Frozen foods

[calhoun.22]

I have noticed that many people are thawing their frozen foods prior to adding them to the tank. I am only feeding part of a cube once a day so it thaws vary fast in the tank.

What are the benefits of thawing the cubes first?

[Newsmyrna80]

Rinsing the frozen food reduces phosphates that can induce and fuel unwanted algae growth.

[calhoun.22]

Rinsing the frozen food reduces phosphates that can induce and fuel unwanted algae growth.

Got it, thanks for the info. I am currently cutting the little cubes into 3 or 4 chunks and feeding one of the pieces a day as a supplement to the flakes I am feeding. As I start to feed more frozen I now know to rinse it first.

[Xavibear]

I have noticed that many people are thawing their frozen foods prior to adding them to the tank. I am only feeding part of a cube once a day so it thaws vary fast in the tank.

What are the benefits of thawing the cubes first?

The food spreads around the tank better, benefits more than the fish. I soak my food in about a half cup of tank water, let it sit for a couple of minutes swish it around and pour it around the tank.

Rinsing isn't necessary if your not overfeeding.

[Crooked Reef]

The food spreads around the tank better, benefits more than the fish. I soak my food in about a half cup of tank water, let it sit for a couple of minutes swish it around and pour it around the tank.

Rinsing isn't necessary if your not overfeeding.

+1. The amount of phosphate you are adding by not rinsing is minute and will be handled easily by water changes. It doesn't sound like you are over feeding.

[oh207]

When I first started feeding frozen food I used to place the cube directly into the tank and the pieces will dislodge in a few minutes. But then I read about phosphates issues and so I started to thaw and rinse. I also saw a video of a fish eating frozen food and it appears as if he had a brain freeze!
Now I have a different system. I thaw and rinse about 4 cubes which I then put into a squirt bottle that I add garlic, vitamin C, and Selcon and then squirt a little once or twice a day into the tank. This usually last about a week.

[calhoun.22]

It sounds like for now I am ok with the current process, as I add fish and other such things I would be wise to dissolve the frozen fare. I like the idea of "pre-mixing" the frozen stuff and adding it to a squeeze bottle. With the amount I am feeding now I could put in a few cubes and add it once a day. This gives me a little more control. Right now I throw in a chunk and I never know how much actual food is in it until it starts to break up. Sometimes it is mostly brown water and not much food at all. Great tip!

[Troio2]

I am pretty much taking out a frozen cube, cutting it in half with scissors. Both halves usually go flying all over the place so I have to fend off my dog before he eats it. Rinse it off quick. Put half in a little jar with tank water to thaw and freeze the other half. Pretty annoying. Can I just thaw 3 or 4 cubes and keep them in the fridge? Then use a spoon or something to take a little of the thawed food out?

[ca1ore]

I think whether to 'rinse' thawed frozen depends a bit on what it is. Some foods, like cyclopeese or Ova, cannot be rinsed because they are too small. Others, like hikari frozen or Larry's reef frenzy, are pretty clean and don't require it. About the only food I use that I ALWAYS rinse, is PE mysis which throws off quite a lot of gunk. Whether rinsing makes all that much difference to accumulated waste I cannot say, but a chunk of unrinsed 'dirty' food can kill the head on my skimmer for a few hours.

[Troio2]

Right now all I have is brine and mysis, still a rookie at this. I only rinse it because it hits the floor and may pick up some dirt or something, not because of anything 'bad' in the food.

[rocsec1]

Also if you added garlic or selcon thawing gives it time to sink into the food.