Food Recipes...

[Aquatic_Design]

Hi Frank,
I do agree the possibility is there for salmonella in turkey but there are potential hazards to any raw meat.
I have been using the turkey breast for every other mix for about two years now and so far no problems from any of the meat mixes.
Donna

[Busmike]

Hello All,

After breeding Angelfish for 10 years, i bought my first Discus (3 of them) the other day. More out of feeling sorry for them, they were leftovers at a wholesaler's I deal with. In studying these new fish, I ran into the burning question of food. A friend sent me this receipe... He got it off a Guppie site. It seems appropriate for discus, but I thought I'd ask here:

Frozen Beef Heart
by Stephen Kwartler

Beef heart (about 4 lb.)
Jars of strained baby food containing no sugar
4-jars of carrots
4- jars of peas
4- jars of sweet potatoes
1- zucchini
1 bottle of Poly Visol baby vitamins (expensive about $9.00 but necessary) or equivalent
Half box of baby cereal unflavored.
Two packets of Knox unflavored gelatin
You can also add to this recipe:
8 oz. of flake food, shredded shrimp or shrimp meal
8 oz. or more of fish fillet or fish roe
Preparation
I cut away all the fat and vein off the beef heart and cut into cubes. Peel off the skin from the zucchini. I then add in small portions of the cubed beef heart into a blender or food processor. This takes the longest amount of time. You can add the liquid vitamins a little at a time to help with the blending. I never add any water to this recipe. After all the beef heart in well blended it is time to mix in the rest of the ingredients. Take small portions of the beef heart and add some baby food, flake food, a piece of the zucchini, fish and whatever else you are adding and re-blend until all the ingredients are evenly blended. This will require the use of several large bowls if large amounts are being mixed. Put entire mix into a large enough container. Put the two packets of Knox gelatin into 4 oz. of very hot water and mix well. Immediately add the gelatin and mix well. Once everything is blended evenly I put about 2 hefty tablespoons in 4 x 10-inch fish bags and flatten out like a candy bar. DO NOT MAKE THEM TOO FAT! When finished, all bags go into freezer until needed. To feed I take a sharp cutting knife and cut into small (1/8 - 1/4) cubes and feed to every tank. Fish usually feed on this for sometime. Some fish will pick whiles others go into a frenzy. After this feeding I do not feed again for at least two hours. I feed the beef heart about 4 times a week to all guppies from three weeks of age to five months. I still feed baby brine shrimp to all fry and juveniles everyday.


What do you all think? Good, Bad, or ugly????

??? ??? ???

[CanadianGuy]

How messy is this stuff?....it seems to me that there would be alot of things that just dissolve in the water...(ie...babyfood, ground up vitamins, ground up bannas)....leaving you with just the ground up things..

I'm sure I'm just not understanding ???....does anyone have any pictures of thier fish eating these recipes??

James

[jeddah]

Dear All,

With all the BH recipes you post, which one do you think does not cloud the water at all. I noticed Beef Heart are messy.

I am looking for BH recipe that doesnt cloud the water just like dry food. Is there any? Pls share the secret.

Many Thanks

[fishfarm]

Check out my recipe on the second page of the post. It never clouds the water and stays in a chuck until eaten. Ken

[jeddah]

Hi Ken, very interesting recipe, I hope I can get the right mixture and consistency as you do. The secret here is experience like yours.

Actually I have given up BH already and just settled with dry foods because I could not maintain water quality but it seems my discus are'nt getting the right nutrients they need from dry food. It's time to try it again. How do you rate BH compared to other food?

After freezing the BH, how do you break them to pieces before feeding? do you shred? do you feed while frozen? or you thaw first then feed, pls advise.

Wow! you are mixing-up such a big volume of BH, I supposed you own a discus farm. How big is it? I tried to browse your website but getting a hardtime downloading pictures I dont know if from my internet connection here or there. eager to see your site.

many thanks
jovel

[fishfarm]

Hi, I think beefheart is the best quality protien for the money. I feed it every day. I'm usually feeding 500-1000 discus a day so I need lots of food! When I mix it up, I spread it thin (about a 1/4&quot in sandwich baggies, press flat and freeze. I use one of these a day. I just break off pieces and throw them in the tank frozen. They sink to the bottom and the fish eat on them until they are gone. Don't over do it, After an hour or two if there is still food left you gave them to much. I do 50% water changes every other day on the adults and 50-75% a day on the youngsters. I also give them bloodworms, flake food and pellets daily also. Keep those bellys full and they grow faster. Ken

[jeddah]

Thanks Ken, First time to try BH w/o gelatin.

May I ask you at what age your discus reach its full size?
In your experience, what is the biggest variety?
How fast are they growing each month?

Lots of begginers question.
Appreciate all !

jovel

[tony1313]

[quote author=fishfarm link=board=3;threadid=4569;start=15#69149 date=1043555919] I mix up two bags of medicated food when I do this, one with Prazi and one with Metro so I have it when I need it.
[/quote]

Ken,
Thanks for posting your recipe! I am making up a batch this weekend and would like to know how much Metro(I use hexamit) and Prazi to add to medicated portions.

TIA,
Tony

[jules]

Does anyone else have more recipes with Turkey Heart?
Do I cook the Turkey heart?

[dmacch]

I have been to two different butchers in my area and when I ask if they carry beefheart they look at me like I'm nuts. That being said, can't I just use the frozen beefheart from the lfs. Better yet can I thaw it out and add other things to it. It seems that if I thaw it then freeze it again that I would ruin it. Also how are the recipes using chicken cutlets or fish filets. Do the fish get the same nutrition as BH. Any sggestions? Thanks

Dom

[Busmike]

[quote author=dmacch link=board=3;threadid=4569;start=45#msg155243 date=1072034872]
I have been to two different butchers in my area and when I ask if they carry beefheart they look at me like I'm nuts.[/quote]

Ask your butchers which slaughterhouses they buy from, or do a search on you computer for slaughterhouses in your area. I ran into the same problem. One butcher was willing to order them in for me, but wanted $20 a pop.

Might as well use fillet minion... Found a slaughterhouse 15 miles from me and now pay $8 each.

[jim_shedden]

Dom :

Where are you located ?

Jim

[dmacch]

Long Island, NY

[Haywire]

[quote author=CanadianGuy link=board=3;threadid=4569;start=45#msg129111 date=1062731178]
How messy is this stuff?....it seems to me that there would be alot of things that just dissolve in the water...(ie...babyfood, ground up vitamins, ground up bannas)....leaving you with just the ground up things..

I'm sure I'm just not understanding ???....does anyone have any pictures of thier fish eating these recipes??

James
[/quote]

That's where the gelatin comes in, it sets when you freeze it and you get a jelly like product when you add it to the tank. Depending on the gelatin some will complete discolve due to the water temperature. As for a photo mine usually won't let the stuff hit the bottom of the tank for me to take the snap shot.

Anyone ever try Agar-Agar? great stuff, me and a buddy made some beefheart on saturday. It's so good that I accidentally over feed one tank ain the evening (cull tank) and it was still solid the next day.