My DIY freeze dried food recipe

[Reefer Dan]

I have the avast marine plank auto feeder and it addresses a unique problem with freeze dried food in that it rehydrates these foods before feeding to the tank. Freeze dried foods can provide excellent nutrition and a staple in feeds.

Freeze dried foods can also be amazing for medication delivery to fish during QT (if you can get it to sink).

I created my own DIY mix for my fish tank as I really like the “whole prey” philosophy and wanted to make a recipe that was cheaper, still good nutrition, and feeds everything in the tank (variety of mouth sizes, etc). Of note, this is not the sole food I feed to my tank, but it is the bulk of it.

Hope this helps others. Im open to feedback, comments, concerns, or questions as we are all learning together.


Happy reefing!

 

[therootcause]

Great tutorial! I have questions. If your plank autofeeder were to break, would you buy it again? AT $200+ there are plenty of other things I'd rather buy - such as a cheaper feeder and a small PVC or ABS tube that would rehydrate the food. What were the up front costs of buying the large containers of food? I think that may be another road block in following your guide.

How many times per day do you feed and how many days do you get out of the auto-feeder?

You may want to edit the video and reupload as their is a repeated audio section when you discuss the cost/ounce and then display the nutritional data.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I have the avast marine plank auto feeder and it addresses a unique problem with freeze dried food in that it rehydrates these foods before feeding to the tank. Freeze dried foods can provide excellent nutrition and a staple in feeds.

Freeze dried foods can also be amazing for medication delivery to fish during QT (if you can get it to sink).

I created my own DIY mix for my fish tank as I really like the “whole prey” philosophy and wanted to make a recipe that was cheaper, still good nutrition, and feeds everything in the tank (variety of mouth sizes, etc). Of note, this is not the sole food I feed to my tank, but it is the bulk of it.

Hope this helps others. Im open to feedback, comments, concerns, or questions as we are all learning together.


Happy reefing!

Nice tutorial on making food!

 

[Reefer Dan]

Great tutorial! I have questions. If your plank autofeeder were to break, would you buy it again? AT $200+ there are plenty of other things I'd rather buy - such as a cheaper feeder and a small PVC or ABS tube that would rehydrate the food. What were the up front costs of buying the large containers of food? I think that may be another road block in following your guide.

How many times per day do you feed and how many days do you get out of the auto-feeder?

You may want to edit the video and reupload as their is a repeated audio section when you discuss the cost/ounce and then display the nutritional data.

Excellent questions and feedback, much appreciated.
It depends on what broke. They have a bunch of replacement parts that can be purchased, so odds are it would be a cheap fix; however, if it wasn’t repairable, I would see if they would sell me the part that broke instead of the kit. Also the company is are very responsive and helpful to questions.

All that said, I think the heart of the question is aimed at is the feeder worth it? It’s essentially a luxury fish feeder. It was pricey and I waited and caught a factory 2nd for about $170–it’s been the most reliable/consistent feeder I’ve had and it has been a game changer for my Anthias. No other feeder I’ve found works with my whole prey philosophy unless it is an expensive or diy frozen/fresh food feeder. Be aware it has no timer function built in so you need to have a timer.

I feed 4 times/day with it and 1 oz of food lasts my tank about 4-6 months. The upfront cost of all the food was $70 (got stuff on sale) but can make about 10 oz total of this recipe before you run out of components.

Sorry for the novel, but I think that answered all your questions.
Here is a short I made on the plank auto feeder if interested :

 

[Reefer Dan]

Nice tutorial on making food!

Thanks! Much appreciated.

 

[therootcause]

Thank you. With BRS running 16x points and me being out of food I decided to try your recipe and placed an order.

 

[Reefer Dan]

Whoops, double post.

 

[Reefer Dan]

Thank you. With BRS running 16x points and me being out of food I decided to try your recipe and placed an order.

Awesome, let me know how it goes/ what you think.

 

[Dr. Jeffles]

Thanks for the tutorial! Definitely trying this.

 

[Reefer Dan]

Thanks for the tutorial! Definitely trying this.

you’re welcome, please make sure to update us with what you think of it. Happy reefing!

 

[KStatefan]

How long are you running the plank when you feed?

Where did you get the small krill?

 

[Reefer Dan]

How long are you running the plank when you feed?

Where did you get the small krill?

This is my hydros programming for my auto feeder.

For the krill Pacifica and freeze dried copepods, I got it here: https://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/specialty-fish-food-freeze-dried-fish-food/

Side note: I think the next time I need to purchase stuff to make my recipe I will probably try replacing some items with the equivalent of the hikari brand (like spirulina brine shrimp instead of brine shrimp). They enrich theirs with additional vitamins, but I’ve read they can be more be more powdery. I haven’t tried that yet so I can’t confirm. It will increase the cost though.

 

[Reefer Dan]

Now that the BRS sale is over, if there is anyone debating on trying this it would probably be wise to wait for November sales. Happy reefing!

 

[BeanAnimal]

Great tutorial! I have questions. If your plank autofeeder were to break, would you buy it again?

That is the easiest to answer question that I have ever seen.

I personally would buy a new one once a week if somebody kept breaking in and stealing the current one... In fact, I will be buying a second one soon to hang over the return pump intake so that I can feed a variety of food and keep the little ones guessing where the next meal will come from.

Absolutely fine piece of equipment and hands-down better than any auto feeder that I have ever used or seen.

I will say also, absolutely unsolicited (not that my endorsement means anything more than the next guys) that in 20+ years of reefing, there are only a very very small number of businesses in this hobby that I would outright endorse. @AVAST Marine is one of them.. Quality products and the type of customer service that the rest of the industry should strive to duplicate. I will not list the others, as I fear I may leave one out... but trust me, my list is very small.

 

[Reefer Dan]

Anyone had a chance to try it and have feedback to share? I realize it might still be too soon, but wanted to check.

 

[Reefer Dan]

For those that were on the fence about getting the marine plank auto feeder, it is on sale for 25% off through BRS. Sweet deal.

Avast Marine Aquarium Equiptment

Bulk Reef Supply - Saltwater Aquarium Supplies for Reef Tanks

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[KStatefan]

Anyone had a chance to try it and have feedback to share? I realize it might still be too soon, but wanted to check.

I have ingredients on hand but have not mixed up any yet.

 

[Reefer Dan]

any feedback on the recipe yet?

 

[JM302]

any feedback on the recipe yet?

Bumping this thread as I'm looking to build a similar recipe. I've said it so many times on this forum and on others - the Avast Plank is the best piece of 'non-essential' gear I've ever purchased. So much so I'd even say it has 'must have' status for my tank. If mine broke, I'd buy another tomorrow.

Now as much as I love Reef Jerky - it's just too expensive for me to justify. I'm burning through their 5oz bag in like 3 months. I either need a bulk, more affordable option from Avast or I need to make my own. Close to yours - this is what I was considering - along with the addition of Calanus and Algae Pellets.

This is around $125 and should last me the better part of a year.

Are you still happy with your choice of algae pellets?

 

[Reefer Dan]

Bumping this thread as I'm looking to build a similar recipe. I've said it so many times on this forum and on others - the Avast Plank is the best piece of 'non-essential' gear I've ever purchased. So much so I'd even say it has 'must have' status for my tank. If mine broke, I'd buy another tomorrow.

Now as much as I love Reef Jerky - it's just too expensive for me to justify. I'm burning through their 5oz bag in like 3 months. I either need a bulk, more affordable option from Avast or I need to make my own. Close to yours - this is what I was considering - along with the addition of Calanus and Algae Pellets.

This is around $125 and should last me the better part of a year.

Are you still happy with your choice of algae pellets?

Yes I am. Most of the seaweed pellets first ingredient is seaweed meal, this one has several different types of seaweed as the first ingredients.

Just a couple things to be aware: The arctic copepods are calanus. My recipe used everything on your picture except I opted out of bloodworms.

Good luck! I’ve liked my recipe and I’ve considered increasing the ratio of mysis/krill, but haven’t decided to do it quite yet.