Frozen foods

[PlatyLady]

Thought I'd stick this question here...

I'm a little embarrassed to ask at the LFS - 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.
HTH

[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, NO. 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, NO. 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)

[Menagerie]

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!"

GROSS--I just put off having kids a few more years!
LOL

[ScottS]

Here's what a LFS recommended to me and seems to work. I use a cheap plastic shot glass, dip it in the tank and get some tap, then I cut off a chunk of frozen food and drop it into the shot glass. I let it sit for a minute and swish it around. Then I pour it into the tank in 3 or 4 tips. All my fish get excited when they see the shot glass hit the water just to fill it up.

[Thaiboxer]

I do the same as ScottS, and I'll go one step further. I buy frozen brine shrimp in sheets, but I also like to buy raw shrimp and salmon fillets at the grocery store, grind them super fine in a food processor, then spoon it into ice cube trays. Freeze it, and you have ready-made meals anytime!

To feed, I dip a drinking water glass in the tank, take some water. Drop the food in and let it thaw, stir it to agitate, slow my filters (If you have emperors you know what I mean) and dump it in. The fishies go nuts!

[screaminbuckeye]

I get the cubes bc that is all my lfs has. I use the bloodworms for my peacock eel and for a rare treat for my cichlids. For my eel I chop the cube into smaller pieces , grab a piece with some tweezers, and then put like half my arm into the fish tank so that he (my eel) can get the stuff out of the tweezers. I have to use the tweezers for the eel bc the frozen worms float and my eel doesn't leave the bottom of the tank. For my cichlids i just toss a piece in and they have no problem gobbling it up.

[deli_conker]

I use the cubes too. Different types to mix things up. I'll pop out a cube and put it on a small plate (used only for the fish). It is completely thawed in 20 minutes or less. Then I take a spoon (also only used for the fish) and spoon it in slowly as needed.

I'll usually put some in near the dominant fish and then I'll put some over where the less fortunate are while their evil fish masters are busy gorging themselves on brine shrimp, krill, spirulina and bloodworms.

Sometimes they seem to be eating more slowly than usual. On those days I dump the leftovers into my QT tank to keep it cycled.

I've had no problems whatsoever with this method.

[3Corsameal]

i chuck a cube into a shot glass and add some water from aquarium, let it defrost,, then tip it into tank...

@ Sati - mad girl