisture content of the product, and how it is stored. Fish oil can easily become rancid, which is why all commercial foods contain some form of preservative. Simply slow cooking some home made fish food is not going to allow that food to sit for very long without the fat beginning to spoil. Oxidized fats become lipid peroxides or free radicals, which are not good for you, or your fish.
So if you are going to make your own fish food I would recommend making small batches, and either freezing or keeping it under refrigeration.
So if you are going to make your own fish food I would recommend making small batches, and either freezing or keeping it under refrigeration.
Starch of any kind can cause fungus in the tanks, especially when present in high levels, geletin is a much safer way to go. As for the vitamin C I buy food grade ascorbic acid (Kept in freezer in a light proof ziplock) and simply add a small amount during water changes each week. All of my home made foods are vaccuum sealed with a food saver and then frozen to prevent spoilage. I package it in quantities that I will use within a 7 day time frame, that way I only thaw a package each week. Any method that you use to dry a food will heat it to some extent. Sun drying is just an ancient form of slowly baking it, dehydrators use electric heating elements, ovens, obvious right? I try to keep my temps between 120-200°F and just wait it out till it dries in order to preserve as much nutrition as possible. Just my 2₵ though.
You should look at carp bait making. There's a lot of handy tools carp fisherman use to make their doughbaits (boilies) that would help you out I think, not only in making it easier, but also (if its important to you) so you can keep the pellets a uniform size. May be helpful if you've got multiple tanks with various sized fishes in them; you can just make one batch of paste and then make your pellets different sizes depending on what you're feeding. Here's a couple things that might be helpful:
1) Paste gun- like a frosting gun for decorating cakes. You put your paste in it and squeeze it out the gun, which allows you to make your paste sausage a uniform diameter.
2) Rolling table- you squeeze the paste across the ridges in the table, and shake the table back and forth, which cuts the sausages and rolls them into uniform sized balls. The tables have different diameter ridges, depending on how big you want your pellets to be.
Here's a video, pretty simple stuff. Simple guns and tables are really cheap, you can find them all over ebay.
[video=youtube_share;9s6CDwGYtO4]http://youtu.be/9s6CDwGYtO4[/video]
If you search around, there's also a lot of info on different ingredients they use to make the baits, may come in handy. Carp are pretty sensitive fish, and believe it or not, they feed based on nutritional value of the bait they're offered, so there are some carp guys that are really serious about amino acid and protein content of the boilies, they truly believe the fish will notice a healthier bait. For instance, instead of using regular white flour, you might want to try rice flour or semolina, for added nutritional value. They also make a boilie called a "pop-up," which floats.
FYI- a boilie is essentially a doughbait that has egg added as a binder, and then its boiled. It has a semi-hard outside with a chewy inside, carp love them. Probably should have explained that earlier. I freeze my boilies and they'll last for a year or longer.
Hope this was somewhat helpful!
1) Paste gun- like a frosting gun for decorating cakes. You put your paste in it and squeeze it out the gun, which allows you to make your paste sausage a uniform diameter.
2) Rolling table- you squeeze the paste across the ridges in the table, and shake the table back and forth, which cuts the sausages and rolls them into uniform sized balls. The tables have different diameter ridges, depending on how big you want your pellets to be.
Here's a video, pretty simple stuff. Simple guns and tables are really cheap, you can find them all over ebay.
[video=youtube_share;9s6CDwGYtO4]http://youtu.be/9s6CDwGYtO4[/video]
If you search around, there's also a lot of info on different ingredients they use to make the baits, may come in handy. Carp are pretty sensitive fish, and believe it or not, they feed based on nutritional value of the bait they're offered, so there are some carp guys that are really serious about amino acid and protein content of the boilies, they truly believe the fish will notice a healthier bait. For instance, instead of using regular white flour, you might want to try rice flour or semolina, for added nutritional value. They also make a boilie called a "pop-up," which floats.
FYI- a boilie is essentially a doughbait that has egg added as a binder, and then its boiled. It has a semi-hard outside with a chewy inside, carp love them. Probably should have explained that earlier. I freeze my boilies and they'll last for a year or longer.
Hope this was somewhat helpful!
Dunno why the heck the letters came out black... whoops. Just highlight it and its easier to read.
