Tilapia Ponds - Floating Food?

[DailyLunatic]

A little background.

I'm raising Tilapia in two 5x15m open air ponds. and it is beginning to get expensive buying fish food. The population is growing and so are the sizes of the fish.

I have invested in a pelletizing machines for animal feed, (chicken, goat, etc.), and would like to be able to process DIY floating fish feed as well.

Setting aside the nutritional considerations for a moment:
What can I do other than buy a pelletizing machine dedicated to creation of floating fish feed. I'm reluctant as they are substantially larger, more expensive, and require additional processing by other machines as well. Ground fine, mixed into a paste, steamed and extruded. Need three machines for floating feed creation, each more expensive than a pelletizer alone.

I've read discussion that various ingredients can be added, but they do not go into details. Only saying things like, "Add Rice Bran", "Oil will make the feed float", etc. Both are ingredients in ordinary sinking feed, so not much help. And even then they state that the feed must be extruded, not pelletized.

I've considered a floating tray of sorts (mesh bottom) to trap the sinking feed and allow the fish to catch the feed before it falls past them. Has anyone tried anything like this?

Any other out of the box ideas you can think of would be appreciated.

-sterling

 

[Colin_T]

How about growing live foods for them and either adding a bucket/s of live food to their ponds each day/ week, or growing the live foods in the ponds with the fish?
It's not a complete solution but can reduce the amount of food you have to buy.

Look for floating fish food in bulk. You can buy 5-10kg bags from some shops and could probably buy bigger bags if you can get it direct from a manufacturer. Buying in bulk is cheaper per volume but you need somewhere dry and safe to keep it until used.

 

[DailyLunatic]

How about growing live foods for them and either adding a bucket/s of live food to their ponds each day/ week, or growing the live foods in the ponds with the fish?
It's not a complete solution but can reduce the amount of food you have to buy.

Look for floating fish food in bulk. You can buy 5-10kg bags from some shops and could probably buy bigger bags if you can get it direct from a manufacturer. Buying in bulk is cheaper per volume but you need somewhere dry and safe to keep it until used.

That was my intention from the beginning. The plan was to harvest plants from the ponds to supplementally feed the chicken. I had two ponds, and introduced the fish to pond #2 after Water Hyacinth had mostly taken it over. Chickens loved the plants, but it didn't last long. It's been a few months, and it is now stripped bare. I've tried Water Lettuce, Duck Weed, and Azolla. I can't keep ahead of their voracious appetites.

As for 'just buy it'. Well, I'm already making the feed for chickens and goat. (The extended family has a lot of supplies they were previously tossing.) Was hoping I could just adjust recipe and use in the pond. Whether that be making it float, or presenting in some way to allow them to take it before sinking.

-sterling

 

[Colin_T]

You need to grow the plants in the fish ponds but also in separate plant ponds. If you have room and are allowed to make more ponds, make some for growing plants and have Bettas, gouramis or small species of catfish in with the plants. Just make sure you get the fish out of the plants before moving the plants to the Tilapia ponds.

I used 40-100 litre plastic storage containers to grow plants outside. You can use bigger containers if you like. I just had a single species of plant per container and fertilised each container once a week. There were no fish in the containers and the plants went nuts. Then I harvested the plants as needed.

 

[DailyLunatic]

You need to grow the plants in the fish ponds but also in separate plant ponds. If you have room and are allowed to make more ponds, make some for growing plants and have Bettas, gouramis or small species of catfish in with the plants. Just make sure you get the fish out of the plants before moving the plants to the Tilapia ponds.

I used 40-100 litre plastic storage containers to grow plants outside. You can use bigger containers if you like. I just had a single species of plant per container and fertilised each container once a week. There were no fish in the containers and the plants went nuts. Then I harvested the plants as needed.

Thank you. But this is an 'alternative'. It is a way to feed the fish, sure, but does not answer the question that I was asking regarding pelletizing for floating feed, or presentation of pelletized feed so that the fish will take before sinking.

Did you watch the embedded video to on pelletizing examples?
We have an abundance of plant matter already (banana stem, rice, rice bran, cow grass, etc.) that we are already currently processing for chicken feed.

 

[Colin_T]

I can't help with the pellet food. I was simply throwing ideas out there