Fish Feed

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Has anyone found a source of feed for their tilapia that doesn't have fish meal in it?  I"m not having any luck finding anything I consider sustainable so far, and I'm too busy / lazy right now to start up a duckweed system.  Thoughts?

[TCLynx]

Good Quality Feed makes a huge difference.  Can you re-post the details of your new feed for us Averan?

[Averan]

'good' and 'quality' seem to come at a price, in this case, about $7/lb.  Note the 40% protein content and that the ingredients are mostly two-word minerals and vitamins or words that you can actually understand.  It's not a totally natural feed, but seems much more wholesome than the ingredients in a bag of cheapo big-name brand.

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcat...

Ingredients Fish Meal, Plant Proteins, Animal Protein Products, Dried Yeast Culture, Fish Oil, Dried Seaweed Meal, Wheat Flour, Spinach, Brewer's Yeast, Protease (derived from Bacillus subtilus), Garlic, Beet Powder, Asparagus, Anise, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Choline Chloride, D-Biotine, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Sulfate, Potassium Iodate, Ethylenediamine Dihydrodide and Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C).   Guaranteed Analysis Crude Protein 40% min. Crude Fat 10% min. Crude Fiber 4% max.

 

[TCLynx]

Wish they were more specific about exactly what the plant proteins and animal protein products actually are.

Oh well.

 

good to hear you are having good results with it.

[Averan]

i know!  that's always a bit of a warning sign...when manufacturers hide ingredients in generic terms like that.  i had to compromise a bit as i wasn't willing to afford the 'miracle koi food' that seems to be the only fish food made from only natural ingredients.

compared to the PondCare koi food i tried previously, this stuff from F&S is dark and rich looking/smelling.  one of the biggest differences in the ingredients is that the cheapo brands are mostly made of fillers like 'wheat flour' whereas it is the seventh ingredient in the F&S stuff.

[Amanda Nagai]

Way to go Growing Power!  Just make sure there's enough protein content in what you're feeding, and throw in a little at a time because whatever the fish don't eat will stay in the tank or gunk up your filters.  (Oops, just noticed others are saying the same thing above...well, I guess I'll just add to the chorus!)  Also, I've heard that sometimes it's hard to get adult tilapia to eat this way when they're used to eating pellet feed.  But, if you start feeding the young ones this way from an early stage, you won't have a problem.

 

Also, I'm in the experimentation phase of making sustainable pellet feed.  I'll keep everyone posted on my progress!

 

Good luck, and it was great to meet some of you at the Conference!

Amanda

 

 

Sylvia Bernstein said:

Love all your ideas, David! Can't do soldier fly here...too dry in Colorado, but I want to try the other two. Just found out yesterday that at Growing Power they feed the tilapia scraps from the salad greens harvest during the week, and only resort to commercial fish feed on the weekend.

Also, Duckweed is grown a lot for tilaipa...here is a link to an amazing article on it ...http://www.fao.org/Ag/AGAInfo/resources/documents/DW/Dw2.htm

[Sebastien]

Hello 

I came across this video.

Is anybody experimenting this on his system?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqbbLiQTaVc&list=PL102D3964B286E...

[George]

Anything working out with feeder fish or shrimp?

TCLynx said:

I'm hoping I can get a shrimp colony going in my raft bed and scoop from that to give my catfish/bluegill some treats.

[TCLynx]

Nope, nothing new so far on that front George.  But I am watching for the Organic fish feed that Patrick has teased us about.

[George]

I'm looking around.  The thought of ground chicken feathers being in aquamax really bothers me but outrageous shipping costs bother me too.  I'll likely try some feeder minnows or shrimp at some point, once the bluegill are big enough to eat them, mosquito larvae too when warm enough. 

TCLynx said:

Nope, nothing new so far on that front George.  But I am watching for the Organic fish feed that Patrick has teased us about.