Frozen Fish Food Questions

Ok. i have a few questions? i have been feeding frozen food for a while and was wondering?
1. I have a big frozen flat piece of food that i just a take a chunk off of every time i feed. I have noticed its starting to get ice crystals on the food. Is this water/ice ok or should i rinse the food? The food is high quality and the manufacturer says it doesnt need to be washed?
2. Also i have some PE Mysis and Cyclopeeze squares that i use but only need about an 1/8 of a cube each time i feed. Whats the best way to thaw a small amount of this food and refreeze the rest?

 

my method on both is

I allow the frozen piece of food to thaw in a plastic beaker and then pour away the resulting fluid, before mixing with a bit of tank water and then pour in the tank, or use pippete if I want some to target feed a coral

for the 2nd scenario, I just use a large knife , and cut off a portion on the cube I want, and put the rest back in the section of the blister pack it came from until the following day (I work in halves most of the time so have no experience trying to cut a quarter)

 

+1 Steve, I also use about 1/8 of a mysis squre and I just dig my knife into it and it sort of shatters, if you do that in about 1/4 and 3/4 positions, it breaks into enough smaller peices for me.

If I then need less, just cut it in half with a strong knife and put the rest back.

I am also going to try making my own cubes, of exactly the size I want by thawing out some mysis, blood worm and brineshrimp then mixing them together and making cubes out of the mix and re freezing it.

I put it frozen in a small measuring cup, add abit of aquarium water and then mix it until it thaws and then feed it to the fish infront of the power head.

Hope this helps.

 

Steve! thanks for chiming in. you have helped much in the past. so its ok than to use the frozen food without rinsing it with ro/di water. I am having a really tuff time with cyno right now and am really trying to narrow it down.

 

I just take a full cube and put it in a brine shrimp net. When it thaws out I dump out bad water and put srimp in saltwater. I feed brine and mysis. I heard rods food is great. You should try looking into it.

 

How old is the food in question?

What you're seeing is called "freezer burn" and it generally means it's time to replace the food. It can also mean that the food has been improperly handled and has thawed or partially thawed and been refrozen. Again, I'd replace it.

The thing is, that if you're seeing freezer burn, the food is generally old, and won't be as good nutriionally speaking.

You might try placing the food in another ziploc freezer baggie to help keep it fresh.

JME/JMHO.

 

I rinse my frozen food in a small glass cup I use for my tank and rinse it with fresh water to dethaw the food. I then dump the liquid and rinse it 1 or 2 more times so the water is clearer before straining all the water out to mix the mysis with tank water.

Not sure if over rinsing would be bad but I dont really want all those extra nutrients in my tank.

 

If there are large ice crystals, it's been thawed and refrozen and will most likely have freezer burn.

 

I put all my frozen cubes in a small net, and then in a small glass of RO water. I let it completely thaw out, dump the water, then feed.

 

Depends on the frozen. Freezing zooplankton forces a little of the fatty acids and gut contents out. The packing water will have this and can be pretty high in phosphates. Saying that, check out Randy's latest phosphate article:

Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog