How to make fish food – make it on your own today. Aquarium DIY project.

Aquarium DIY ideas are numerous, and it certainly isn’t easy to pick one or two that are more worthy of mentioning over the others. But we had to scale this article down to something readable and doable, as well. The whole point of the text in front of you is to inspire you and maybe give you a few ideas. If you implement and try making a fish food mix on your own, surely let us know.

Aquarium DIY idea: Make fish food on your own

Experienced fish keepers usually make fish food on their own. Before we explain to you how you can do it as well, let us introduce you to the world of fish food. Let’s think logically for a second here. Fish food in nature is not labeled, doesn’t have an imprinted expiration date and certainly doesn’t cost any money. If we dig this logical thinking even more in-depth than it becomes evident that fish can only eat something that is on the bottom, inside, or at the surface level of the water they inhabit. And what could that be?

What do fish eat?

Firstly, and as weird as it may seem – it’s fish. Yes, fish eat other fish. Predators devour the whole fish, more lazy fish feed on leftovers. Shrimps, scallops, all sorts of worms and other smaller creatures of the moist world of salty and fresh waters are the second food choice. Some fish species feed solely on plants and microplants, planktons and other herbal food sources.

When it comes to aquarium fish keeping, it is slightly easier to make food for omnivorous fish than it would be for strictly herbivorous fish species. That’s why we will discus fish food based on “meat.”

Hippocrates famous expression “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” is a suitable mantra for fish. Joke aside, fish get sick from time to time, and the only way to introduce medicine to them is by implementing it into their diet.

You can freeze it

Frozen and dried, in large chunks or dusty flakes, fish food is an essential component of safe and successful fish keeping. If you have a single goldfish or a small-sized fish tank, store-bought fish food can last you for months. But for those who have a substantial amount of fish under they command and care, fish food can become a significant item in the budget. Buying in bulk can save a lot of money. However, the money is not the primary factor in the whole DIY fish food idea. Pellets and flakes are usually dried and packed with starch, yeast, and additives. These are not necessarily harmful to your fish well-being. Still, fresh fish food is more “natural,” even if it comes from your freezer. Once it melts inside your tank, it’s 100% clean and basic. And fish love it!

How to make fish food on your own?

You know, when it comes to DIY ideas, especially the ones related to aquariums, one man stands before all others. As his name says it, he is the king after all. The king of DIY, to be specific. We sort of, kinda, sneak-peaked on his YouTube channel to prepare this text for you. Now, he doesn’t claim that he has one-works-for-all kind of a recipe, and neither do we. The whole idea is to inspire you and maybe share a tip, or two.

Let’s assume that you already feed your fish with something, probably store-bought pellets or flakes. Before you go and shop for aquarium DIY food ingredients, take a moment and check the label of the fish food your fish enjoy the most.

The king of DIY pieces of advice

As Joey Mullen advises, pick top three to five ingredients, and you got yourself the base list of ingredients. The chances are that you have some sort of fish, shrimps, and even spirulina on the list of ingredients. You can buy those ingredients fresh or frozen, but make sure that no additives, flavors, nor spices are added. Just plain and clean ingredients. All you have to do is chop it all nice and small. The size of “bites” depends on the size of fish you own. Stir all ingredients until fully combined. Since food is also medicine, you can add drops (or bottles) of vitamins and other supplements, for fish. Then pack it up, and since you probably made more than you can use in a day, deep freeze it. If properly packed, this food can last up to a year.

Joey has a few extra super useful tips. To find out what those are, check out the video below.

If your aquarium DIY fish making turns out to be a complete mess, you can always go back to your favorite pre-packed fish food brand. But if you like the whole process and it ends up as a delicious feast for your scaly friends, let us know, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact us using the contact form, available on our website. And while you are there, make sure to check our amazing 3D aquarium backgrounds. Once merely a DIY project, today our 3D aquarium backgrounds are a worldwide sold products. But, and we proudly say this as loud as we can, we still make them with our own, bare hands.