The best homemade food for aquarium fish

Homemade alternatives to aquarium fish food

Before you start searching for food for your ornamental fish from what is in your refrigerator or kitchen cupboards, you must first determine the diet of ornamental fish, is it vegetarian, carnivorous, or a mixture of the two?

Home food for ornamental vegetable fish

Vegetables are suitable for plant-based aquarium fish, such as pleco and snails. Vegetables are a complementary addition to the aquarium diet, even if ready-made dry food alternatives are available. Although fish accustomed to dry foods will not recognize vegetables as food right away, with a little patience they will catch on and start eating them. To use vegetables to feed aquarium fish, follow these steps:

1. Boil the vegetables you want to serve to the fish for a while until they soften.
2. Cool the boiled vegetables in a bowl of cold water.
3. Chop the vegetables into very small pieces.
4. Refrain from adding a large amount of cut vegetables, because what is overflowing is subject to rotting and thus polluting the water in the tank.

Home food for broiler ornamental fish

As for the carnivorous fish, it is not qualified to digest plant materials, as the carnivorous fish that are forced to eat only plants suffer from malnutrition, because no nutrients are absorbed in the channel of its digestive system. In contrast, the sharp teeth of carnivorous aquarium fish, such as puffers, piranhas, and Osteoglossum, help to bite and break up food for easier absorption. However, a meat-based diet cannot be considered sufficient on its own, as predatory fish still need balanced nutrients and meat protein.

In general, always try to feed fish meat at room temperature. If it is frozen, leave it for a few hours before cutting it and serving it to the fish. Avoid using fatty meats and oily fish, because fat may build up around the heart of the fish.

Examples of food you can feed to cats include:

• Shrimp.
• Earthworms
• Small insects.
• Daphnia.
• Beef.
• Chicken.
• Little fish.

Homemade dried flakes for carnivorous ornamental fish

You can make dried food for carnivorous fish from homemade food, using the following recipe:

The components:

• Spinach: 1/2 kilogram.
• Broccoli: 1/4 kilogram.
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Zucchini
• Sunfish fillet: 1/4 kilogram.
• Earthworms (No. 4).
• One tablespoon of cornstarch.

How to prepare:

• Prepare the ingredients: washing the vegetables and boiling the hard ones, thawing the frozen ingredients, and removing the skins of the small fish.

• Mixing ingredients: In a food blender, mix well until a mixture of homogeneous textures is obtained.

• Filter the mixture: to remove large pieces.

• Drying the mixture: The mixture is spread on large trays covered with butter paper, in a thin layer less than one centimeter thick, then transferred to a drying oven at a temperature of 65 degrees Celsius for 3-4 hours.

• Break up the dried mixture by hand into small pieces.

• Store chips in a dark and cool atmosphere, in an airtight container.

Preparing a homemade vegetable ornamental fish food mixture

Homemade food for ornamental fish can be made from vegetables and with household ingredients, such as:

• Spinach: 136 grams.
• Cucumber: 136 grams.
• Frozen peas: 136 grams.
• Unflavored gelatin: 268 grams.
• Oats: 136 grams.

How to prepare:

1. Boil all vegetables and then leave to cool.
2. Mix the ingredients in a blender until it becomes a puree.
3. Add the oats, then mix again.
4. Prepare gelatin in a side bowl, by dissolving it in hot water.
5. Mix gelatin with vegetable puree and oatmeal.
6. Keep them in ice cube molds in the refrigerator.

How are ornamental fish fed?

The rule of thumb for feeding aquarium fish is to only provide the fish what they will eat in five minutes, regardless of the tank size, and whatever is left after that is more than enough for the fish.

In general, adult fish need to be fed once a day or several times while reducing the number of meals. As for young fish, they need to be fed 3-4 times a day, due to their small stomachs, which are normally equipped to eat algae and plants throughout the day.

In all cases, the quantity of food must be determined so that there is no leftover food because it will turn into waste, thus contaminating the basin and increasing the percentage of ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites in the water.

An exception is made for nocturnal fish, as the food should be put in the tank in the evening and the lights turned off so that the fish can eat their needs during the night.

What household food can aquarium fish not eat?

Ornamental fish are very selective in their diet, and among the household foods that they cannot eat are:

• Processed or cooked foods, as they contain additives that are bad for fish.
• Bread, because it will expand in its stomach and turn into a dough, causing the fish to become constipated.
• Other pet food, such as dogs and cats.

In conclusion, remember that each type of fish has its own characteristics, in terms of what it prefers to eat and the appropriate care method for it, and the preference of a house fish for a specific type of food does not necessarily mean that another house fish will prefer it, so always try to know the preferences and characteristics of your house fish.