Perfect for Oto's, cories, and fish who is the picky eater. These homemade veggie rounds are nutricious, healthy, and make very little mess, less than store-bought veggie rounds! For little cost, plus no preservatives! My silver dollars absolutely would eat NO veggies, until I fed them these! They carry them around and break off peices. These slowly (over hours), get mushy and then they are perfect for oto's, cories, and small fish. You need only a few ingredients, which are usually found in everyones homes. They are:
Hammer
Knife
Paper/Styrofoam plates
Flour (very little)
ALL VEGGIES MAY BE SUBSTITUTED FOR OTHERS (you only need a few of these ingredients):
Zuchinni (staple for this food, do not substitute)
Spinach
Romaine lettuce
Carrots
Celery
Kale
Brussel sprouts
Brocolli
Remember you do not need all of these, just a few. Now, heres what to do:
First, cut up and stringy and/or hard to mash ingredients. Now on one plate, put your veggies on, mash them up (with your hammer) well. Set them on another plate, mash all ingredients together. Gently press into a ball, then put between palms and squeeze as much water as you can get out. Press into disc shape, using a small amount of flour to help you form the disc. DO NOT use too much flour. The rounds should be about the size of a penny, though thicker. Now, leave them under a light for 5 minutes until they get a teeny bit dry on the outside. Now cook in the oven for 10 minutes on 450F or until slightly brown, they will not be "too" crispy, see the pic of one (attached). Voila! Let cool and feed to your fish. Freeze portions that will not be eaten in a few days.
***Please ask before posting this receipe on other websites***
1st pic is of the actual (finished) veggie rounds, enlarged to show texture. And 2nd pic is of my cory, Shirley, enjoying her veggie round. Couldn't get a pic of silver dollars eating it, they are camera shy
Enjoy! ~Brianna
Yes, I had thought of that. I thought it'd be easier for the fish to eat it with a bit of flour, it really is only a tiny bit on the TOP and BOTTOM, not all mixed in. I will try the gelatin and see how it works.
Brianna
very good idea. I have been looking for food ideas for my pleco who does not like wafers. I am sure he will love these homemade goodies. Thank you very much.
mojo
When I had Hillstream loaches they loved it when I made a veggie mix with the unflavored gelatin and smeared it on rocks and let it dry. Then they would rasp it off. You have to smear it really thin though.
Carol
Thank you for the recipie! I grate potatoes rinse and squeeze out the tap water. The fish love them but they look like worms in the bottom of the tanks. The trusty plecos always have them cleaned up by the next morning.
I'm going to try your recipie using unrinsed potatoe and see if the starch isn't a good substitute for the flour.
The reciepe was a wonderful success. The fish just love them. I used the grated potatoes and had no trouble with the binding. This is going to be added to their diet as a weekly treat and if I'm going away for a couple of days.
The plecos would probably really enjoy it spread thinly on a rock! As suggested by Carol.
I'm not an algae eater, but being a veggie-lover, the recipe sounds delicious to me myself! LOL! very cool idea - I want to try it for my algae eater! Thanks for the recipe
I'm not an algae eater, but being a veggie-lover, the recipe sounds delicious to me myself! LOL! very cool idea - I want to try it for my algae eater! Thanks for the recipe
Those look delicious! *laughs* I've been interested in making some of my own fish foods and treats and this is one of the easiest looking ideas I've seen yet. Looks like a fun project, thanks for sharing!
Do you think these rounds could be dried as opposed to frozen? I would like to dehydrate them similar to that of beef jerky, so that way the freezer is unnecessary. Has anyone tried this, or have an opinion about whether this would be ok to do? Would it take out required nutrients in the food? I know freezing veggies, takes out the B1 (I dont know whether fish need B1 or not, i just have an iguana, and thats a concern with them) Also i just happen to have parsnips in my fridge, would these be ok to use? Any input would be appreciated.
Last edited by rileyrk190; December 28th, 2007 at 01:46 AM.
I gave drying them out a try, and my fish seem to gobble them up. now they don't need to be refrigerated. All i did was make them into circles, and put them on a metal cookie rack. Then i ran a fan on low over them to prevent any mold or things from growing on them. They were dry in just over a day. Thanks for the recipe!
Just a side note really though - instead of trying to cut and mash I just used a grater. I have one that has two sizes and just used the smaller size - got everything really fine and didn't even have to worry about the celery being stringy. The kale was a little hard to do that with so I just grated the stalks and chopped the leaves - same with the broccoli. But it all combined very nicely with some potatoes so I didn't have to worry about any flour.
Wow! This recipe is great. I have several corys and a bristlenose pleco and when I drop some of this in the corys go nuts. In a good way.
I had no flour or gelatin. So I spread it on a bit of tin foil and cooked it as suggested. While it wasn't wafers, it came out ok. I put all the cooked veggies in the freezer and when I break off a bit and put it in the tank, it disintegrates - part of it cascade down to the gravel and parts continue to float, and everyone in the tank seems happy.
I think where I made my mistake is I added the flour in like part of it.. and i think what i was supposed to do was make the little pattys and then dab some flour on that before cooking it? Maybe?? i dunno.. im just a really bad cook.
I think where I made my mistake is I added the flour in like part of it.. and i think what i was supposed to do was make the little pattys and then dab some flour on that before cooking it? Maybe?? i dunno.. im just a really bad cook.
Yes, you are supposed to make the patty then dab a little flour on it. You may (if they burn), want to turn the oven down to 300. You can also put it in some unflavored gelatin, no cooking required. Just follow the directions on the gelatin (I add a bit less water), and then I put the gelatin with the veggies mixed in into a ice cube tray, refrigerate and take out 1/4-1/2 block for my fish. I like it better because I tend to forget about things in the oven, LOL.
Yes, you are supposed to make the patty then dab a little flour on it. You may (if they burn), want to turn the oven down to 300. You can also put it in some unflavored gelatin, no cooking required. Just follow the directions on the gelatin (I add a bit less water), and then I put the gelatin with the veggies mixed in into a ice cube tray, refrigerate and take out 1/4-1/2 block for my fish. I like it better because I tend to forget about things in the oven, LOL.
Hi bbfeckawitts,
When the food disintegrate in water, does it create a lot of mess?
How often do you perform water change feeding them like this?
When the food disintegrate in water, does it create a lot of mess?
How often do you perform water change feeding them like this?
Thank You
As long as you put only the amount your fish will eat (within 2 hours or so for the flour one), I have noticed no spike in nitrates. The bottom feeders will usually clean up the excess. It will take a little while before you figure out exactly how much your fish will eat. The gelatin one pollutes your water less in my experiences, and lasts longer with out disinegrating.
Sounds like a really good idea! My fish generally eat cucumber, lettuce, etc but it'll be nice to give them a bit of a change
Do they sink on their own, or do you have to weight them down? I seem to have issues with fishing the weights back out again once the food's been eaten! :P
As long as you put only the amount your fish will eat (within 2 hours or so for the flour one), I have noticed no spike in nitrates. The bottom feeders will usually clean up the excess. It will take a little while before you figure out exactly how much your fish will eat. The gelatin one pollutes your water less in my experiences, and lasts longer with out disinegrating.
Let me know how it turns out!
Hi bbfeckawitts,
It work great! Thank You!
I used gelatine. It wasn't as messy as I had imagined.
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very cool idea - I want to try it for my algae eater! 
I have to admit though I do not cook.. so i wasnt really surprised 
