One of the big benefits to having a large company like Purina creating the feed is their ability to procure large amounts of fish protein (like menhaden) for an economical price/weight ratio. One of the questions that I'd like to eventually discuss would be ways to take a feed like Purina Aquamax Largemouth, then to moisten the feed, and perhaps add micronutrients at our own procurement to the feed to make an ideal formulation for whatever fish we wish to feed. An example would be to look at Purina Aquamax, and what sort of nutrient a bluegill or yellow perch would need to create optimal health/growth/disease resistance, and add in some of the ingredients. Then you'd be able to hand feed the fish at your dock or waters edge, and have some fish that absolutely blow up in size. It might not make sense to do this for five hundred channel catfish, but if you had 100 bluegill that liked your dock location, you could custom feed them. I believe this would even work through the ice, since softened and reformulated feed will slowly sink.
Bruce,
I hydrate all of my Aquamax feed now for a better feeding response and easier digestibility in colder water. It would be a piece of cake to add probiotics or what ever to the mix. I'm feeding 5D05 Aquamax to my inside tank fish and add tree parts feed to one part water in a gallon zip lock bag. I invert the bag and get the water and feed throughly mixed then let it sit, but turn it over every 30 seconds or so for the first couple of minutes. In two hours it has a nice clay like consistency. It still floats unless I squeeze it. The pond fish feed on it like crack cocaine if I sink it. I like to sight feed them off the pier. Pretty cool to have 1 lb. + bluegills and 13 to 14 inch yellow perch come up to nail it.
The Europeans are true believers in the probiotics and some here are getting into the act. And they are very cheap vs. extra vitamins. Not sure I'd want to add extra vitamins as we all know you can get too much of some of them and have problems.
My main problem is all the carbs in commercial fish feed. It's designed as a high energy diet for trout that are constantly swimming against the current in a race way. Our more sedentary species in the ponds end up getting too many carbs and develop the fatty tissue not only in the liver. I believe it shortens their life span vs. a fish on a natural diet. My healthiest fish get both a pellet and natural diet.
