When opting for feed, fish growers should pay attention to three crucial characteristics structure, size and stability. Visually, the structure of the pellet should be firm and robust. A strong pellet must repel the manufacturing and transportation process, minimizing the quantum of dust produced. Dust is extremely dangerous to grope, as it can damage their gills and affect the water quality. The size, ratio and sink/ float speed of the feed must also be suitable for different species and surroundings;
Pellets must also have high water stability, as uneaten feed can pollute the water and leach nutrients. Following best practices, uneaten pellets must be removed instantly in order to avoid sub-optimal feeding practices, negative environmental impacts, and a decreased feed conversion rate.
The physical attributes of a good feed
- The constituents used in the feed should be finely ground. The pellets will have an even color. The feed must be without fines or dust. However, too much will be wasted in the form of a powder that floats on the water face, If too numerous fines are in the feed.
- The pellet should be firm with water stability of at least 30 minutes. The pellet’s water stability refers to the time it takes for the pellet to fully fall piecemeal into water. Proper cuisine assures that the starches have Gelatinized and this helps hold the pellet together.
- The pellets should be of the invariant size and of the correct size so the fish can swallow them. A size of about ¼ the gape of the mouth is advised.
- The feed should be palatable to the fish with a good taste, smell, and feel. Fish will spear out or only sluggishly consume feed that isn’t palatable.
The physical quality of fish feed
- Density
Quality food doesn’t contain numerous fine particles. The volume of these particles must be measured in each batch of bought food. After screening the food, the residue( dust) must be counted and mustn’t exceed 1% of the total weight of the tried bag. - Shape and size
- Uniformity
- Durability
- Water stability
It’s important that the food has good stability in the water, so that it’s visible to grope, this flotation or stability depends on the content of fat in the food and its processing at extrusion.
The nutritive quality of fish feed
Recovery of essential amino acids and specific vitamins.
It’s important to know each species you have with your breeder because each fish has nutritive requirements and behavior during feeding.
It’s necessary to have information similar to the species of fish raised, its feeding behaviour, feeding habits, pond size, grazing viscosity, temperature, and water quality.
Digestibility
Another important fact, which has not earned the attention of aquatic feed manufacturers, is related to nutrient digestibility. The better the Digestibility of the feed factors, the more effective the feed is and the more fish are released, which will contribute to the respect of the aquatic environment
Lima machinery has been in the fish feed pellet industry for nearly ten years, focusing on the production of fish food extruded pellet machines. In addition, our factory has dozens of different fish feed pellet production line solutions for customers to choose from. After continuous communication with customers, our feed pellet machine has received praise from customers, especially those in Africa and South Asia. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us, our professional technicians are more than happy to help you.
