SophSixx Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Hi all, just wondering if anyone has used Tanganyika Chips from Tropical? Currently using Hikari and my fish seem to love them but can't seem to find them in bulk. I bought these over the weekend and the fish seem to go nuts over them. What should I be looking for when reading ingredients? Sorry for the lack of knowledge but am still quite new to the African cichlids world! Downside so far is that they claim to be sinking pellets but find they don't sink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloydashton Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I get mine from this place http://www.caramelspetsupplies.com.au/ My frontosa love this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophSixx Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 56 minutes ago, lloydashton said: I get mine from this place http://www.caramelspetsupplies.com.au/ My frontosa love this stuff. Thanks Lloyd, will have a look through their online store now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 What I generally start with looking at is having predominantly aquatic ingredients - particularly the proteins. And not too many empty fillers. (Wheat / Soy based stuff etc) Of course recommendation from experienced hobbiests are also right up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckmeister Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 and avoid anything with trace elements like peas You can make your own fresh frozen too and freeze it in freezer bags and include that in your food a few times a week. I think the fish appreciate having changes in food types every once in a while. I used to know someone with an awesome 7 bar frontosa colony and they used to love the stuff. Really most modern brand foods are perfectly fine for your fish. There are even some home brands like age of aquariums sell that are nothing but unbranded (cheaper) bagged food. Just be mindful of fish like tropheus that are vegetarian that are probably better off on sera flora flake. I do feed my tropheus spectrum but usually its only every other day and only lightly combined with their usual sera flora mix....though from memory your interested in frontosa. There is not much that frontosa wont pig out on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophSixx Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 Thanks guys. Chuck was it you that had the post on making your own frozen food? I remember reading it about a month ago and thinking it was a great idea. I've seen so many people online that feed so many different dry foods although I put it down to having different types of fish. Was watching a YouTube clip and the guy had about 5 diff pellet foods for a mbuna tank apparently each having its own significant vitamin. I've also read conflicting views on feeding prawns. Is it a no no to feed cooked prawns? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 It's a no no to feed raw prawns, though in moderation there wouldn't be much harm. Its safe to feed cooked prawns,, but the problem with this is, is that the cellular structures in the prawn break open from the cooking process which releases majority of the nutrients, which kind of renders feeding prawns pointless once cooked. Its said, to half cook the prawns which will limit cell damage/splitting and still provide benefits. Prawns are loaded with thiaminase which causes deficiencies in fish being thiamine deficiency. Thiamine is a needed nutrient/vitamin by most living living things which supports a healthy metabolism,, it's a long explanation but I'll cut that short. Thiaminase is a horrible type of unneeded vitamin block out, once residual levels of it get to high in the fish. Prawns are also sprayed with nasty preservatives. prawns cooked for human consumption sees all the thiaminase and preservatives dissapear. this is the reason why I never feed any prawn to fish,, I lost my very first ever stingray to excessive feeding of prawn. i substituted prawn with squid. I use pure brine shrimp pellets from fishwerx to perform the task of higher protein boosting and works very well,, in small amounts to. White bait is moderately oily and high in the proteins on the field we are on, and contains no Thiaminase and in general no preservatives. Getting more serious,,,, is from fish mongers, in frozen blocks,,, you can get what's called Antarctic silver fish which look like tiny skinny white bait and partially translucent,,,,,,, I use to hacksaw the frozen blocks into two inch cubes and keep frozen. Id whip out a cube half hour before feeding, and feed,,, all these little glittery silver fish flying around from their spear like shape and the fronts totally adore them,,, they conditioned my Burundi frontosa up so well,,, I commonly had females holding eggs again days after stripping the 21 day old fry. But like I said, brine shrimp pellets will achieve the same goals and is much cleaner due to protein concentration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 green prawns are a danger because of what they get sprayed with to preserve the colour longer in the market place and will kill your fish as Buccal has noted mate of mine used to make his marinara mix with cooked prawn, mussels, squid, Nori in a similar mix to Chuckie and used agar agar to bind it as this is plant based rather than gelatine being animal based - he breed many Frontosa having said this is was over 15 years ago and food technology has improved greatly since then with commercial products Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Yes, the food tech has come a long way,,, that's why earlier I noted that the dates on the home made food threads on most forums and alike are usually some time ago in the past. Mussels also contain thiaminase in high concentration. But I use to use squid, whitebait with spirallina and nori and heaps of different vege types,, and yep, always agar agar and agar always sets faster and more solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophSixx Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 prawns ruled out. Buccal how do you prepare the squid? We tend to have a lot of fresh squid and fish (snapper, flathead, garfish, salmon etc) as my brother loves his fishing, seems like it would be quite chewy. Obviously would give pellets as a staple which is why I was asking about the Tropical Tenganyika Chips earlier in the thread but thought a treat now and again would be great which is why I'm interested in fresh/seafood etc. I'll def have a look for Antarctic Silver fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 The silver fish might be seasonal to. Some fish are fussy with squid,,, my main feeding of squid was in the food mix I did. As typical, the solids are processed with a blender,,, I blended each ingredient type at a time, this way later when combining the lot, some ingredient types can be specifically a paste, finely or coarse minced grade or other textures. So I always took the squid to a paste,,, the paste gets taken up well by the vege constituents. A total thick purée that doesn't fall out the bowel when turned upside down and very very hard to stir with spoon,,, this is a perfect consistency. this way, when you make your agar solution as per instruction, but using your mix in place of water,,, this is the important part,,, the best way I can explain this is...... If agar instructions says a tablespoon to one liter of water,,, then you must include the water and your mix together to make equal to the liter,,,,,,, so in percentage wise, you use 80% of your mix plus 20% water = 1 liter. Your thick mix is now smoother but still stiff,,,,, Use a 20mm deep baking tray sprayed lightly with olive oil, and pour the mix in and level of tray with a straight edge then place in fridge,,, one hour later, roll out baking paper on table and turn up right the tray to bump out the set hard jelly mix, and will plop out like a sheet of shiny rubber. I then used a skinny hack saw blade for its thinness and rigidness and cut the sheet up into 2 inch cubes,,,, use the blade to cut up in a straight line grid form. Get your clip lock freezer bags, use a wide putty knife to scoop up the cubes efficiently to fill a bag all at once while keeping them in perfect flat lined sheets for conservative stacking. Dont get agar mix wrong or you won't get the nice thick set blocks which soften fast after submersion. To far wrong and the food will remain paste or it will set off on you to quick,,, so now you know this,, play around with some before the real thing..... (note, any prawns or moluscs should be 30% cooked, nutrient loss is minimal but reduces preservatives and thiaminase risks). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 If you try squid on its own, then cut up into strips and replicate earthworms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophSixx Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 Thanks Buccal, going to try some this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intangcity Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 a trick to soften up squid better is cut the hood open on one side so it opens up as a triangle then hit it with the little steel mallet the kind you use to tenderise meat the one with little spikes on it.i use one on the boat with the thicker squid makes it easier for the fish to bite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophSixx Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 On 20 February 2016 at 0:53 AM, intangcity said: a trick to soften up squid better is cut the hood open on one side so it opens up as a triangle then hit it with the little steel mallet the kind you use to tenderise meat the one with little spikes on it.i use one on the boat with the thicker squid makes it easier for the fish to bite. Thanks intangcity, thought of this on Friday and it did the trick. My big boy loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intangcity Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 sweet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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