Duckweed?

Xaero

Is there a way to cook dried up duckweed into pellets? I want to use it as supplemental food for Tilapia and was wondering if there was any recipes or ways to ball it up once dried for storage and feeding.

Happyfarmernt

Do they not just eat it if you throw it your tank? My perch love it along with Azolla
Or are you thinking of a way to use excess in the summer to save up for when it grows slower in the winter?

mantis

You might want to search for homemade fish food and use your excess duckweed in one of those. When dried I think your pellets might need an attractant like fish oil or something.

holzster

Remember duckweed is 90% water, your fish will probably not get what they need nutritionally because of that they will get full before they get enough duckweed. That is why drying is best before feeding. That is if they are omnivorous like Tilapia or Jade/Silver Perch. Bara's and the such will probably be OK..

AlexR

Hi Xaero -

I'm pretty new to AP but watched an interesting YouTube video where the poster "semi-dried" his duckweed and packed it into ice cube trays, froze the duckweed and fed it to his tilapia. I can't say I've tried it but in the video the fish tore apart the cubes. Maybe instead of cooking it you simply freeze it - just an observation form a newbie.

Also, the poster claimed that freezing kept the uneaten duckweed from invading his system.

Have fun!

Alex

Xaero

I am drying out the duckweed as we speak and putting it into Jars. It's for supplemental feed over the winter. Freezing sounds like a great idea but what I have now is bone dry except what I am growing. I will have to look up homemade fish food. If anyone here has a way to turn it into balls of feed please post!

Xaero

Something I found. I assume the gelatin is to help harden it into cubes?

Quote:

Start with ANY greens, fruits and vegetables you can find. An example would include, but not be limited to; carrots, broccoli, yams, oranges, apples, Romaine lettuce, etc.

Put all the above in a blender or food processor.

Slowly add shrimp, crab legs (both with shells), and/or smelt. Do not use any fish that would contain high levels of oils, like herring or mackeral.

Blend mixture as fine as possible.

Add liquid vitamins or crushed tablets, you can also add Selco or Selcon. The mixture should have the consistancy of mud. Add some liquid to thin it up if it appears to thick, carrot or sweet potato juice works well for this purpose as it is high in vitamin content. You can also use clam juice or water.

Next: Boil 100-150ml of water and add the same amount of unflavored gelatin. Mix the gelatin and vegetable mixture together pour the resulting mixture into a rectangle pan and allow to cool. You can place the mixture in the freezer but be sure to score the mixture before it is completely hardened, to make it easier to separate later.

After the mixture is frozen you can separate the pieces and place them in freezer bags for use as needed.

Source: http://www.aquacon.com/fishfood.htm

blind freddie

Hi Xaero, I was growing duck weed in tubs and ponds last year, then I squashed it tightly into ice cube trays and froze it. that worked fine and the fish ate it every time.

I have not bothered this year, just growing extra lettuce and suplimenting fish feeding with that instead, seams a lot less bother. I have also found my fish will eat quite a wide range of green leafy vegies. At the moment I am feeding them the leaves of my Sweede plants, Pac choy and anything else they will eat.

Xaero

I assume Tilapia do need to have some protein in their diet or can they be fed mainly veggies? Most homemade fish food include shrimp or crab legs which is expensive stuff (unless I grow the shrimp or use crayfish instead).

Anyone have experience with Gelatin or Agar when trying to make small squares (keeping the mix of stuff together)? It looks like Agar may be more expensive than Gelatin but it may be more healthy to mix since Agar comes from Algae (Gelatin is tendons and bones of animals...).

Xaero

How does this sound as a backyard recipe? What vitamins could I be missing (as in plant to add)?

Leaf lettuce (and ruminants of other edible green plants)
Carrots
Duckweed
Crawfish or fresh water feed shrimp
Agar or Gelatin

Mix and freeze.

I need to figure out how to grow feed shrimp. I had some in my guppy tank but they vanished over time.

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Duckweed?

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