Every aquarist has his or her own “recipe” for successfully feeding his/her fish, although almost all agree that variety in the diet will improve overall vigor, color, and health. Most successful aquarists rely on a combination of foods, including fresh or live foods, frozen foods, flake foods, and in some cases, paste foods.
Fresh foods are any of those you can prepare yourself, such as beef heart, shrimp, or clams. Live foods are those you can buy, grow, or catch yourself: daphnia, bloodworms, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, earthworms, white worms, etc. A number of frozen and flake foods are available, some specialized for the nutritional needs of particular fish – cichlids, koi, goldfish, etc. Pellet foods are seldom used for killifish unless ground first, since most formulations are too large.
Paste foods, however, have long been a breeder’s standby, and can be used as a staple of the killifish diet. Most can be created fairly easily in the average kitchen using a blender and readily available ingredients.
A number of different recipes have been developed; we present two of the more popular ones.
Dale Deck’s Paste Food Recipe
3 pints water
1/2 lb. beef heart
1/2 lb. beef liver
1/4 lb. fish fillet
1 small can clams
8 oz. shrimp
1 tsp. Salt
2 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Anise oil
1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin
Optional items include: 1 small can cat food, 1/2 c fish meal, 1/2 c shrimp meal, dried Krill, spinach, carrots, or anything else that is nutritious.
Boil all ingredients together until tender. Process in blender until smooth. Return to pot and bring to boil, then place in clean, heated jars and seal. Cool, then place in refrigerator. Do not freeze (makes the paste watery). Feed in small quantities.
Steve Shine’s Variation on Bower’s “Omnivore Diet”
5 oz. whole shrimp (less tails)
5 oz. haddock fillet
4 oz. crab meat
1 Tbl. Parsley
1 Tbl. carrot shavings
1 Tbl. green peas
1 Tbl. oatmeal
2 tsp. Brewer’s yeast
2-3 dashes Paprika
1 drop Anise extract
2 packets unflavored gelatin
1/2 tsp. Poly-Vi-Sol baby vitamins
Puree all ingredients but the gelatin with 2 oz. of water. Dissolve gelatin in 10 oz. boiling water. While running blender, slowly add dissolved gelatin to rest of mixture. If you want floating food, pour directly into a thin layer in zip lock bags. If you want sinking food, allow to sit for a while to allow air bubbles to escape. Lay the bags flat in the refrigerator to chill and set up for 24 hours. Do not put directly into the freezer, or the gelatin won’t set up properly! After 24 hours move containers into freezer. Cut frozen food into chunks or slices; thaw only what you need for a single feeding.
Note: If the consistency of the preparation seems too wet, add some flake food.
— G.C.K.A. Newsletter, June 1999