Hi, everybody Joey here again, and welcome back so in today's video
I'm going to show you guys how [to] make
Do-it-yourself fish food [now] [the] reason of what prompted this video was very simple when I was writing my new book
I included do-it-yourself fish food and when writing it. I realized that. There's so much
I never talked about on video now while I won't be able to cover it all in one video
I will certainly be giving you as much information as I can
Now the information that I'm going to be providing in this video is actually what I have been using to feed my fish
Exclusively for the last two years for example
I've been feeding this to all of my [disqus] including adults breeding pairs and fry as well as every size in between
now given the [fact] that I believe in it so much, I thought it was necessary to
Reveal exactly how I do it now I will break this video down into five parts
Understanding what fish need in their diets and how they use it possible ingredients and their values
Color Enhancers how to actually make the food and how much and how often defeat it?
So let's get started now before considering making your own food the most important Factor to consider is to
Understand what fish require and what dowhat?
To find the requirements in so let's keep this simple [a] complete diet for your fish should consist of protein carbohydrates
fats
Vitamins and Minerals now protein can be considered the building blocks of Growth
Protein is most often covered in fish food by using meat of or flesh of other animals now how much?
Protein of fish needs can really be broken down to what type of fish it is
Now to keep things simple and to create a rule of thumb. We can break them into three classes
Herbivorous omnivores and carnivores fish now herbivores fish require a lot more plant protein than animal protein so
what I like to do is one part meat into
one and a half parts vegetables
omnivores fish are kind of [in-between]
Herbivores and carnivores meaning that they basically eat just about anything
[however], [I] like to do them with two parts meat and one part veggies now when it comes to Carnivorous fish
Obviously, they need a lot more animal protein in their diet
So [I] like to use three parts meat and one part vegetables now since we can't actually
Analyze the fish food in a lab type setting we will use those percentages and ratios
As a general rule [of] thumb [to] go by of course you can manipulate and change them as you've seen fit now
Carbohydrates, typically come in the form of starches and sugars and these are an inexpensive source of energy for fish diets although it is not
Necessarily needed due to fish being able to extract and use energy from other
Ingredients it still needs to be mentioned fats are actually [High-energy]
Nutrients that can be used in place of protein when looking for an energy source by the fish [fats] actually produce
twice the amount of Energy as
proteins and carbohydrates
Now remember being told to eat your vegetables
The reason being is simple. They are packed full of vitamins now vitamins are organic
compounds
Necessary in the diet for normal fish growth and health they must be supplied in the diet minerals are
Inorganic Elements
Necessary in the diet for normal body functions, so we now know what our fish need to flourish on a proper diet
So let's now take a look at a big reason that a lot of us consider making our own
Food [if] you're like me, I want my [fishes] colors to pop
I want them to display in the most Vivid coloration possible. I want my fish to be all they can to understand
How we can enhance a fish's coloration. We must first understand
Why they are the color they [are] in the first place now. There are three?
Of the biggest contributors to a fish's coloration the first being genetics
Genetics will Determine whether fish has the genetic material necessary
to show a certain color
Second is diet. Now some [of] the food that a fish eats can directly or indirectly
influence a fish's color
Finally there's environment the last thing that will affect coloration is the fish's mood in General health a sick fish will
Probably be less colorful than a healthy one obviously an aquarium with pristine water quality will most likely
display fish with Vivid color a sheen then say for example a
dirty aquarium the sex of a fish can also have a huge influence on their coloration and
Can the dominance of a fish [no] obviously the best we can do for genetics and environment is?
Picking a healthy and well shaped fish and then placing them into a well balanced and healthy aquarium
We cannot influence a fish to show color that as jetix are not
Predetermined to however if [that] genetic material is not within the fish
Then that color is not going to show in the fish no matter what we do what we can do is
Influence the already present colors in the fish with their diet now we can do this with all natural and healthy
color Enhancer
So now that we understand what a fish needs and how they interact with the fish we can now look at what ingredients
We can use that will cover those needs when considering a source for protein in a fish food
We need to not [only] consider the values of that source, but we also need to consider its availability as well as its cost
So while there are always better ingredients?
We can use there's really no point to doing it if it's have always a struggle to find it
And it's not affordable to use now beef heart has been a staple and do-it-yourself fish food for a very long time
It's cheap
Commonly available and has a high protein content the downside is that it comes from a mammal now due to this its fat
Has a high melting now this means that fish cannot actually
Metabolize that mammal fat so it actually gets stored in the fish's organs causing health problems down the road
[so] we need to remember if we're going to use beef heart. We need to remove all fat and anything
That is not meat as much as possibe fart is still a good ingredient though due to its high protein content and low fat content
[fish] also readily [accepted] beef heart is actually about
18% protein now what that means is for every hundred grams of beef heart?
There's about 18 grams of protein beef heart is also high in iron now
Iron is a meat is a mineral needed to carry oxygen from the gills of the fish
Throughout the rest of the fish's body iron also helps the fish's muscles store and use oxygen
Beefheart is actually also high in Vitamin B. Now Vitamin B
All Vitamin B's help to convert food into energy
Another source of protein that I like to use is fish fill it now fish fill it is
Simply just the Flesh of a fish this
Ingredient is more consistent with what a fish would actually come in to contact with in the wild for their diet
Adding fish to the diet is actually a wise choice
But with so many different types and species of fish available at your supermarket, which one should you be [using] well?
We want to stay away [from] oily fish because they pollute the water too much my favorite fish to use is tilapia
It's commonly available and usually the cheapest as well now fish actually cost more per pound than [beefheart] though
Now tilapia is [25%] protein and very low in fact
Tilapia is not only very high in protein
but also relatively high in Omega 3 and
6 fatty acid they are essential [for] the overall health [of] the fish with many benefit
Tilapia is also a good source [of] phosphorus and potassium
both essential minerals these minerals regulate Osmotic balance
and help with bone
Formation and strength now market shrimp is also a good source of protein and a good fish food ingredient
It is commonly available, but not very cheap, but that will depend on the season that you're buying it in now
Fish will also take to it. Very nicely as well
We'll want to make [sure] that we buy it in either frozen or raw we do not want to buy it and cooked shrimp contains
20% protein and half the fat of beef heart it is also an excellent source of both
potassium and some calcium egg
Yolk is actually another good ingredient, not only due to its content
But its [ability] to help bind all of the ingredients together egg
yolk is actually [16%] protein and it's very high in vitamins and minerals like
Vitamin B12 however we don't want to use too many egg. Yolks due to the downside of it
Which is it's actually high in fat, so ultimately we're not going to use it as a main ingredient
We're just going to use it for its protein content
But mainly due to its binding ability now because we're only going to use so little of it
We're not really going to consider its other nutritional values now
These are my four favorite sources of meat while there are many other choices these will give you a basic idea now
Carbohydrates are stored as a glycogen that can be used to satisfy energy demands and fish fish food high in
carbohydrates is generally being used as a filler giving the food more volume and
Getting more out of your mix however the only fillers that I would consider adding to a fish food is something like oats
Or wheat germ now these are both very high in carbohydrates however
They're also pretty high in protein for example [oats] are approximately 66 percent
Carbohydrates with 17 percent protein however. [I] find that fish are not very fond of it nor
Do you really need to use it given the fact that we're going to be making an awful lot of food I like to make
sure that my
Do-it-yourself fish food is as high of quality as possible with no extra fillers and nothing that's not necessary now
Good sources of fat
Have already been listed in our protein content which would be the tilapia and shrimp
So we don't really have to worry [about] any adding any extra fats
When it comes to vitamins we can group them into two groups?
Both water soluble and fat soluble vitamins when it comes to vitamins the foods we've listed already in terms of the protein ones
Already have some vitamins in them however
We're going to also be using
Vegetable Manner which have a ton of vitamins in them now out of all the foods that we're going to be using
vitamins are going to be present in a variety and
Quantity enough to sustain any fish now when it comes to vegetables my four favorite vegetables to use our green peas Spirulina
spinach and romaine lettuce [now] these four are going to be jam-packed with both vegetable proteins as well as
Vitamins and Minerals I consider these four ingredients
Superfoods and an absolute must in any do-it-yourself fish if you have to pick just one it's going to have to be spare [Alena]
It's extremely high in protein with at least 60% vegetable protein and very high in many Minerals and vitamins
Peas are going to play a close second now minerals are already going to be present in the food listed that we've already talked about
However fish actually have the ability to absorb minerals through the water with their gills as well as our skin
So this will make up for any lack of minerals in their diets. This is just another reason why water changes are so
Important as it constantly replenishes the minerals that fish are using in the water
When it comes to color enhancers the substance that influenced the fish coloration the most is called Carta Noids
Now cards are actually
pound produced by Plants algae
And some fungi almost all fish do not produce carta noids on their own so they need to get it from somewhere
In order to show their coloration. [they] will do this by what getting it from whatever they eat
Let's take a look at a classic example of how a diet can influence color a basic market shrimp
When you cook them they turn pink or when you catch them fresh. They're pink Etc
They are pink, but why are they pink well [shrimpie] eat algae and Bacteria?
That algae and Bacteria that they eat contains something called a stack seein a stack
Seein is a cart annoyed now the shrimp consumed those Bacterias and
Algie's and that is what turns a shrimp pink now. Let's take a look at a flamingo
What turns them well their main diet in the wild is actually shrimp the astac see and present in the shrimp from eating those
Algie's and Bacteria are then ingested in by the flamingos in turn turning the flamingos feathers pink
So what if we wanted to turn our fish pink or pinker or even redder should we just feed them shrimp?
Well you could but you'd [have] to feed an awful
Lot of shrimp to them and the difference would barely be noticeable
Or would it make more sense to just jump right to the source [a] stack seein now obviously as pre
Mentioned the fish or whatever animal you're trying to influence the color of has to be
Predisposition to that color within their genetics, so if cart nodes are primarily responsible for influencing a fish's color
Should we just add them directly to the mix?
Yes
so let's take a look at the cart annoyed that are responsible for
Influencing the main fish colors for red and pink [s] [axion] is probably the most widely used
Cart annoyed in fish food get your closest kin of fish food turn it over look at the back
[I] bet it's going to be listed there [as] facts ian
Is widely regarded as the king of cards due to its potency as pre mentioned?
It's actually produced by Marine algae and Bacteria
And you can actually get it at a lot of health food stores in the form of a powder now a stack [seein] powder is
Not just a great color enhancer or in my opinion the best you could probably use, but it's also a great antioxidant
when it comes to Orange Coloration [the]
One of the best color enhancers you can you actually use is Paprika now
Paprika is just made from a ground dried pepper now
Paprika is actually high in a carton [oeid] called Betta Carotene now betta
Carotene might sound familiar to a lot of you guys because it's actually the reason why carrots are orange [when] it comes to yellow coloration
Z-Axes inand Lutein are the most widely known yellow cards
now these are actually going to be found in less popular fish Foods like Maize and
Yellow Bell peppers it's actually also found in Egg yolks
For blue and green Coloration we can use Spirulina now although
This is not a carton
[Oeid] has actually been found that it does have an impact on those colors
Now obviously we're not going to add all of these ingredients to our fish food however
It's been found that fish that consume as vaccean embed a carotene will intensify their color regardless of what color they are
the Fish will still
Metabolize those cards and use them so it would be wise to add one of them if anything else
So now that we know a lot more [about] the fish
Ingredients what they do, and how much to use we can now look at actually making it now in this example
[I'm] going to show [you] how to mix it all together and how to prepare it [for] your fish food now
This mix is what I'm using to feed my discus, and I feed over 200 discus with it
I've been feeding it [to] them exclusively for over two years
now those ingredients alone are really all I really need to add they cover my proteins my minerals my
Carbohydrates my fats and my vitamins for my color enhancer. I'm going to be adding two teaspoons of a stack see
For a binder I'll be using Egg yolks
Now this gives me everything that I'm going to need using nothing, but fresh ingredients since peas are such a superfood
[I] strongly believe that they belong in any do-it-yourself fish food regardless of what fish you're feeding however
They are extremely difficult to peel when you have to peel so many we can't feed them with the skins on and peeling them
Individually would take hours so what I do is I buy
100% organic baby food peas now basically all that is is peeled peas and water
Nothing else the water in the peas helps with the consistency of the food you can get so many different
vegetables this way
And they are just as good yet already blended the first thing you're going to want [to] do is prepare your meats
[we'll] need to blend them up into a fine puree
So cutting them up into small chunks is going to make them a lot more manageable when it comes to be fired for example
There's so much on the beef heart that you don't want in [your] fish food
We want to make [sure] that we not only cut out all the fats
But we also want to cut out cut out everything else that's not meat when it comes to be fair
You're going to be really surprised with just how much of [that] is not meat
There's a lot of fat as well as arteries within the beef heart you'll want to make [sure] that you cut it
Absolutely all of it out now having said that
What I suggest doing when purchasing your beef heart is buy twice as much as you think you're going to need now
You can move on to the shrimp now if you purchased your shrimp
Frozen what I suggest doing is just floating them in your sink and cold water and letting them
Thaw slowly you'll then have to peel off their shells
Because those shells are not going to mix well into the actual fish food with the tilapia [filat]
It's the same thing we're going to want to make sure it's thawed out
Completely before using it from their cut them into more manageable chunks now since your peas are already in a container
and they're already pureed you don't have to do anything for those as
for your
if
Using spinach or romaine lettuce I'm using spinach in this example what I do is boil some water
And I boil the spinach for about 30
Seconds this softens them up enough so that I could blend them a lot easier
Your spirulina is just a powder and it can be mixed in when you're ready
So far everything that I've listed can be purchased at your local supermarket, however Spirulina
You can buy it online
or you can go to a local health food store and see if they carry it the same goes for your ass vaccine powder from
Here I like to
individually blend the ingredients
Up I start off with [the] beefheart blending that up move on to the shrimp and then the tilapia
[I] make sure that they're [all] blended up easily doing a little bit at a time to make sure that they are thoroughly blended
Once everything is blended up. I add it all to a bowl and mix it together
[I] then add in my spare [Alina] powder as well as mayest axion and my eGg yolks
[so] obviously you're going to need to have a blender for this job
I also like to [use] an extra hand blender to make sure that once that all the ingredients are [mixed] together
[I] can go ahead and thoroughly mix it again so with all of your ingredients now mixed and blended
Together if they are now ready to be packaged
I like to package them in ziploc sandwich bags all I have to do is scoop out
approximately 90 grams into each sandwich bag and
Then flatten them out with some form of a cart now
I say 90 grams because this gives me a nice consistency of about 3 millimeter thickness of the food once it's in the bag
Because of this, it's much easier to manage and [feed] what we'll be doing is freezing
this food and
Once it's frozen [if] it's too thick it's very difficult to snap off and feed to your fish it also takes a long time
to thaw in the water if it's too thick
Once I bagged all of the food [its] then frozen when ready to feed I simply snap off a piece or as much as I
Need to feed and drop it into the tank now because of its unique thickness
It will thaw evenly and quite quickly for your fish to attack now
How much you [should] be feeding depends on the fish you keep?
However what I suggest doing since this food can [actually] really pollute your water fast is
Only feed as much as your fish will consume in about two minutes
Obviously your first few attempts are going to be a little ruff however with time. You'll know exactly how much food your fish can consume
Once you have a better idea of how [much] food your fish can consume within a couple of minutes
You can start [giving] them a little bit more over time and feed as much as they can consume within three to five minutes
So that's it. I hope you guys enjoyed the video. [I] definitely want to thank you for why?