Which is better? Freeze dried or fresh?

[Punkymom]

Or is there a difference in nutritional value? I'm thinking that live would definetely be better, but they say that the freeze dried stuff has all the nutrients that live does...is this true? They've apparantly come out with freeze dried earthworms and crickets...hrmm...worth trying?

 

[Fruitbat]

Punkymom....

Certainly worth trying! Freeze-dried foods do retain much of the nutritional value of the living organism. In fact, some companies actually fortify their freeze-dried offerings so they can, in some cases, actually be more nutritious than live food.

My only problem with freeze-dried foods is getting some fish to eat them. I've had fish that would voraciously devour live or frozen bloodworms but completely ignore the freeze-dried ones. Still....if you can get your fish to accept the freeze-dried substitute it certainly can make feeding more convenient.

 

[Punkymom]

My Oscars go crazy over the freeze dried krill I feed them every day so I think I will try the crickets...has to be cheaper than .10 a cricket for live ones! What about earthworms? I wonder if they would do much nutritionally for Oscars...

 

[YellowMP5]

i bought some freezedried bloodworms for my betta and he doesn't even try to eat it. i thought he would go nuts eating them and would give me a good show

also, are the bloodworms supposed to float or sink? i never see them sink down and the other fishes dont eat them.

 

[chasgood]

My Tiger Barbs love to eat anything but really go nuts for the Tetra brand BloodWorms Freeze Dried Treats. The container says great source of roughage. Guess our fish need to be regular too.

 

[shawmutt]

I feed my mbuna freeze-dried bloodworms once a month or so. It's nice to be able to dole out a little at a time and store the stuff.

 

[dhs9831]

I think if you have bottom feeders, live or frozen is best because freeze dried tends to float forever, but top dwellers are usually just fine with them. I use a combination, but overall prefer frozen.. although freeze dried usually contains more nutrients due to distributer enhancement.