[fantailfan]

i read once how to make a gel food. i cant find that resource again, and i really would like to blend some of the foods together, so that i can give more than one kind at a time.

anyone care to enlighten me again?

[fantailfan]

those are really helpful. my idea is to make a gel, including flaoting foods that i have trouble getting to sink. I.E. sun dried baby shrimp, tubiflex and blood worms, and certain flakes and pellets(mainly bio gold by hikari). i was wondering about the gelitin mix however. i just didnt want to dive in with some lime jello.


OOOH, and fruit too. i can never get that to sink in the tank, no matter how long i soak it.

[touchofsky]

Here is an easy gel food recipe that I use for my fish. They love it, and it is really good to feed to fish that having floating problems :D Especially the one with 1/2 peas as the vegetable component.
Valerie

GEL FOOD

1 cup lightly cooked vegetables (I used a half cup frozen peas, then the
next half cup was a mixture of frozen spinach, frozen green beans, green
pepper, & parsley, but you can use other things such as asparagus, mustard
greens, broccoli, carrots, whatever you have on hand) If you use frozen
vegetables, you don't have to cook them, since they are already blanched.

1/2 can tuna or shrimp

- liquefy the veggies and the tuna or shrimp in a blender,

- dissolve 2 packets of unflavoured gelatin in half a cup of warm water,
microwave till clear, and stir into the veggie mix.

Pour into a standard oblong cake pan that is lined with saran wrap and
chill.

Once set, cut into bite sized pieces with the dull side of a knife. Remove
enough for a week, then freeze the rest. When it is frozen, you can use the
saran wrap to lift the whole slab right out of the pan, double wrap it, and
return to the freezer. It will easily break along the cuts that you have
made. Just break off a chunk of the frozen food, and let thaw a bit, then
feed. It thaws very quickly. You can keep a few days worth, unthawed, in the fridge wrapped in saran.

There is also another very easy gel food that is made with a small can of
tomato paste, a couple of peeled, lightly cooked, chopped carrots, 1/2 can
tuna or shrimp, 2 packets unflavoured gelatin dissolved in half cup warm
water and heated till clear. This mixture is then liquefied in the blender
and treated the same way as above for freezing. This is high in vitamin A
and C :-)

The fish love these and these recipes make a huge batch, so it lasts a long
time.

[fantailfan]

i sort of used my own recipe, with tips from those others that were posted.

i crushed equal amounts of

baby sun dried shrimp
krill
tubiflex
bloodworms
hikari biogold(it floats, no matter how long i soak it)
spirulina 20
peas, diced and mashed
canteloupe and apricots

then i mixed it in distilled water, and added the gelatin stuff. the krill, shrimp, and tubiflex have all been assosiated with good growth rates. bloodworms seems to give colors a boost, as does the canteloupe and apricots. peas so the dont get bound up, and spirulina just had here, and they didnt seem to like it by its self. the hikari, i just cant get it to sink, and so many people have told me its a good food, i wanted to work it into the program.

they seem to love it, and we will see if it jumpstarts thier growth and color.

[touchofsky]

The gel food recipe that I sent makes enough to fit in the bottom of a oblong cake pan, about 9"x12" or something like that.

This recipe freezes very well, so you can keep it in the freezer and just break off a bit at a time, so none goes to waste.

You could cut the recipe in half if you wanted to :)

[Ranchugirl]

I thought I pin this one up here, since a lot of us make their own food, including me, and its always nice to see some variations fast without searching through the whole section.... :)

[Ranchugirl]

Thats a great idea! I put some frozen bloodworms into my food too, since my fish have a hard time catching them, especially the big ones. Koi and bloodworms, not in your life time! :D

[koko]

Well I gave it a shot.

Progold crushed
Krill
spirulina
Tuna
Garlic


Oh and I just had to taste it and EWW! :rofl

[Ranchugirl]

Koko, are you sure you got the whole concept of the gel food thing? Its the fish who are supposed to eat it, not YOU! :rofl

[koko]

:rofl .......Well I had to make sure that it was good for them. You know like a mom that make sure that the food is safe for the babie......I guess I go over board :rofl

[Ranchugirl]

Actually, I do that sometimes too, but I use Kroshinsky's receipe, and its all natural ingredients there, anything I woul eat anyway, well, except for the dog vitamins.... :rofl
You should see my cats going nuts when I feed the fish....They follow me around until they get a piece as well!

[koko]

Actually hubby dared me to do it. So I tasted it but I didnt swallow it wasnt that great....... :sick

[Ranchugirl]

HA - I bet Ric didn't take one bite, did he now? :lol:

[koko]

Oh no he didnt he said EWW..... :rofl but I told him I can do it but he said I dont swallow so it didnt count........ :lol2

[Ranchugirl]

Albert , I use the same one. I usually make my food in the afternoon, just because its the only free time I have. I let it cool down on the countertop an hour, and then put it in the fridge over night....I always make 2 gallon of that stuff, since I have quite a few fish, and with that huge amount it takes about 4-5 hours to set. With less food, it will take less time.... :)

[Aquarius]

I thought I would share my recipe with everyone:

Goldfish Gel Food Recipe

Ingredients:
1 c. frozen peas and carrots, thawed.
1/3 cup spirulina flakes
1 3 oz. can of tuna
¼ c. Pro Gold sinking pellet food
5 cubes frozen brine shrimp (Hikari)
2 dog vitamins (Pet Tab), crushed into fine powder
2 packets unflavored gelatin powder
Approximately 2 c. water


Directions:

Add peas and carrots, tuna, and ½ c. water to blender, and blend until smooth. Add spirulina flakes and ½ c water into blender, and blend until smooth again. Add Pro Gold and blend. Dissolve 5 cubes of brine shrimp into about a tablespoon of water. When dissolved, add to the mixture and blend. Lastly, add vitamins to the mixture and blend. Dissolve gelatin packets into ½ c. cold water, and stir well. Microwave for about 1-2 minutes, until clear, stirring occasionally. Add to the mixture and blend once more.

Pour mixture into long casserole dish lined in saran wrap. Place into the refrigerator for several hours, until completely gelatinous. Using a dull knife (i.e. a butter knife), cut into tiny squares. Keep enough for about a week in refrigerator in separate Tupperware container. Freeze the remainder.

[monty]

Doe4s this stuff float or sink? How do the fish like it??