My first try making frozen food...success

[Engloid]

I went to the Sunrise asianfood market...the one in the shopping center with the Rush (Walker Springs). I went to buy some of the sheets of seeweed (nori) for the fish, as I heard it was much cheaper to buy the stuff for wrapping suschi than to buy in fish stores. Wow!!! a pack of 11 sheets was something like $12. In stores it's 6 or 8 sheets for $7!! Saved a ton, and won't be buying any for a long time.

I then went to browse the fresh seafood section. They have a huge frozen food section, and even a few live fish you can buy. I chose some small peeled shrimp, and some whole squid. I bought a half pound each for a total of about $4.50. I dropped in walmart and got some ice trays. They have a new kind out that make round "cubes" that are like a disc, probably 1.25" diameter and about half inch thick. The bottom of each mold is rubber so after they freeze, you can punch them out.

I took the seafood home, threw them in the blender...added RO water as needed to make a paste that wasn't quite as thick as peanut butter. Filled the ice trays and got some perfectly sized food disks. I didn't have enough trays though. It looks like I could hae filled about 6 trays with this much food, for a total of about 72 disks. That's enough to fill about 4 sandwich baggies...all for less than $5!!

My fish LOVE it. Many of the the fish that normally wouldn't eat straight from the tweezers have now started to. I typically hold frozen chunks in front of a powerhead so they thaw fast and don't float straight over to the overflow. It also lets the food disperse so all the fish get a shot at some. My fish eat two of these disks, without stopping. How much do you guys feed? Go off the "whatever they will eat in 5 minutes" rule or what?

Anyway, I'd highly reccomend you all trying this. Its very easy and fast. It takes less time than it would to drive to the store and buy food (and I live close), saves about 80% of the cost, and you know exactly what's in the food.

 

[Phyber]

http://www.larrysreefservices.com/PREMIUM_FOOD.php

local guy that's making a name for himself quick with great food, perfect quality, at great price.

I can def see how the fish would prefer fresh food vs. the preserved flake food we give.

 

[Engloid]

I do feed some flake food also, but tended to use it more as a matter of cost reduction...but I can feed cheaper by making food than even buying flake. I will still supplement with flakes and nori sheets though, because I have a lot of tangs.

Bad thing about a guy like you posted is that he is doing it to make profit...which means you will pay not only the food cost, but you pay him for his time, materials, and shipping. By making it myself, I'm only paying for the food cost. No way, can he compete with me.

 

[Phyber]

I do feed some flake food also, but tended to use it more as a matter of cost reduction...but I can feed cheaper by making food than even buying flake. I will still supplement with flakes and nori sheets though, because I have a lot of tangs.

Bad thing about a guy like you posted is that he is doing it to make profit...which means you will pay not only the food cost, but you pay him for his time, materials, and shipping. By making it myself, I'm only paying for the food cost. No way, can he compete with me.

True. Not trying to down you at all, I support what you're doing.

To some, time is money. I'll pay a $5 fee for him to shop, mix and package it for me.

 

[Engloid]

True. Not trying to down you at all, I support what you're doing.

To some, time is money. I'll pay a $5 fee for him to shop, mix and package it for me.

i understand, and if that guy is local to you, it probably avoids your paying shipping..making it a better option for you than many people that would have to ship frozen stuff.

. ...but for me, this actually saves me time. It took about 15 minutes to blend it up and put it in the freezer. Of course, I still had to drive to pick up the food, but I was able to make the quantity I would have bought from the LFS. So it was one trip out for food, instead of 2 or 3. So, in the end, based on how I was buying, I saved time and money.

 

[Rob.D]

Making your own food is without a doubt the best thing you can do. The only downside is seafood packers add phosphates to seafood to maintain "fresh color".

 

[dirtycontour]

Im a big fan of making my own food. My fish seem to steer away from squid...

 

[Engloid]

Yeah, I noticed my foood turned a blue grey color, but the fish don't care.

And the fish eat squid just fine for me. If you mix them, they will not know one from the other until they develop a taste for it. If I feed pure squid they still aren't all that into it, but will eat it some. The mix, they eat fine.

 

[SLUF681]

The only thing you need to remember is that tangs will starve to death on meat. As long as you're supplementing their diet, you're all good. I put broccoli and peas in my DIY food. I use egg crate to make my cubes, well, squares. If you put wax paper down and then smear the food into the egg crate, you can continue to stack them like that and then freeze them. Works like a charm!

 

[EvilMel]

That's a really good idea.

 

[Engloid]

That's a really good idea.

Yeah, and the egg crate idea. :wink:

I did like it, really. It makes for a great "mold" for smaller sized frozen food. My fish will pretty easily eat two of the "disks" that I'm making, so smaller cubes wouldn't be as good for me...but for somebody with fewer fish, the egg crate is great.

I may add in some nori next time I make food though. I need more of the ice trays. By buying as much squid and shrimp as I did, the two trays were filled and I had enough to fill a sandwich ziplock bag to about 5/8" thick...more weight than the big slabs of frozen food at the LFS's.