Tools and Storage Procedures Making your own fish feed requires
few specialized tools. The tools are
used primarily for chopping,
weighing, measuring ingredients,
and for blending, forming and
drying the feed. Most of the utensils needed will
already be in the laboratory or
kitchen. Multipurpose kitchen
shears, hand graters, a paring
knife, a 5-inch serrated knife, a 6-
to 8-inch narrow-blade utility knife, and a 10-inch chef knife for
cutting, slicing, and peeling can be
used. A couple of plastic cutting
boards protect the counter and
facilitate handling the raw
ingredients. Heat resistant rubber spatulas, wooden and slotted
spoons, long-handled forks, and
tongs are very good for handling
and mixing ingredients. A basic
mortar and pestle, electric blender,
food processor or coffee grinder are very useful to chop or pure ingredients; use grinder sieves and
mince die plates to produce the
smallest particle size possible. A
food mill and strainer such as a
colander or flour sifter help discard coarse material and obtain fine
food particles. For weighing and
measuring ingredients, dry and
liquid measuring cups and spoons,
and a food or laboratory bench
scale are required. Other utensils include plastic bowls (1½, 3, 5, and
8 quarts) for weighing and mixing
ingredients, a thermometer, and a
timer. A 3-quart sauce pan and 10-
inch stockpot are good for heating
gelatins and cooking raw foods such as vegetables and starches.
The ingredients and blends may be
cooked in a small electric or gas
burner. A few trivets to put under
hot pans will protect counters and
table tops. Ingredients may be mixed by hand
using a rotary beater or wire
whisk, however, an electric mixer
or food processor is more efficient.
After mixing, a dough is formed
which can be fashioned into different shapes. A pasta maker, food or meat
grinder will extrude the dough into
noodles or “spaghetti” of
different diameters. As the noodles
emerge from the outside surface of
the die, they can be cut off with a knife to the desired length or
crumbled by hand, thus making
pellets. A potato ricer also serves
to extrude the dough into noodles
of the same size. For making flakes,
a traditional hand-cranked or electric past a maker will press out
the dough into thin sheets. The pellets or thin sheets can be
placed on a cookie sheet and dried
in a household oven on low heat or
in a forced-air oven. A small food
dehydrator also performs the task
quite well. To add extra oil and/or pigments to pellets, a hand-held oil
atomizer or sprayer can is useful.
To separate pellets into different
sizes, a set of sieves (e.g., 0.5, 0.8,
1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mm) is required. Freezer bags serve to store the
prepared feeds, and using a bag
vacuum sealer will greatly extend
the shelf-life of both ingredients
and the feed. The feed can be
stored double bagged in the freezer but should be discarded
after 6 months. Ideally, dried larval
feeds are not frozen but stored in
the refrigerator for no longer than
3 months. A finished diet, especially used for
experimental purposes, should be
analyzed for nutrient content
(proximate analysis: crude protein,
energy, moisture, etc.). In addition,
anyone intending to make his/her own fish feeds with unfamiliar
ingredients should have them
analyzed prior to their use.
FOR HELP AND CONSULTANT CALL 08032861326.
