Beef Heart
This is an article I wrote for the BKA Killinews some time ago, but it is still worth showing especially for newcomers to this group of fish.
As sharp knives are used in the preparation of this food, please be very careful.
You may ask, why do I prepare my own fish food with all the commercial material that is available today? Well one reason is cost, but is probably more a carryover from many years ago when there were fewer alternatives available plus most of the fish love it and seem to do well with this as their staple diet. Some years ago, at a BKA Convention presentation, a well known UK Nothobranchius breeder mentioned that he got his best results when feeding beef heart.
The equipment that you will need, are some very sharp knives, a liquidiser, a large plastic bowl plus a spoon and some shallow plastic trays (I get mine from the “Chinese takeaway”). In addition to the beef heart (sometimes called ox-heart by some butchers), you will also need packets of gelatine (1 per each heart you prepare), and my special additive (read on).
As sharp knives are used in the preparation of this food, please be very careful.
You may ask, why do I prepare my own fish food with all the commercial material that is available today? Well one reason is cost, but is probably more a carryover from many years ago when there were fewer alternatives available plus most of the fish love it and seem to do well with this as their staple diet. Some years ago, at a BKA Convention presentation, a well known UK Nothobranchius breeder mentioned that he got his best results when feeding beef heart.
The equipment that you will need, are some very sharp knives, a liquidiser, a large plastic bowl plus a spoon and some shallow plastic trays (I get mine from the “Chinese takeaway”). In addition to the beef heart (sometimes called ox-heart by some butchers), you will also need packets of gelatine (1 per each heart you prepare), and my special additive (read on).
I purchase my beef heart from a local butcher, but these days they have to order them especially for me, and I order 2 at a time. I have found that the best time to prepare this fishfood is when you can have the kitchen to yourself, as some mess will be made and if cleaned up at the end there are less problems later. With my fishroom, 40 tanks and one daily feeding, I have found that I can produce enough food from the 2 hearts to nearly last 4 months.
The first job, and the most difficult, is to trim off all the fat and sinews using the very sharp knives (so please be very careful), so that you are only left with the meat/muscle. This I have found to be much easier with fresh hearts and not ones that have been frozen. I am probably very conservative when trimming off this unwanted material, therefore losing a quantity of the good meat, but at approximately £7-8 for 2 hearts I think that is acceptable and makes the job easier and quicker. Next job is to cut the meat into 1-2cm chunks.
The first job, and the most difficult, is to trim off all the fat and sinews using the very sharp knives (so please be very careful), so that you are only left with the meat/muscle. This I have found to be much easier with fresh hearts and not ones that have been frozen. I am probably very conservative when trimming off this unwanted material, therefore losing a quantity of the good meat, but at approximately £7-8 for 2 hearts I think that is acceptable and makes the job easier and quicker. Next job is to cut the meat into 1-2cm chunks.
Now for the noisy bit. I half fill the liquidiser with the chunks and add cold tapwater to the same level as the meat, replace the lid (very important) and puree the material. If the material will not flow in the liquidiser then more tapwater can be added, but try to reduce this to a minimum. Sometimes shaking the liquidiser or canting it at an angle can help. I tried sieving this puree to make sure there were no large pieces left, but that is virtually impossible, so no longer try. This puree is placed in the large plastic bowl. The liquidiser will have to be refilled a number of times to process all of the meat.
Next step is to mix in the special additive. This is Tim Addis’s Red Crumb No.5 dried food (which can be purchased from his website, see later, or at some of the auctions), which I add at approximately 50gms per heart, or 1 100gm bag is sufficient for the 2 hearts that I normally process at a go. As well as being an excellent food in it’s own right, it is a good attractor and it will absorb some of the moisture from the mix. Of course you can add other items if you so wished, but I find that this mixture is excellent for the species that I have at the moment (mainly Fundulopanchax and Nothobranchius).
The final step is to add the packets of gelatine to a cup of freshly boiled water (try to minimise the amount of water used), and this is then stirred into the mixture. Next spoon the mixture into the trays to an approximate 2cm depth. Place the trays in the fridge overnight so that the gelatine can set, which will not happen so successfully if immediately placed into the freezer. Next morning I place the trays into the freezer.
Next step is to mix in the special additive. This is Tim Addis’s Red Crumb No.5 dried food (which can be purchased from his website, see later, or at some of the auctions), which I add at approximately 50gms per heart, or 1 100gm bag is sufficient for the 2 hearts that I normally process at a go. As well as being an excellent food in it’s own right, it is a good attractor and it will absorb some of the moisture from the mix. Of course you can add other items if you so wished, but I find that this mixture is excellent for the species that I have at the moment (mainly Fundulopanchax and Nothobranchius).
The final step is to add the packets of gelatine to a cup of freshly boiled water (try to minimise the amount of water used), and this is then stirred into the mixture. Next spoon the mixture into the trays to an approximate 2cm depth. Place the trays in the fridge overnight so that the gelatine can set, which will not happen so successfully if immediately placed into the freezer. Next morning I place the trays into the freezer.
When required I will remove one of the trays and turn out the solid contents onto a cutting board. After 5-10 minutes when the mixture is a bit softer I will cut it up to 1-2cm chunks, which are placed into a plastic bag and back into the freezer. I can then take as many chunks as required for one feeding. The mixture will thaw completely in less than 15 minutes, with very little liquid and can easily be fed to your fish.
Hope that you will give this a try, and give us some feedback.
Tim’s Website address is www.taaquaculture.uk