Making frozen food more convenient

[LordJoshaeus]

Hi everyone! I was feeding my fish frozen food in the past as a component of their diet, but eventually stopped due to irritation over having to thaw the frozen food frequently. How can I reduce the frequency of thawing the frozen food before feeding it to the fish? I have come up with at least one idea;

Idea; Thaw a sizeable amount of frozen food in distilled water, then mix it with glycerol and place that mixture in the freezer in a bottle (glycerol is non-toxic to virtually everything except in very large quantities and reduces water's freezing point - for a 50% mixture with water, to -7 fahrenheit. I may be able to get away with less glycerol depending on how cold my freezer is...)

Thanks

 

[andrewkw]

Or you could just put the food right in the tank without thawing.

 

[SPR1968]

As above just put it in frozen, I’ve always done that it really makes no significant difference

 

[LordJoshaeus]

That would work...if the tank was large enough to handle the load. The problem is that I am limited to nano tanks here, and giving a whole cube of frozen food at once to a ten gallon on a regular basis would likely be disastrous.

 

[DangerDave]

put a weeks work in a squeeze bottle in the fridge.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

put a weeks work in a squeeze bottle in the fridge.

Would it last that long in a fridge before going rancid?

 

[DangerDave]

It definitely should, but I don't think the fish would care either way.

 

[andrewey]

You can always use a pill cutter (or a sharp knife) to equally divide the cubes up. After that, freeze the portions in a tupperware and throw one of the pieces (half, third, quarter, etc.) in the tank.

 

[Kan9]

Search "Reefsicle" I use it and love it. Ideal for seahorses as well....

 

[ThePurple12]

Get reef frenzy. You just break a piece off to feed. Or just cut the cubes

 

[Treefer32]

If you use RO water to dissolve the food and place in fridge. It would keep as long as you could keep cold meet in the fridge. Usually 3-5 days. The colder your fridge is the longer it would probably keep I would think. Either way, that's the benefit of refridgeration. I wouldn't use tank water as that would come with bacteria that would increase the rate at which the food goes bad.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I bought 1 oz condiment cups and put portions in those and freeze the cups. hirakri brand frozen can be in my fridge for 5-6 days before it starts to look funny. The rods food only lasts a couple days before it gets nasty smelling...rods is bigger chunks of meaty food though.

 

[Silver14SS]

I bought 1 oz condiment cups and put portions in those and freeze the cups. hirakri brand frozen can be in my fridge for 5-6 days before it starts to look funny. The rods food only lasts a couple days before it gets nasty smelling...rods is bigger chunks of meaty food though.

I was using those 1 oz disposable plastic cups but switched to a reusable option. It wasn't worth trying to clean the thinner plastic ones for me, but these are sturdy enough to scrub.


I use LRS or Rod's cut into cubes and V2O variety pack, put 1 cube of LRS or Rod's and 2 cubes of V2O in each container. Takes a few minutes to fill up all the cups and I don't have to open the larger bulk packages daily. All the tank inhabitants respond well to the mix but they really go after the Reef Caviar in the V2O.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I was using those 1 oz disposable plastic cups but switched to a reusable option. It wasn't worth trying to clean the thinner plastic ones for me, but these are sturdy enough to scrub.


I use LRS or Rod's cut into cubes and V2O variety pack, put 1 cube of LRS or Rod's and 2 cubes of V2O in each container. Takes a few minutes to fill up all the cups and I don't have to open the larger bulk packages daily.

Omg...I have these in the basement somewhere from when my daughter was little. Great idea, thanks!!!

 

[homer1475]

And this is why I prefer the flat packs of food over cubes. I just use a sharp knife, and cut into the portions I need and throw in frozen.

 

[Silver14SS]

Omg...I have these in the basement somewhere from when my daughter was little. Great idea, thanks!!!

You're welcome! I use these to add water to the container to help thaw the food after moving from freezer and feed the tank, that way I only smell like fish food when I fill up all the cups ;Vomit

 

[Rybren]

I add 6 or 7 cubes or chunks of various foods to a small jar of tank water. Let it defrost in the fridge and feed with a turkey baster as needed.

 

[vetteguy53081]

That's a lot of work on behalf of many. I simply add several pieces to a solo cup and feed by spoon small portions at a time. Never any left over.

 

[robertpdx]

I have a 20 gallon and I cut mysis cubes in half and put them in a 7-day pill box. To feed I just pop out a piece into a plastic cup, add a few ounces of tank water, mix it with a pipette and it's ready to go in 10-15 seconds.

 

[Reef.]

Search "Reefsicle" I use it and love it. Ideal for seahorses as well....

Thinking on buying one, it's going to be very expensive as I'm in the UK, so need to make sure it's suitable...can I ask, how warm is your room and how long does it take to melt? The site states 6-8 hours.

A big downside seems to be you can't use this at the same time as a lid, I have a feeding hole in my lid, would you say it can be placed in the lid so it drips through this feeding hole?