HOW TO PRODUCE FISH FEED AND TECHNIQUES INVOLVED

Feed Formulations With few exceptions, feeding a
single type of food is neither
complete nor balanced and does
not supply all the nutrients a fish
might need in its diet. Hence, two
or more ingredients should be mixed into home made, laboratory
and commercial feed formulations.
A diet may be formulated to
supplement natural foods already
available in the production system
or as a complete formulation when no other foods are provided. A
complete diet must be nutritionally
balanced, palatable, water stable,
and have the proper size and
texture. If natural foods are not
incorporated in ornamental fish diets, the feed must be
supplemented with natural or
synthetic pigments. The nutrient composition of
numerous feed stuffs can be found
in the literature and on the
Internet. Two books that deal
almost entirely with nutrient
composition of feedstuffs are 1) Hand book on Ingredients for
Aquaculture Feeds and 2) Standard
Methods for the Nutrition and
Feeding of Farmed Fish and
Shrimp. Another book, which is
available free on the Internet is United States-Canadian Tables of
Feed Composition, found at . Also,
available through the Internet is
the information provided by the
USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory at . Feeds are formulated to be dry,
with a final moisture content of
6-10%, semi-moist with 35-40%
water or wet with 50-70% water
content. Most feeds used in
intensive production systems or in home aquaria are commercially
produced as dry feeds. Dry feeds
may consist of simple loose
mixtures of dry ingredients, such
as “mash or meals,” to more
complex compressed pellets or granules. Pellets are often broken
into smaller sizes known as
crumbles. The pellets or granules
can be made by cooking with
steam or by extrusion. Depending
on the feeding requirements of the fish, pellets can be made to sink or
float. Flakes are another form of dry
food and a popular diet for
aquarium fishes. Flakes consist of a
complex mixture of ingredients,
including pigments. These are
made into a slurry which is cooked and rolled over drums heated by
steam. Semi-moist and wet feeds are
made from single or mixed
ingredients, such as trash fish or
cooked legumes, and can be
shaped into cakes or balls. Feed Preparation There is no single way for the
preparation of formulated fish
feeds, however, most methods
begin with the formation of a
dough-like mixture of ingredients.
Ingredients can be obtained from feed stores, grocery stores,
pharmacies, and specialty stores
such as natural food stores, as well
as from various companies that
may be found through the
internet. The dough is started with blends of
dry ingredients which are finely
ground and mixed. The dough is
then needed and water is added
to produce the desired consistency
for whatever fish is going to be fed. The same dough may be used
to feed several types of fish, such
as eels and small aquarium fish. Pelleting or rolling converts the
dough into pellets or flakes,
respectively. The amount of water,
pressure, friction, and heat greatly
affects pellet and flake quality. For
example, excess water in the mixture results in a soft pellet. Too
little moisture and the pellet will
crumble. Proteins and especially vitamins
are seriously affected by high
temperatures. Therefore, avoid
storing diet ingredients at
temperatures at or above 70° C
(158° F) and do not prepare dry feeds with water at temperature
higher than 92° C (198° F). For help or consultancy call 08032861326.

Share this: