Finding the right fish feed production technology and fish feed pellet manufacturing machine is important because different fish at different stages of growth have varying requirements for the size of fish feed pellets.
Several fish feed companies are improving their fish feed production process and capacity by constructing new facilities, adding production lines, and implementing technological advancements. These changes are being made to adapt to the opportunities and challenges in the fish feed production market.
Floating Fish Vs Sinking Fish Feed Pellet
There are 2 different types of fish feeds. Let us look at how both types of fish food making machine are different:
1- Floating Fish Feed Pellet
Floating fish feed pellets are often used for larger juvenile fish, food fish, and broodfish. The fish floats on the water’s surface, able to maintain its integrity for hours before needing to come up for food.
The farmer can easily observe their fish on a daily basis, which is beneficial for monitoring their overall health and vitality. Additionally, users have the ability to customize the daily feed amount, minimizing feed waste and preventing issues with pond pollution.
2- Sinking Fish Feed Pellet
However, sinking fish feed pellets are more suitable for certain ornamental fish such as goldfish and koi. Goldfish, being quite enthusiastic about their food, tend to swim quickly towards it. In their eagerness to grab the pellets, they sometimes end up unintentionally swallowing air along with their meal.
Typically, air pockets can become trapped in the goldfish’s waste, and this can sometimes be attributed to the development of flipping disease. It is recommended to feed your goldfish sinking food pellets.
Bottom feeder shrimp have a preference for sinking pellets with a density greater than that of water, specifically 1 g/cm3.
They are not inclined to accept a floating feed. The farmer can determine the appropriate feeding rates based on the growth in his pond, which helps ensure that the fish are being fed the right amount.
There is ongoing discussion, but floating feed is still favored in certain situations. And despite the higher cost. One way to lower fish feed expenses is by combining 15 percent floating feed with 85 percent sinking feed.
Advantages of Feed Processing Using Floating Fish Feed Pellet Machine
- Fish feed pellets, especially ones by Lemonmach are typically extruded for easy consumption. These products are manufactured at high temperatures (130~150℃) and high pressures (40 ~ 60 atmospheric pressure). This process effectively eliminates salmonella and escherichia coli bacteria, and helps to prevent fish diseases.
- Many farmers express concerns about the potential damage to the protein content in the feed due to high temperatures. Empirical evidence from feed farming demonstrates that extruding does not compromise the crude protein content in the feed.
- The protein content in the raw material was 25.9% before extruding, and it increased to 27.17% after extruding. The extruded feed is cooked and the starch is gelatinized, making it highly digestible and absorbable for fish.
- Feeds for fish can be enhanced to improve digestibility and increase the availability of nutrients. This can be achieved by incorporating ingredients like cereal grain, soybean meal, and fish oil. Floating feeds are created using extruders, which produce highly water-stable pellets.
- The applications of this field are not restricted to enhancing the nutritional value of raw materials. Extrusion also plays a role in reducing pathogen germs, deactivating anti-nutritive factors, altering starch, and increasing the amount of rumen undegraded protein.
Features Of Floating Fish Feed Pellet Making Machine
The Fish Feed Pellet Production Lines need specific features that help them deal with food for different kinds of fish. Some of the most important features are:
- The size of the fish feed pellets can range from 0.9mm to 10mm, which is suitable for feeding fish of various sizes.
- The pellets that the puffing fish eat can float on the water for more than 12 hours without dissolving.
- High temperature and high-pressure processes can effectively eliminate salmonellosis and bacterial infections. Additionally, these processes make the pellets easier to digest.
- You can create top-quality fish feed pellets for aquatic animals like catfish, shrimps, and crabs. Also, it is great for making pet food for dogs and cats.
- The fish food made by this pellet extruder is a type that puffs up, making it easier for fish to digest.
Working Principle Of Fish Feed Pellet Making Machine
The fish feed pellet-making machine uses friction to heat the materials during the pelletizing process. It then forces the materials to pass through the ring die hole of the machine and applies pressure through screw extrusion.
When the materials come out of the fish pellet machine’s die hole, the pressure will decrease quickly, and the moisture will evaporate. This helps to achieve the goal of fish feed extrusion.
1- Single-Channel Conditioner
The single-channel conditioner of the ordinary feeder is not very long, measuring about 2 meters. The material only stays in the conditioner for a short time, around 20 seconds. As a result, the starch gelatinization degree is not very high.
This type of feeder is best suited for producing livestock and poultry feed that doesn’t have any special requirements. Aquatic feed needs to be more gelatinized and have better water stability.
2- Three- Stage Conditioner
To achieve this goal, you can use a three-stage conditioner with an aqua fish feed pellet machine. When the total length is increased to 8 meters, the residence time of the fish feed-making material is also extended to 2 minutes. This requires making sufficient adjustments.
Gelatinizing starch and denaturing protein in fish feed pellets improves their digestibility and makes them more resistant to water.
Conclusion
Using feed pellets for fish helps a lot in managing the nutrition content for the aquatic organisms. You can produce both dry and wet type fish feed using feed processing machine provided by Lemonmach.
You can choose the aquatic feed processing technology and fish feed mill machine based on the needs of the species you are breeding, the type of feed, the quality of fish feed processing, and the cost, location, and scale of your fish feed plant investment.