Frozen foods

[PlatyLady]

Thought I'd stick this question here...

I'm a little embarrassed to ask at the [acronym:08a9d6f27e="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:08a9d6f27e] - how do you feed frozen food? Do you thaw it out? They look like cubes, can you cut one in half and just throw it in? Do they sink/float? Are there more kinds than just frozen bloodworms? (that's all I've ever seen) Do you really keep them in the freezer? How long do they keep.

Okay, I obviously have no idea. But, after a year of fishkeeping, I'd finally like to give it a try and give my little finned friends some more variety.

[Sati]

I just throw a chuck in. I get the kind that's in sheets, not cubes. That's just personal preference. I feel like I can break off smaller bits that way. My dwarf puffers can only eat about 2 bloodworms before they're stuffed, heh. A lot of people thaw it and rinse it. Apprently I'm the only one who does not think it's gross. I wipe the *juice* in my pants and walk away, lol.

[Menagerie]

I buy the frozen bloodworms in sheets, then break it up with a mallet and store it in a tupperware. For the Badis, I hold some in the water and shake it--when enough falls off, the chunk goes back in the tupperware. For the cichlids, I just toss a chunk in the tank. It thaws quickly and the cichlids rip it apart.
[acronym:458878333a="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:458878333a]

[Christmasfish]

I snip a few cubes out (lotsa fish) and thaw mine up in a bowl of warm water. I do this for bloodworms and shrimp. Watch out! Once they eat this they will turn their non-existing nose up at freeze DRIED. ^.^
Or anabantids do. If you had a good tank cleaning fish I suppose you could just drop the cube in.
Because many of my tanks are mid cycle I nearly hand feed the bits to the lot of them. I am trying to keep water quality until all 3 readings stay 0. We tap a bamboo skewer 3 times to bring them up then start dropping little gobbets. Most will jump up and snag the bit or even grab on the stick!
I don't know if frozen/cold food is bad for their digestion or not.
Its the next best step from fresh!

[QTOFFER]

It depends on how unwilling your fish are to share. If I throw in a whole frozen chunk, it sinks and then only the danios get any. So, I hold a piece just under the surface of the water and release the food into the water current as it melts - everybody gets some - even the corys. Then I wash my hands cuz unlike Sati, I think the frozen food is gross - eww bloodworms, yuck lol.

[BrianNY]

lol.............very good. Actually I've concluded that any way the fish eat them is perfectly fine. And, [acronym:195c45df6f="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:195c45df6f]. The cold doesn't bother them at all. Kinda like us eating sherbert

[Fruitbat]

I've found that if I just toss a chunk of frozen food in my tank, the Tiger Barbs get all of it and the gouramis, rasboras and loaches get absolutely nothing. I buy the 'gumdrops' and then hold them in my fingers and swirl them at the top of the tank while they melt. The Tiger Barbs still get the lion's (or should that be 'tiger's') share but the other fish get anything that sinks past the Barbs while they have their mouths full.

I use frozen bloodworms, frozen Tubifex worms, frozen brine shrimp, and frozen Daphnia to provide variety from flake food and wafers.

[Christmasfish]

Originally Posted by BrianNY

lol.............very good. Actually I've concluded that any way the fish eat them is perfectly fine. And, [acronym:dbbce6de75="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:dbbce6de75]. The cold doesn't bother them at all. Kinda like us eating sherbert

heh! That is good to know. It would be easier to drop a half frozen chunk in my gulp monster tanks. Though I like hand feeding them. The knife is especially delicate. On the other hand, mr. polypterus will continues getting his on the stick end. His strike seems indiscriminate... ^.^

[Sati]

Originally Posted by QTOFFER

Then I wash my hands cuz unlike Sati, I think the frozen food is gross - eww bloodworms, yuck lol.

I'm a gross girl

[Christmasfish]

Heh I accidently stuck a cup of bloodworms in the microwave instead my tea, and had to take it from my son.."it smelled deelishuus, ,i thought it was my snaaack. Why do the dumb fish get to have iiiiit!"

Bleh! (but he eats spiders too)