Discus Beef Heart recipe

Hi i've decided to give DIY Beef heart a go since i realised how cheap it would be to make a load of it,and i was wondering if people would have opinions and alternatives on what to add to the mix......Here is what i have in mind so far:

1 nice sized cows heart,trimmed,diced and minced to a paste.

12-14 large prawns,minced to a paste.

1 large carrot and 3 broccoli stems,trimmed,sliced,cooked,cooled and minced to a paste.

3-4 large handfuls of spinach,blanched,cooled and minced to a paste with 3 cloves of garlic.

Some fish flake food (not sure yet).

Paprika (not sure of amount yet)

And vitamins......Was thinking of the powdered multi-vitamins sachets you can get in most pharmacies and the like but would like to hear opinions on this,and alternatives would be great.

Any opinions/help much appreciated.

Ger

im a big beleiver in garlic also which i leave over night in boiled water. i talked to adrian a little while ago and he suggested centrum which i put in also. i used papria also which can be swithched for chrophlli pink ( if you dont keep gold or yellow discus). i also used geletine but doesnt have to be used i think if you use enough prawns or can be substituded with agar. also i used mussels insted if prawns, although i think prawn probably would have binded it better

Hi Ger ,
It was something I was half thinking of myself. Looking forward to seeing how it works out for you, I know Miamiheat makes his own so he'll have a few ideas. Check out this guy on youtube





Eric

Spirulina is what people name "super food", the list of its benefits is endless, I buy mine in the powder form.
Kale is great as well and easy to grow.

Anthony

trent wrote:

im a big beleiver in garlic also which i leave over night in boiled water. i talked to adrian a little while ago and he suggested centrum which i put in also. i used papria also which can be swithched for chrophlli pink ( if you dont keep gold or yellow discus). i also used geletine but doesnt have to be used i think if you use enough prawns or can be substituded with agar. also i used mussels insted if prawns, although i think prawn probably would have binded it better

Ahhh Centrum,that's the one ........i'm gonna wait until it's all done and then decide if it needs a something to stiffen it up.......what i have done already is very wet/sloppy so it probably will need gelatine or the like.

Did you spell 'chrophlli pink' right? google search got me nothing.

Cheers

ya i did spell it wrong il try and find right spelling now, it basically a colour enhacer which they use to make salmon red

Eric wrote:

Hi Ger ,
It was something I was half thinking of myself. Looking forward to seeing how it works out for you, I know Miamiheat makes his own so he'll have a few ideas. Check out this guy on youtube

Eric

Cheers dude.......i like his no talking illustration .......hmmmm that was some bowl of pills,but by the way be was gonna go to war on three of them with a mallet he'll never be a drug lord!! ha

its called carophyll pink

anthonyd wrote:

Spirulina is what people name "super food", the list of its benefits is endless, I buy mine in the powder form.
Kale is great as well and easy to grow.

Anthony

Thanks man.......Spirulina was on my mind but i was thinking of the fish food i have that's high in it.....ehhh just buy it doh!!!

Now Kale that's a great shout dude i would of never thought of that so cheers

trent wrote:

its called carophyll pink

Cheers for that ......i'll have a good look at that a little later

Thanks

I cant add Photo's but here's a quick video of were i'm at now:

looks better than mine anyways, mine turned brown due to musscles

trent wrote:

looks better than mine anyways, mine turned brown due to musscles

It's not finished yet ha

i add different fish flakes including spirulina, centrum, fish oil sometimes, and i prefer to use salmon than prawns=> regardless how much you mince the prawns there are always bit that the fish cant eat and they end up in tank.

Miamiheat wrote:

i add different fish flakes including spirulina, centrum, fish oil sometimes, and i prefer to use salmon than prawns=> regardless how much you mince the prawns there are always bit that the fish cant eat and they end up in tank.

Cheers for that.........i was thinking that might be the case with the prawns but i rubbed a lot of it through my fingers after i blitzed it and it seemed smooth........hmmm when i'm watching bits of prawn froating around the tank fecking up the water i'll reckon there might be a rethink!!

wow.... you could eat that with...

LemonJelly wrote:

wow.... you could eat that with...

lol

u need some guinness for every spoon added u need to drink one can yourself it looks better as you go along cook for 20 min and serve with chips


Can this be used to feed other fish or it just for discus ?

LemonJelly wrote:

wow.... you could eat that with...

Ha ...That's gas

all fish can benefit from it but it does mess your water so it's usually used only for discus because they tend to get more water changes

irish-zx10r wrote:

u need some guinness for every spoon added u need to drink one can yourself it looks better as you go along cook for 20 min and serve with chips


Can this be used to feed other fish or it just for discus ?

i'm liken that "add guinness" suggestion dude........serve with chips aint bad either

I was also wondering what would be the best way to store it in the freezer...........ice cube trays is what i was thinking?

flat in ziplock bags, i let them get a little hard in the freezer and then i create slots with the back of a knife or ruler (like that when it hardens you can snap off small squares easily) easier to do than describe...

Miamiheat wrote:

flat in ziplock bags, i let them get a little hard in the freezer and then i create slots with the back of a knife or ruler (like that when it hardens you can snap off small squares easily) easier to do than describe...

no no that seems very straightforward thanks.........and a lot less room in the freezer taken up ...perfect

i just tried putting banana in beef heart and it seems to bind it really well but i havent tried it on the fish yet

Looks good ger,
Nearly would have a go at that myself
Are you gonna get discus?
Or could it be used for other fish?

anglecichlid wrote:

Looks good ger,
Nearly would have a go at that myself
Are you gonna get discus?
Or could it be used for other fish?

All my angels and corrys and guppies and plecos were eating it. Only issue is your water getting dirtier than with flakes. one way to deal with it is to feed it the day you plan a water change.

trent wrote:

i just tried putting banana in beef heart and it seems to bind it really well but i havent tried it on the fish yet

Hmmm interesting.......let me know how yeh got on

Miamiheat wrote:

anglecichlid wrote:

Looks good ger,
Nearly would have a go at that myself
Are you gonna get discus?
Or could it be used for other fish?

All my angels and corrys and guppies and plecos were eating it. Only issue is your water getting dirtier than with flakes. one way to deal with it is to feed it the day you plan a water change.

As Miami says it's good for lots but obviously would not be too healthy for some,especially if using it a lot (Tropheus and Mbuna spring to mind!!).......i always have the frozen shop Beef heart in the freezer and would pop it into tanks along with one or two cubes of whatever else is in there every so often............When i realised how cheap this could be to make i had to give it a go,especially now i am going Discus (have to keep these to see what all the fuss is about!!)

Ger