my b/h recipe

[Mattzilla]

thought i'd get the ball rolling with my b/h mix
i use the following ingredients:
one beef heart, completely stripped of fat
about 10-15 medium green prawns, fresh, peeled
a chunk (about the size of your fist) of fresh tuna, no fat
5 cloves of garlic
a hand full of baby spinach
half a medium carrot
2 table spoons of crushed spirulina wafers
half a cup of tetra colour bits
2 table spoons of flake food
a couple of table spoons of whatever other pellets i have on hand
two multi vitamin and mineral tables
1 table spoon of paprika
2 table spoons of freeze dried blood worms

i think that's it....

i cut up the b/h, prawns, tuna into very small chinks then blend (i would prefer to put them through a meat grinder but don't have one yet). i crush up the multi vits and mins as well as the misc pellet food. i cook and cut up the carrot and spinach, then chop them into tiny piece with the garlic. then i add everything together and mix in a bowl. i use sandwich size zip lock bags to flatten and freeze the mix. when it is frozen, i just cut up one bag at a time into serving size and store in the freezer. too easy!

my fish go mental over it and since i have started feeding it they have grown like weeds and coloured up big time.

i hope all that made sense.....lol

i also feed my fish frozen blood worms and frozen brine shrimp (hikari only) and i try to change the mix a little every time i make it to keep them interested.

cheers
matt

[Proteus]

Thanks Matt...

sounds good enough to eat myself... :P

...will have to try it soon

[discusdude]

I used to use a recipe very similar to that one. You can aslo add in 1/2 cup of wheat germ. It is supposed to improve feltility.

Cheers

[flukes]

ok well i havent ever made a B/H recipe can i just ask a few newbie questions -
1. Do i just ask the butcher for a beef heart and will he trim the fat?
2. Should i feed them this recipe every time or is it better to sometimes just to feed flakes??
3. Disucs dude - where can i get wheat germ??

Thanks
Scott

[Mattzilla]

i forgot to say that i add wheat germ....
i add two table spoons

there are probable a few other things that i forgot to mention as well..

i have it written down....somewhere....lol


matt

[flukes]

Yeah so do i just ask the butcher for beef heart?? and where can i get the wheat germ?

[Mattzilla]

you get the whole beef heart from the butchera dn you get wheat germ in a packet at your helth food store

hth
matt

[flukes]

thanks mate

[flukes]

I must have asked 5 different butchers and not one had one, they all seem to have ox heart though. I even tried Safeway where i just got looks of disgust :lol: I didnt bother explaining i just let them think i was a sick sick man.
I might have to try the butcher that suplies our work with there meat because they get the animal whole and then cut it up. ah well i find it just have to keep looking.

[Proteus]

That is strange... safeway didnt have it...

I am sure the local woolworths does (for those that dont know, same supermarket, different name, different state... go figure)...

[flukes]

Not only did safeway not have one, they gave me the worst looks of all! :lol: Naa i need to try i butcher that cuts there own meat, i asked the guys who deliver to us at work but they didnt have any because its friday and the dont cut up on friday.
Ill try a few butchers tonight if not ill wait till monday.

Oh and another one Proteus - You guys call MYER grace borthers, well not anymore soon its all going to be MYERS. Has anyone tried Myer Catalogue (https://www.catalogueau.com/myer/)?

[Proteus]

Grace Bros has gone... all Myer now...

good luck with the butcher

[flukes]

Do you guys find it easy to find beef heart because i must have tried 10 different butchers today and not one had one. Most of the butchers cut there own meat too, but still to no sucsess. And one in melbourne have a good spot to get them in south east suburbs iam really having trouble.

Cheers
Scott

[flukes]

Well holly crap aint i an idiot, i got to the most local butcher i know and ask him for a beef heart he goes yeah in the cabnet over there i go over and i see ox heart, "hey mate only ox heart here" butcher replies ox heart is beef heart! hahahha omg iam an idiot. Then asked me what iwas going to use it for, he comments are great for feeding discus, turns out he has 2 6ft tanks full of discus, and told me to come in on sunday as he would bring some photo's. Fancy that.

Thanks for the help....lession learnt. Ox = Beef :roll:
Scott

[Proteus]

Well there you go...

not only do you have a source for the BH... but I am sure your Butcher knows a thing or 2 about Discus...

If he ever gets online you should suggest for him to drop in and say hi...

[flukes]

Yeah ill have to, i ll see him sunday because i want to check out his pictures.

[Proteus]

How did it go???

Pictures? Good?

Do tell :wink:

[flukes]

ahhh sorry forgot too post, he showed me picture of his show tank but apparently he has another 2 bare bottoms. In the show tank he had ..
- 1x malbro red
- 1x Golden Dragon
- 2x Red roses
- 1x blue turq
- 1x red turq
- 2x blue diamonds

Now i have fallen in love with the red roses, he gave me his number and told me to come have a look but when i called he was busy so i haven't been yet.
The red roses where unreal, once i setup a new 5 1/2 ft tank i ll get a couple for in there. I am getting this tank custom made and ask for the dimentions 5 1/2x 18 x 22 Yes that right 22inches tall heeheh i want it to be very high should be good if i like it ill get another for my bedroom, that should be enough room to hold my discus habbit for another 6 months :)

Cheers
Scott

[flukes]

Also when people make their b/h reciepe does anyone add anything to hold it together, for when i put mine in the tank alot falls apart.

Any secrets??

[Mattzilla]

i add heaps of flake and granule food...that usually holds it together for me. i have also heard that prawn helps to hold it together.

hth
matt

[flukes]

Yeah ill have to add some prawn because i left them out aswell as the tuna that will be my next go.
Matt - when you buy your heart do you buy it as ox heart or beef heart because my butcher said its ox heart people use but the guy who delivers to work said he can get beef(cow) heart,

Cheers
scott

[Mattzilla]

i buy beef heart...but fo all i know he could be giving me ox heart. they may sell both under the same name.

[discusdude]

To hold the mix together you can use gelatin. It is made from livestock and is fine to use in the food. Just make sure it is un-coloured and un-flavoured.

Alistair

[flukes]

Thanks mate, it makes a huge mess atm when i put it in my tank, where can i get some gelatin??

[discusdude]

You can get gelatin at the supermarket. It is only a couple of dollars.

Alistair

[luvfishies]

Gelatin will be in the baking supplies aisle, as it's used for making Jams.

[Mattzilla]

i now have a meat grinder that i use instead of a blender and it is 100 times better. much easier and less mess. it helps create even sized small pieces of bh....
a couple of things though...full garlic cloves don't go well through the grinder. and i blend all my dry products to make them a powder.

hth
matt

[ctvu]

Hi

Thanks for sharing your recipe and very helpful photos and instructions
As a newbie I am trying to do B/H mix based on your recipe but I have a problem with finding the following ingredients:

Spirulina wafers
Paprika
Multi vitamin and mineral tablets
Would you be able to tell me or us where to find them?

Thanks

[Mattzilla]

spirulina wafers are food for fish like bristle nose ctas and stuff like that. you shouold be able to get them from a decent lfs. or you can buy spirulina powder for humans at a health food shop. this will turn your food green but is not a problem.

paprika: from any supermakrket in the herbs and spice section

Multi vitamins an minerals: get centrum brand from any health food store or probably any supermarket


hth
matt

[ctvu]

spirulina wafers are food for fish like bristle nose ctas and stuff like that. you shouold be able to get them from a decent lfs. or you can buy spirulina powder for humans at a health food shop. this will turn your food green but is not a problem.

paprika: from any supermakrket in the herbs and spice section

Multi vitamins an minerals: get centrum brand from any health food store or probably any supermarket


hth
matt

Thanks Matt I already have a list for shopping on the weekend. Hopefully I will get every thing + a meat grinder as well. :)

[Mattzilla]

good luck with everything

hope all goes well

[ctvu]

Hi Matt

it did not go well, it is falling apart. Flake food is the breafast for human?
I bought Lechelin Granules from health food store is it the one in your recipe? Thanks Matt

[Mattzilla]

no flake food is flake food for fish! just go to any lfs and ask them for some flake food and they will have it. if it is falling apart you can add more preawn and flake food or even add a little gelatin to help hold it together.

hth

good luck

[ctvu]

Thank you I'll try again

ctvu

[africandiscus]

Coles and Woolworths in Eastgardens sell beef heart in the fridge with the regualr meat. It is sold as a regular item. They were both about $4/kg

[kalebjarrod]

most of the supermarkets sell beef heart as either a food or a dog food

i have trained the wife to do the B/H shopping for me, she even gets the prawns pre-pelled

love her work!

[ctvu]

Thanks guys I got 2 b/h from Springvale local butcher they sell a lot of them though.
I am wondering do you cook b/h, fish, prawn ...like on this web site?

http://www.discushatchery.com/food.html

They also add livers as well.

I have not tried it again. May be on the weekend coming.

[africandiscus]

Dont cook anything

[kalebjarrod]

aggred, don't cook anything except i steam my carrot and spinich, just my opinion

as for livers it is something i have never heard of but that does not mean it ani't right, maybe someone else could elaborate?

[africandiscus]

Do you feed your fish this everyday?

[kalebjarrod]

depends on my days but i will feed them 4-5 times a day with this product

i will also break it up with some blood worms, tetra bits, brine shrimp

but B/H is my staple, it has such a great range of fresh ingredients

[africandiscus]

Below is a picture from "Penang Discus", the protein should only be 40%

[ctvu]

Thanks for sharing, btw I just made a batch of bh based on Matt recipe yesterday. See how I go this time.
Thanks all guys

[africandiscus]

I also made Matts one, I fear there is to much protein and not enough fibre. I am going to remake the mixture to the specifications above in the exact proportions.

I wil also add 2 table spoons of every discus dry food I can lay my hands on.

[ctvu]

Yes I agree with you psx… and perhaps next time I will put some more fibre stuff as well.

[africandiscus]

I am going to make a new mixture, only with the fibre ingredients and garlic. I will also will add dry food. Hopefully they will take to it

[kalebjarrod]

is that 40% in volume or weight?

i would easyliy add 60% veggies in volume if i had to do it in weight that would be a massive amount of fresh veggies

[africandiscus]

It is weight. If you think about discus in the wild most of the diet is fibre. The protein is a bonus.

It is a huge amount of vegtables, but it is not if you are only using 100g of beefheart. To make 1kg you would only use 135g beef heart, 135g shrips, 135g fish and 550g of vegtables. 1/4 cabbage, 2 capsicum, 3 carrots and 3 bags of spinach

[kalebjarrod]

i make mine up with 1kg of b/h at a time

thats alot of spinich :shock:

[africandiscus]

I know I was also surprised to read it.

How many times do you put the beef throught the mincer?

[kalebjarrod]

i use a food processor now, used to use a barmix