Feeding LRS Fish Frenzy

[AlgaeBarn]

How is everyone preparing their Fish Frenzy? Just breaking of a piece and putting in tank after it thaws a little? Does anybody take the package and break it down into smaller individual servings/cubes? Adding anything to it?

I would break pieces off as needed and then put it in a defroster like this so that it doesn't go everywhere before your fish can eat it: https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/aquarium-supplies/gourmet-defroster-pro/

 

[Midrats]

I break of a piece and grate it right into the tank with a microplane.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

i have a diy feeding tube so i just drop it in there and it disperses by itself. Im too lazy to wait to thaw it

Any info on this?

 

[stanleo]

I use the Reef Frenzy once or twice a week. I break off a chunk, thaw it, turn the powerheads off and dump it into the tank.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Wow that is a lot of LRS! How long does that last you? Mind if I ask if your purchasing habits changed during the pandemic? We noticed a huge surge in sales and production volume over the past year. There was a 200% spike in March 2020 and 2021, the same month the stimulus checks were sent out. A lot of stores reported that the average customer was purchasing 2-3X more frozen food than usual. I can only assume it was due to fears of shortages, but also people were home a lot more than usual and possibly feeding more frequently. We certainly appreciate the support.

I don't trust shipping methods for frozen foods so I rely on getting this stuff from my LFS which isn't local at all. Being a 200 mile round trip I usually buy 2-3 month supply at one time (2 bags). The endemic nor stimulus checks (never bothered to collect mine) were not a factor for me.

 

[ReefFrenzy]

Thanks for the tip! I was trying to make it easy for the non fish person to dump in the tank. I don’t have a good dispersion system for dropping in a frozen chunk. Any tips for that?

now that you mention, it does seem more mushy doing it this way.

If you drop a frozen chunk on a powerhead it will disperse it as it thaws. You can also thaw the chunk for 5 min in some water and then just drop it all in and it will blow around.

I would break pieces off as needed and then put it in a defroster like this so that it doesn't go everywhere before your fish can eat it: https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/aquarium-supplies/gourmet-defroster-pro/

We played with these but our foods are too textured and the proteins keep the food stuck together so it really doesn't escape the small holes in the IM feeder. The feeders may work better for smaller foods, like single ingredient cubes like brine shrimp.

I don't trust shipping methods for frozen foods so I rely on getting this stuff from my LFS which isn't local at all. Being a 200 mile round trip I usually buy 2-3 month supply at one time (2 bags). The endemic nor stimulus checks (never bothered to collect mine) were not a factor for me.

I totally understand your concern, however we have been using Premium Aquatics for nearly ten years for residential order fulfillment. They use a proper foam insulated cooler, ample dry ice and I have never heard of any complaints about the food arriving thawed. That was THE number one concern we had when we began using them for residential delivery and they have exceeded our expectations so far.

 

[Wrigley&Ivy17]

I love LRS. I wish my LFS carried it to cut down on shipping cost. I'm in Arkansas and no one close carries it. I have to order from Premium Aquatics.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

If you drop a frozen chunk on a powerhead it will disperse it as it thaws. You can also thaw the chunk for 5 min in some water and then just drop it all in and it will blow around.

We played with these but our foods are too textured and the proteins keep the food stuck together so it really doesn't escape the small holes in the IM feeder. The feeders may work better for smaller foods, like single ingredient cubes like brine shrimp.

I totally understand your concern, however we have been using Premium Aquatics for nearly ten years for residential order fulfillment. They use a proper foam insulated cooler, ample dry ice and I have never heard of any complaints about the food arriving thawed. That was THE number one concern we had when we began using them for residential delivery and they have exceeded our expectations so far.

my lack of trust was in the carriers (UPS/FedEx etc) not the distributors. That is completely outside their control.

 

[ReefFrenzy]

I love LRS. I wish my LFS carried it to cut down on shipping cost. I'm in Arkansas and no one close carries it. I have to order from Premium Aquatics.

You can always shoot me a message about your favorite LFS and I can reach out.

my lack of trust was in the carriers (UPS/FedEx etc) not the distributors. That is completely outside their control.

I wouldn't worry about that too much. We've been using Fed Ex to ship coolers via 1-5 day ground and 1-3 Express Air since day one. We ship thousands upon thousands of coolers a year, which we don't insure and we've yet to ever file a loss claim. That's not to say we haven't had a few hiccups, which got corrected, but overall using dry ice gives you a nice cushion of an extra day if a delivery is missed. It's nothing like the recent disasters we've heard about when shipping livestock. With that being said if the order is packed with ice packs and NOT dry ice, then I agree the risk is much greater and even Overnight shipping can result in thawed food in the Summer months.

 

[dedragon]

Any info on this?

Lol it is just a 2 inch pvc pipe or even a plastic cup with the bottom cut out, clipped onto the lip of the aquarium with a plastic chip clip. Cost = 0$ for most people though. Cups are easy to dispose of after a couple weeks instead of cleaning it

 

[dedragon]

pvc piping can be used if, you need to elongate it to the bottom of the tank or you have a fish smart enough to know to swim up it to get its fill before the rest of the fish. For now im using a cup as my copperband butterfly usually waits inside the plastic cup if it sees me walking over to the tank with a bag of frozen food, i need it to eat more

 

[reefinnewb]

Break off a piece, thaw it out, then turkey baste it into the tank. Get the fish first, then the LPS.

 

[alabella1]

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences with our foods! Many of the methods described work perfectly as folks have explained. Even when frozen our food sheets can easily be sliced into custom sized cubes tailored to your tank and the amount needed per feeding. When I used to travel I would leave daily servings in the freezer in salad dressing cups to avoid any chance of over feeding. Just be aware if the food is removed from the original packaging and cut into cubes you now have six sides of the food exposed. This makes it more more susceptible for freezer burn if not stored in an air tight container. The only real "wrong" way to feed our food is to keep it thawed in the fridge for 3-7 days. That is a terrible idea as the food deteriorates rapidly after being thawed for 24 hours. Thanks again!

Hey Larry! Love this idea, just watched your youtube video as well. Planning to pickup some of those small cups from amazon. Do you know how many ounces they are? I see, 1, 2, 4oz.

I have a 155g with roughly 20 fish in there. I was going to do a cube of herbivore, a cube of reef and some crumbled seaweed. I'll likely add selcon and/or vitamins every other day along with some water to thaw. I don't want to go huge, but want to make sure I had a little room to shake em up with water to mix then dump right into the tank.