algae gel food mix reviews & discussion

[WinstonCourt]

You have one of the most interesting threads here, in my humble opinion. I have always liked making and feeding homemade food.

Your efforts are much 'more scientific' than anything I have done. I just may have to give this a try.

 

[WinstonCourt]

I mentioned this to the wife, she is the real cook in our family. She said she knew about agar-agar and you can pick it up in different forms in Asia food stores, in various forms. She showed me this:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=2245&pictureid=19250
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=2245&pictureid=19249

It is strips of agar agar which can be dissolved to make gelatin dishes she cooks. She says it is also possible to buy jars of it powdered in the larger Asian markets. I asked her what it costs, all she can remember is that it is cheap, whatever that means?

Anyway, if it is a better source than you have, I'd thought I'd mention it to you.

 

[WinstonCourt]

I have been thinking on this more. This would be a great way to have homemade medicated fish food. Just add your antibiotic, sulfa drug, etc. in an amount which will provide adequate medication to the amount eaten, fish size, etc. I have to drive 40 miles just to pick up medicated food, no local FS even sell it.

I have noticed that the Asian stores sell things like dried shrimp, dried fish, etc., so even the meat eaters are treatable.

With DIY tools like this, and this knowledge developed and available, it seems more hobbyists might go from amateur to professional breeds and raisers of fish. It now strikes me as funny someone has not worked this out before; or, have they, and are just silently enjoying the profits? LOL

 

[cellodaisy]

Winston - Thank you so much for your input!

I mentioned this to the wife, she is the real cook in our family. She said she knew about agar-agar and you can pick it up in different forms in Asia food stores, in various forms.

Yes, I'm aware the agar comes in different forms. Powdered is the most concentrated and, for this purpose, the easiest, so that's what I use.

Anyway, if it is a better source than you have, I'd thought I'd mention it to you.

Thank you. I would have tried an Asian market if there had been one nearby, but I live in a small town in a rural area, so no luck there. I do have three health food stores in easy striking distance, but only one of them has agar and that's in tiny, overpriced packages. There just isn't enough demand for it in my neck of the woods. I order from an online bulk food supplier, and would imagine that the price is similar to what you would see in an Asian market.

I have been thinking on this more. This would be a great way to have homemade medicated fish food.

Yes, it's a great way to make small, custom batches of food for many purposes.

It now strikes me as funny someone has not worked this out before; or, have they, and are just silently enjoying the profits? LOL

I had the same thought. There are commercial gel feeds available, but as far as I can tell they all use gelatin. It surprises me that the practical benefits of agar have not outweighed its slightly higher cost for any of the big manufacturer. All the gel food powders I found were marketed to the aquaculture industry, and I would think they'd mostly be raising cool- or cold-water fish, so perhaps the melting point is less of an issue than it is in a tropical tank.

 

[excuzzzeme]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Quoted in part. . . .
[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Mix this with your flake and pellet food at the rate of 1 part Nuturose to 500 parts feed. This will increase the platability and digestion of your food. Within 1-2 weeks you will see a large difference in the health and color of your fish because of the high amounts of Astaxanthan. [/FONT]

roughly 4mg per kg
​

 

[blue2fyre]

I finally got a chance to try this stuff again. Things went way better this time. I could tell right away that I had gotten the mix right.
I made a bit more than I needed but it was quite popular! My dominant make in my mbuna tank claimed the rock all to himself so I added another out of the sight line so all the fish could get some.

I mixed some freeze dried krill in with the one that went in the Tang tank. The fish quickly picked out the krill then left the rest.

In the shrimp tank the shrimp are having so trouble with it. They are picking at it but I wonder is it a little too dense for them. Hopefully once it's in the tank a little longer it will be softer for them.

Overall I love it! I wish I had bought more lol.

 

[cellodaisy]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Quoted in part. . . .
[/FONT]

roughly 4mg per kg
​

I looked into NatuRose, which (if memory serves) is about 1.5% astaxanthin. I decided to go with phaffia, which is about 1% astaxanthin, because it was so much less expensive.

I finally got a chance to try this stuff again. Things went way better this time. I could tell right away that I had gotten the mix right.

Great!

I mixed some freeze dried krill in with the one that went in the Tang tank. The fish quickly picked out the krill then left the rest.

I wonder if using krill powder instead of freeze-dried whole krill would help? That way they couldn't pick it out and they'd have to eat the other stuff too.

Overall I love it! I wish I had bought more lol.

Fantastic! I'm shipping again, so whenever you want to place another order, just let me know.

 

[saram521]

I finally got around to making the algae gel and the first critics were my week old apple snails. The gel is like a magnet, because in seconds, the babies are surfing all over it! The powder goes a long way, but I'm sure I'll be buying more from you in a few months (if you're still selling it)!

 

[FishDreamer48]

I ordered some of this and have made my first batch half of which is already in fish tanks the other half in the fridge. Since I didn't really have enough lids to use for molds I just poured it into a plastic container and cut squares of the size I want for each tank.

A couple notes on improvement for my next shot:

For my Dad's tank and my betta tank I will definately have to do the whole magnet to the side of a tank thing because my betta is smart and has seemed to figure out the food at least he keeps going down to that section of the tank, but it is kind of difficult for him and I think he would prefer the magnet option better. With my Dad's tank the fish are not the brightest bulbs among my fish tanks and just don't seem to get the who jello for dinner thing.

Also I will probably do two different batches one for the adult and bigger fish with the bigger frozen foods and one for the baby tanks with the frozen baby brine shrimp.

Also here is the recipe I made up and used. I figure it had love of greenery and protein and it was put in all my tanks. This is using the instructions posted by cellodaisy, without her my fish would not be enjoying their new spacemen food and some other people and pet stores who contributed : )

2 tsp decapsulated brine shrimp eggs
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp carrot
1/8 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp collard greens
1/2 tsp spinach
1/2 tsp krill
1 tsp spirulina
1 tsp calcium citrate
1 tsp chlorella
1 tsp kelp
1 tsp agar

The dry stuff was thrown together and the following frozen stuff was defrosted in the cup of water used for the recipe and then everything was added together.

1 cube of the following (regular sized cubes not the nano tank ones)
Brine shrimp
Plankton
Bloodworms
1 each (4 in total) from my Freshwater Multipack (which I think are bloodworms, brineshrimp, some blend, and something else, pm me for specifics)
Also added mainly since I was going to use this for my babies too was 6 cubes (nano tank or 1/2 cube size) of baby brine shrimp.

Following recipe and BAM instant green jelloish fish food. Thanks for the awesome new food and when I get more money coming in I look forward to making future purchases.

 

[FishDreamer48]

Oh and my baby convicts especially are having a party with this stuff as are my cory cats! Thanks again!