# November Meeting - Frozen Food Fun!



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hello fellow plant folks!

The idea for the next meeting will be a tutorial on how to make your own frozen foods given by Amanda. The meeting will be on Saturday November 20th at 2 pm at her house (pm/email me for directions).

Club funds will be used to buy various ingredients, but people are encouraged to bring extra ingredients.

A plant, fish, and shrimp auction will take place at the end of the meeting to raise more club funds for future events. I will be bringing several kribs that I bred, guppies, plants and maybe a few other goodies.

Amanda has given me a list of ingredients (below) to give everyone ideas on things that people might want to bring for frozen foods:

Here's a list of potential ingredients:

MEATS:
-Beef heart / Liver
-Turkey Heart / Liver
-Cocktail shrimp (shells removed)
-Freshwater (i.e. low in mercury) fish fillets

VEGGIES:
-Garlic
-Carrots
-Spinach
-Green Beans
-Broccoli
-Peas

OTHER:
-Hardboiled egg yolk
-Gelatin or Agar-agar
-Cod liver oil
-Vitamins A, B12, C, D, E (human-intended supplements are fine)
-Flake food (this seems like cheating, but it is commonly used as an ingredient)


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## LiveHumanSkeleton (Jun 25, 2010)

Hello Michael!

This is Bruno from the NAS Auction. Definately count me in and I'd like to contribute to the ingridients list as well. I'll raid my pantry/refrigerator and see what can be found.


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## khanzer22 (Nov 30, 2009)

Spirulina is a good ingredient too!


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

khanzer22 said:


> Spirulina is a good ingredient too!


Indeed it is. It's just a little harder to find in the grocery store, though 

Anyway, I have a couple of beefheart steaks in my freezer at the moment that I plan to contribute to the cause. I figure I'll bring a can of green beans, packet of gelatin, and a garlic bulb, too. Probably also place an order with Ken's for some flake food to mix in (I need to order more flakes for my livebearers anyway). If anyone else plans to bring something, could you guys please list it here so I know what else I'll have to gather? Also, if anyone has a spare blender, it would be wonderful if you could bring it so we can mix more than one batch of food at once.

Also, can I get a head count of people planning to attend so that I know how many chairs(or 5gal buckets)/refreshments/whatever I'll need?

Finally, I'll be contributing a ton of plants and stuffs to the auction  I've got all kinds of emersed trimmings, fish, shrimp, plastic plants for people who can't grow real ones, and all sorts of other accumulated oddities. Yay, oddities. :mrgreen:


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## LiveHumanSkeleton (Jun 25, 2010)

I guess I should have properly introduced myself to the club since I happen to be one of the newest members and haven't actually attended any meetings yet. My name is Bruno, I live in Bridgeport and I'm a college student at Sacred Heart University. I began my foray into fish keeping and aquatic plants after making Amanda's acquaintance over a year ago. Since then I have maintained a moderately planted 10 gallon tank with six pearl danios, six neon tetras, three otos, and an assortment of snails. I have struggled immensely to balance the needs and obligations commonly associated with this hobby. And though it continues to be a daily challenge, it's one that I have openly welcomed into my life. I hope to be enlightened by your collective knowledge and experience once we finally meet. 

On a side note, I'll be bringing a can of green beans.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

*Mini-event*
--------------------------
I have been thinking...

I recently bred some fancy crown-tail bettas and I have quite a few fry. SO, I will be bringing some of the fry in for the auction. I would like to package a couple of fry into a bag for $1 (goes to club funds).

Essentially the idea would be to see who can grow the biggest and the healthiest betta by next month's meeting (preferably using the frozen food we make during this coming meeting).

First prize gets a custom made brass belt buckle with our club's logo on it and the picture of an aquatic plant. 
Second prize will be a brass CAPE badge (also custom made).
Third prize is a hand shake 

I will be making the prizes with my backyard foundry 

-------------------------
Also, on a side note I'll also be bringing some carrots, garlic, and some shrimp to make frozen food with.

Does anyone have one of those vacuum sealing freezer bag machines? I think one of those would be ideal to bring for the next meeting.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Bruno I look forward to seeing you at the November meeting! We should have a good time, and I think we will be getting a few other new members attending as well.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Sounds like fun, you guys (& gals)!
I hope to come to a meeting some time when you are closer to the Hartford area.
penny


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## khanzer22 (Nov 30, 2009)

asukawashere said:


> Indeed it is. It's just a little harder to find in the grocery store, though


Agree, you won't see it often in grocery stores... But I saw GNC is selling them, in tablet form, for $7.+ (100 capsules) if I'm not mistaken... Ain't cheap


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## kingken (Apr 18, 2010)

Hey guys! As I said I recently got back into planted aquariums, so I'm gonna take the day off and get to a meeting finally! I don't have much I can bring yet, aside from hard earned dollars, but I'll see what I can do =)


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## jcran17 (Oct 10, 2009)

asukawashere said:


> Also, can I get a head count of people planning to attend so that I know how many chairs(or 5gal buckets)/refreshments/whatever I'll need? :mrgreen:


I haven't been able to make a meeting for some time, but count me in this weekend. I am going to swing by the store and grab some shrimp or tilapia to bring for food making. Seem reasonable?

I am also going to bring some trimmings/plants for swap: _Rotala indica, Echinodorus 'rubin', Egeria najas, Heteranthera zosterifolia_, and maybe a little _Hygrophila difformis_

I am in the market for a number of plants to fill out my landscapes; so if anyone can spare any of the following, that would be awesome:
-_Glossostigma elatinoides_ I have never seen this in person, but online pictures are really nice.
-_Hemianthus callitrichoides _
-something other than these two that you use as foreground and love???
-_Alternanthera reineckii
-Cabomba_ sp. really would like _furcata_ or _palaeformis_
-_Rotala macrandra_ (never had much luck in the past, but want to give it another go)
-_Ludwigia inclinata_

Looking forward to seeing some new and old faces.


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## jcran17 (Oct 10, 2009)

vancat said:


> Sounds like fun, you guys (& gals)!
> I hope to come to a meeting some time when you are closer to the Hartford area.
> penny


Penny, if you drive to West Hartford, you are welcome to ride down with me.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

hey J
thanks for the offer! Can't make it yet, too many irons in the fire. BTW, next time I see you i can give you some Alternanthera reineckii if you haven't already found it. The sword is growing!


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## jcran17 (Oct 10, 2009)

vancat said:


> hey J
> thanks for the offer! Can't make it yet, too many irons in the fire. BTW, next time I see you i can give you some Alternanthera reineckii if you haven't already found it. The sword is growing!


No worries..next time. Glad to hear the sword is growing well. Pretty soon you will be giving them away. 
Depending, I may take you up on the _A. reineckii_. Thanks for the offer.


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## LiveHumanSkeleton (Jun 25, 2010)

Looks like we'll have a decent turnout for this weekend's meeting. Again, I'm ecstatic to meet you all. I'm wondering if I can interest anyone in some Limnophila Sessiliflora clippings. This plant has just exploded in my 10 gallon and I just want to scale it back a bit to make room for more plants of course!

I have a question for our host, Amanda. How are you doing with the ingridients at the moment. I bought green beans not realizing that you intended to bring some as well. Will that be too much and if so, should I bring something else instead?

Lastly, I have a comment for our plant club leader, Michael. I checked out pics of your recent homemade forge projects, I must say that you're incredibly talented and quite the risk-taker considering the innate dangers involved with fire creations.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Ingredient-wise, I think we'll have lots to choose from. Bruno, if you want to bring the green beans, I can just bring along some fish oil and vitamins instead... and some beefheart, of course.

In other news, guys, we have appx. 18-20 baby discus at the moment! The pair I purchased on our trip to Meriden has a bunch of 2-week-old fry that we're just starting to wean onto bbs & powdered fry food. I'm sure you'll all love to see them, but I'm asking everyone to please move VERY calmly and slowly around that tank... the parents are extremely skittish atm. 

In other news, among the stuff I'll have available for the auction are:

-ASSASSIN SNAILS!
-Endlers (Poecilia wingei)
-Micranthemum umbrosum (jcran, this is a great foreground for a larger tank )
-Heteranthera zosterifolia
-Heteranthera reniformis
-Red Root Floaters
-Frogbit
-Salvinia minima
-Cabomba furcata

And a miscellaneous variety of other plants in smaller quantities. If anyone wants a nice bunch of emersed stems, LMK. I've got a particularly nice emersed stem of Pogostemon stellatus 'Broad Leaf' that I might be convinced to offer to the highest bidder


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## jcran17 (Oct 10, 2009)

asukawashere said:


> Ingredient-wise, I think we'll have lots to choose from.


Does a lb or 2 of tilapia or shrimp work; or would something else be better?


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

jcran17 said:


> Does a lb or 2 of tilapia or shrimp work; or would something else be better?


Either would be fine (& thanks for the contribution) - I doubt we'll need 2 whole lbs., though. Maybe 1/2lb. of each? We're not going to be making bulk quantities of food, just enough to teach people how to make things and give everyone a ziploc baggie to take home.

Though, if you have a spare blender you can bring, please do - we can mix more than one kind of food at once, that way.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Hmmm! I suppose I'll switch from bringing shrimp to bringing something else then, maybe some fish or some other type of meat. 

LiveHumanSkeleton - haha yeees... my poor mother can't bring herself to see me pour any metal or even hear me talk about it afterwards. Its good fun though . I'll be making unique items for future club meetings. I have been looking into various ways of casting actual aquatic plants into brass or copper. They might make a nice end-of-the-year prize for something. But more on that later.

Damnnn nice work amanda! My discus aren't doing that well. They are basically hiding all day under the wood I put in there. They seem very timid. I'm beginning to hate their shy princess nature/requirements. They are hooked up to the auto-water change system with RO/DI water for crying out loud! 10% water change per day and they still act like they are in a putrid sewer. TDS is 50 ppm. I am considering either removing the driftwood or selling the discus.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

I've become convinced that RO water isn't necessary for discus. They all seem to enjoy ordinary tap water just fine... as evidenced by the whole breeding thing. I have a piece of the same driftwood in their tank here, they seem to enjoy it. Water is at a pH of 6.4, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 25ppm nitrate. A couple of low-light plants and turface off to one side of the tank, but otherwise minimal decor. I do let the brown algae/diatoms cover the sides of the tank to give the babies something extra to nibble on 

Come to think of it, what kind of lighting do you have over your discus tank, Michael? Discus tend to be shyer in bright lighting; that might be your problem. Mine have a single 24W T5HO over their 37gal tank, nothing more.

Buuuut, if you do decide to sell them, let me know. I might be interested, depending on what you're asking (and whether I have any space to spare)


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## jcran17 (Oct 10, 2009)

Zapins said:


> Hmmm! I suppose I'll switch from bringing shrimp to bringing something else then, maybe some fish or some other type of meat.


Zap,
Why don't you bring the shrimp and I will bring some tilapia and a few boiled eggs.

I will also bring a regular blender and a stick blender. With the caveat that, as my wife said, "I clean them before I bring them home".


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## khanzer22 (Nov 30, 2009)

Just to confirm, tomorrow's meeting will be at Amanda's place (92 Midlock Road, Fairfield, CT)?


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

Man, I don't wanna sound like I'm complaining.. But that's a long drive from me. But it has been a long long time since I went to any meeting. The last one i made was a NEPS @ Uncle Neds Fish Factory.

I'm tempted to go. And if i do decide to, i have endlers i received from John N. a long long time ago. They are black bar and snake skins, but i'm trying to thin out. That and some $$ for other fun things people may have.

My only debate is it's 85 miles each way lol.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Amanda - I'm not sure what to think of the discus other than they are frustrating. I tried them with the well water and they were stressed out, then I switched to RO and they bred several times. Then I added the driftwood and now all they do is hide all day and not eat much. I really like the driftwood and it would be a pity to have to remove it, but it seems like that might be what is stressing them out. The lighting before when they were breeding was 5x96w PC, now it is 3x96w PC and they choose to stay on the brighter side with 2 bulbs for some reason. The surface is also covered by duckweed now so the lighting is more reduced then ever.

John - did any of the babies survive from the apisto pair you bred? Will you be bringing any?

I'll try catch the excess kribs I have for the meeting, I need to get them out of my tanks, also I'll try catching the bristlenose babies that are now ~2 inches.

Muirner - yeah its a long drive for me too, probably about 50 miles each way. Its a bit of a drag, but then again its only once a month and it isn't always so far. I think at some point soon we should plan to have a meeting closer to the Hartford area for all the other members in the club that live north of New Haven.

Also, as a general reminder to everyone, I am looking for ideas for future club meetings, please email me (and CC the rest of the club), or make a post on APC in our section if you have any ideas. Ideas can be big/small/adjustments to current programs/etc... We need to make this club into something everyone can enjoy and share in and the way to achieve this goal is by building it together.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Zap, I think your discus are just broken. Then again, I think most discus are probably broken, lol!

In other news, my order of flakes from Ken's has arrived... don't know if I mentioned that before, but I now have 1/2lb earthworm flakes and 1/2lb angel flakes to contribute  Plus some colorbits.


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## khanzer22 (Nov 30, 2009)

Zapins said:


> John - did any of the babies survive from the apisto pair you bred? Will you be bringing any?


Ummmm, I don't have any apisto pair, you must have confused me with someone else  Anyway, I'll try to bring some aquarium stuff and other odds and ends for the auction or swap... I lost half of my plant spp collection when I was out on a 3 week vacation so I'm gonna need some cool & rare plants!!!


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Well. I feel that went nicely. And I'm going to enjoy growing out the new plants I got my hands on :mrgreen:
Thanks for coming everybody!


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## LiveHumanSkeleton (Jun 25, 2010)

Great meeting! Despite the generally gross nature of the fish food mix, you guys were determined to make it work. 

I think there should be a somber moment of silence for Amanda's blender, it's never going to be the same. 

I managed to somehow fit all the plants I got at the auction inside my 10 gallon along with the shrimp. It simply looks amazing.

Anyway, I don't know if we'll be meeting for December, so I'll wish everyone early holiday wishes.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Yeah, well, it was an old blender anyway. There's a reason why its main function these days was making fish food  Emphasis on the "was"

In other news, my father took a look at the tank rack yesterday and was shocked to find that what he described as "6,000 little bugs" had appeared overnight.

I'm still trying to decide whether the swords or the ricefish are going in there with the rcs... leaning toward the swords, b/c I think the shrimp might eat the ricefish eggs... but probably the sword fry, being born live, wouldn't be bothered. On the other hand, the swords are big enough that they could easily munch on baby shrimp. Thoughts, anyone?


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## LiveHumanSkeleton (Jun 25, 2010)

My my my, your fish room is just becoming a den of reproduction! Best of luck.


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