Greens in homemade food

[Keri]

Hi all
Well, I think I'm ready to attempt to make my own frozen food mix and I was wondering what the best thing to add to it for greens would be?
I plan on heading to the seafood market with this list of possiblities for the "meaty" stuff
hake
haddock
scallops
mussles
sole
tillapia
clam
shrimp
squid

plus I will add fresh garlic and selcon or zoecon (I'm going to go look at what the LSF in town has)

and I have green nori allready but is there anything else green I could/should be adding? Is spinach good? or lettuce? (or are these not very high in nutrients?)


Thanks all!!

[tlo]

I always just add the nori......But maybe there is a benefit to adding different greens that I will learn here, interested to see what other people have to say.

[sick lid]

I always use spirulina and frozen brocoli (not the stocks)

[marie]

I pm'd this to you Keri, but in case anyone else is interested I'll post it here :biggrin:

This is Eric Bornemans recipe, it's as much for the corals as it is for the fish

Eric's "famous" coral food recipe

I rarely have or use all of the ingredients listed, and I don't think it will make a difference over the long term. I also use this, or a variation of it, for my homemade fish food (I leave the fish food chunkier and add various algae). Basically, I either use what is left over from the last round of food-making, or I go to a few stores and get whatever they might have at the time. I feed this to the tank day and at night, generally, and would add that for some of the ingredients, I have no idea if they have any specific role. Its just what I have done before. I have also changed a bit with some other foods now available (since I have written this last time)

I try to get a mix of particle sizes involved to accomodate not just all sizes of polyps, but also feed other inverts that filter feed.

Fresh seafood:

Some combination of the ingredients below and it makes up a relatively small percent of the total - maybe 10-20%?

shrimp (I squeeze the heads and usually use some of the "meat" in the fish food)
oysters - blend well (may have Vibriostatic properties)
various other shellfish (mussels, clams, periwinkles, etc. - the bloodier, the better...live is great (shucking is a pain but gives a good final product)
Fish roe (sometimes available at Asian markets as fresh)


Frozen foods

This makes up perhaps 20-30% of the mix - some are from an aquarium store, some from the grocer, some can be cultured

Artemia - adult
Artemia nauplii (baby brine shrimp) (enriched, if possible)
Mysid shrimp
Sea urchin roe
Flying fish roe
Rotifers
DT's oyster eggs - this is a new additions and one of my very favorite coral foods. Particle size and nutrition is excellent.

Dried Aquarium Foods

this makes up the majority of my mix - probably 40%

Golden Pearls - all sizes available, but a majority of the smallest size
Cyclop-Eeze
VibraGro
Powdered marine flake

Phytoplankton - doesn't need to be alive since the mix is frozen, but make sure it is high quality. I don't expect it does much, but just in case some of the species utilize it, great. If not, the zooplankton and other filter feeders wiil -makes up maybe 2% of mix or less?

Supplements

makes up maybe 2-5% of mix?

Super Selco ( a big squeeze)
Sea Green Vitamin supplements - various brands, powdered, from Whole Foods market

I have also been known to add Echinacea capsules, the skins of colorful vegetables and fruits, various pigment complexes of carotenoids, etc. and/or antioxidants from Whole Foods market. I am also now adding SeaVive, a beta glucan/vitamin C and protein complex (all natural) into my fish foods, which due to its powdered form, also will potentially be a coral food.

In terms of preparation, I puree the solid seaoods, mix in the frozen thawed ingredients, soak the dry/powdered ingredients in the wet ingredients, combine them all together and let them sit for a few hours, and then freeze them into small flats in ziplocs in the freezer. I usually wind up with about 50.00 in foods per batch and make about a gallon or so of food that lasts a couple or more months.

If I have live cultures going, I add them when its time. I have no qualms about making the tank absolutely cloudy with food, though do not feed this heavily all the time. I try to feed every night, but miss some nights. Some nights I give them the holy grail and just pour in food so it resides for at least an hour, and then skim the rest out.