Frozen food - best option BESIDES mysis?

[Kiara_Pyrenei]

I'm starting up my first saltwater tank and looking at what I want to feed my fish. I'm kinda planning on doing pellets in the morning and frozen food in the evening. Looking online it seems like the most popular choice for frozen food is mysis shrimp, but the problem is.... I just can't find any here in Japan.

Seems like the dominant options here are adult or baby brine shrimp and "red bugs".

But I've heard that brine shrimp are lacking in nutrition. Is that true of baby brine shrimp or only the adults? And what in the heck are red bugs, anyways? Are they a good choice??

Edit: looks like red bugs are for freshwater.

Does anyone know if baby brine shrimp are okay nutrition-wise? I know the adult shrimp aren't great as a staple food, is it the same??? What about stuff like rotifiers, copepods, and daphnia? Can those be fed to saltwater fish?

 

[saltyfins]

I'm starting up my first saltwater tank and looking at what I want to feed my fish. I'm kinda planning on doing pellets in the morning and frozen food in the evening. Looking online it seems like the most popular choice for frozen food is mysis shrimp, but the problem is.... I just can't find any here in Japan.

Seems like the dominant options here are adult or baby brine shrimp and "red bugs".

But I've heard that brine shrimp are lacking in nutrition. Is that true of baby brine shrimp or only the adults? And what in the heck are red bugs, anyways? Are they a good choice??

can you make your own? clams, mussles, oyster, squid things like this? grind it up and freeze. ?

 

[Kiara_Pyrenei]

Red bugs are an acropora pest not a food

I mean, it seems to be the most common frozen food option here, i don't know what to tell you. I'm not even sure what actual species it is, everywhere i can find it just says "red bug"

here's an amazon link to the stuff I'm talking about

 

[saltyfins]

I mean, it seems to be the most common frozen food option here, i don't know what to tell you. I'm not even sure what actual species it is, everywhere i can find it just says "red bug"

here's an amazon link to the stuff I'm talking about

that's fresh water

 

[Kiara_Pyrenei]

can you make your own? clams, mussles, oyster, squid things like this? grind it up and freeze. ?

I mean... I'll be honest, I'd prefer not to. I have to be realistic with myself about the level of work I'm willing to do each day and I have a hard enough time cooking for myself, much less my fish.

I think I will need to find something pre-made here.

 

[Kiara_Pyrenei]

that's fresh water

Oh okay. Even less options that I can find then, I guess.... It's frustrating that Japan seems kinda behind the curve with a lot of stuff, it seems like most people on the English speaking side of the hobby are saying that brine shrimp used to be common until it was realized how little nutrition they have, but that's all I can find for sale here....

 

[twentyleagues]

I'm starting up my first saltwater tank and looking at what I want to feed my fish. I'm kinda planning on doing pellets in the morning and frozen food in the evening. Looking online it seems like the most popular choice for frozen food is mysis shrimp, but the problem is.... I just can't find any here in Japan.

Seems like the dominant options here are adult or baby brine shrimp and "red bugs".

But I've heard that brine shrimp are lacking in nutrition. Is that true of baby brine shrimp or only the adults? And what in the heck are red bugs, anyways? Are they a good choice??

Red bugs are an acropora pest not a food

In this case I'm pretty sure it's referring to calanus a marine copepod.
I'm surprised you can't find mysis. That's pretty much a staple around the world.

 

[billyocean]

Rods original blend (or other blends depending on fish)
Larrys fish food LRS reef frenzy

 

[Kiara_Pyrenei]

Rods original blend (or other blends depending on fish)
Larrys fish food LRS reef frenzy

Yeah I mean I appreciate the attempt but the whole issue is that I live in Japan? I am struggling to even find food made of the same species as in the US, much less any common brands so that is... not really going to help me XD

 

[Kiara_Pyrenei]

In this case I'm pretty sure it's referring to calanus a marine copepod.
I'm surprised you can't find mysis. That's pretty much a staple around the world.

Yeah I'm surprised too. I think part of the problem is that I am having a hard time communicating/searching for what I'm looking for? I don't know if there is a japanese term for mysis shrimp that I'm just missing, none of the LFS workers I've spoken too had any recognition of what I was trying to talk about, even with translator/google assistance on both sides lol. One of them stocked something they called "white shrimp" but I have no idea if that's just brine shrimp or something else?

I was hoping maybe there's maybe some other good nutritious food I can look for that I might have more luck with...

 

[exnisstech]

8

I mean... I'll be honest, I'd prefer not to. I have to be realistic with myself about the level of work I'm willing to do each day and I have a hard enough time cooking for myself, much less my fish.

I think I will need to find something pre-made here.

Make a seafood mix in batches and freeze it. Some people freeze it in small cubes. I freeze it in small plastic bags then cut into chunks. I can make 6 months worth of food in 30 minutes.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I prefer to feed as much variety as possible, i have about a dozen different foods, and switch them up at every feeding.

 

[ScottJ]

I know you said you didn't want to have to make your own food, but it can be pretty easy. If you have a blender, you can get some seafood and add some Nori and wiz up a batch. I add enough RODI water to make a slurry, then freeze it. You can put it in a plastic bag and flatten it, makes it easy to break up. I make up a batch maybe once a month and have enough to feed 2 reefs and a fresh water 20gal.

Takes maybe a half an hour.

Being in Japan, I would guess you have access to some amazing seafood and Nori!

 

[zoomonster]

Being in Japan you probably have a lot of selection for making your own and freezing. Being you don't want to do that your choices are flake, pellet, brine, calanus and whatever you can find frozen. You probably have options to enrich that food like paracoccus (astaxanthin) powder, spirulina powder, selcon, vitamins, amino's etc. A place here used to always supplement live brine with astaxanthin. Kind of surprised you can't find mysis being Hikari is a Japanese company and from what I understand all Hikari products we use here are made in Japan. I usually buy the one pound Hikari mysis sheets.

 

[Kiara_Pyrenei]

I know you said you didn't want to have to make your own food, but it can be pretty easy. If you have a blender, you can get some seafood and add some Nori and wiz up a batch. I add enough RODI water to make a slurry, then freeze it. You can put it in a plastic bag and flatten it, makes it easy to break up. I make up a batch maybe once a month and have enough to feed 2 reefs and a fresh water 20gal.

Takes maybe a half an hour.

Being in Japan, I would guess you have access to some amazing seafood and Nori!

What kind of seafood would I even be looking for, and what would I need to do to prepare it? I mean its true that nori is easy to find here, at least XD

Tbh i'm also concerned because I have the typical Japanese Tiny Freezer problem so it might be hard to make large batches for long periods XD

 

[Sump Crab]

Oh okay. Even less options that I can find then, I guess.... It's frustrating that Japan seems kinda behind the curve with a lot of stuff, it seems like most people on the English speaking side of the hobby are saying that brine shrimp used to be common until it was realized how little nutrition they have, but that's all I can find for sale here....

You can feed "freshwater food" as part of a mixed diet. My fish love blood worms which are traditionally a "freshwater" food.

 

[Kiara_Pyrenei]

Being in Japan you probably have a lot of selection for making your own and freezing. Being you don't want to do that your choices are flake, pellet, brine, calanus and whatever you can find frozen. You probably have options to enrich that food like paracoccus (astaxanthin) powder, spirulina powder, selcon, vitamins, amino's etc. A place here used to always supplement live brine with astaxanthin. Kind of surprised you can't find mysis being Hikari is a Japanese company and from what I understand all Hikari products we use here are made in Japan. I usually only buy the one pound Hikari mysis sheets.

Strange question maybe, but can you send a pic of what the packaging looks like? Cuz yeah theres a lot of Hikari branded stuff, so maybe if I can have an Image of what im looking for maybe I'm just missing it because I can't identify it?

 

[Kiara_Pyrenei]

I found this site, this seems to be the main company making frozen food here, nearly everything I see in the freezers at my local LFSs are from this brand, and this is their selection. Of these options, does anyone know which are suitable for feeding to small saltwater fish like clowns, etc? Which might be best as a "staple" food of sorts?

冷凍（餌・エサ）＜錦鯉,金魚,熱帯魚,淡水魚,海水魚,稚魚＞｜冷凍・天然のエサ｜キョーリン【Hikari】

冷凍飼料（餌・エサ）

www.kyorin-net.co.jp

 

[vetteguy53081]

LRS fish frenzy (herbivore diet for larger fish)
spirulina brine shrimp
Hikari marine cuisine
small plankton
Formula one and two frozen
TDO Pellets
spectrum pellets
Prime flakes

 

[zoomonster]

Strange question maybe, but can you send a pic of what the packaging looks like? Cuz yeah theres a lot of Hikari branded stuff, so maybe if I can have an Image of what im looking for maybe I'm just missing it because I can't identify it?

There is a variety of packaging but here's a sample. You might try this website https://www.hikari-corp.co.jp/