Wisdom Wednesday: feeding frozen

[SeymourDuncan]

(pic supplied by Marine Depot)

When using frozen foods be sure to have a look at the ingredients. Most things that freeze have water in them, along with some tag-along phosphates!! To reduce phosphates simply thaw out the food and pour it through a fine net or cheese cloth. Even a quick rinse with RO water will help dilute the bad stuff.

And never drop a frozen food cube in the tank... Tropical fish do not like ice cream!

What types of food do you use and do you see a difference in rinsing?

 

[Ike]

Phosphate is associataed with protein, so any good food will have a decent amount of phosphate. Additionally, phosphates aren't bad stuff, they're required stuff. Fish need phosphorous at certain levels in their diet to thrive. Lastly, the type of impact rinsing your frozen food will make on your overall phosphate levels is minimal at best. So minimal that you're probably wasting your time by rinsing.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Good point! Yes, phosphates are necessary, but not in excess. The food can contain up to 90% "water" to keep the food fresh. 90% reduction in phosphates isn't a bad thing usually.

We all experience different results depending on filtration. One tank may consume phosphates very rapidly while others may have excess. Any chance I have to reduce them I take it!

Tanks with Algae Turf Scrubbers can handle much more food than say...a seahorse tank with a hang on filter. If you put the same sized tanks next to each other and fed a frozen cube you will almost always notice a quality difference in the lesser filtered tank.

With that said, yeah...it can be an unnecessary task, but also could make or break your nuisance to coraline algae ratio. Everyone has different styles and methods. I have to thaw out and rinse mysis for my seahorses or algae goes nuts. In my 90 I can probably get away with dumping straight cubes into the tank but it has an overkill filtration system that would eat a seahorse like nothing.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

It would be a good idea to test a cup of rinsed food vs non rinsed and truly see what is up with the liquid portions of the cubes.

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Good tip!

 

[impur]

I made this to thaw my frozen foods

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I made this to thaw my frozen foods

That, my friend, is EXACTLY what we all need!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And many more !'s

 

[Eienna]

I've been throwing in the food still frozen...the FOWLR guys go nuts and attack the cube like kids on a pinata, while the reef residents wait for the flow to separate it. I find that more of it gets eaten as opposed to filtered out that way.

My goniopora likes the "juice", so I don't rinse.

 

[Qube]

I'll rinse foods such as mysis and definitely PE mysis, but I never rinse Rod's. There's too much of the "good stuff" that would just wash away.

 

[Eienna]

When I target-feed the corals, I do thaw but I still don't rinse.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I've been throwing in the food still frozen...the FOWLR guys go nuts and attack the cube like kids on a pinata, while the reef residents wait for the flow to separate it. I find that more of it gets eaten as opposed to filtered out that way.

My goniopora likes the "juice", so I don't rinse.

Same with other filter feeders like zoas. They love the nasty juices!

 

[NanaReefer]

I thaw in a medicine cup using tank water. Then pour out the excess water and feed. Guess its sort of rinsing


Sent from my iPhone 4s via Tapatalk.

 

[mike007]

Maybe you should make a bunch of these cups and sell them. My thought is the juice left over from the food might be getting consumed by the corals. I really don't think that there is that much phosphate in a cube of frozen food but i could be wrong.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

It may just be my system but I notice a difference between a rinsed an non rinsed meal in my seahorse tank. Not my 90 though.

 

[Eienna]

Maybe you should make a bunch of these cups and sell them. My thought is the juice left over from the food might be getting consumed by the corals. I really don't think that there is that much phosphate in a cube of frozen food but i could be wrong.

I imagine certain brands might be worse than others...

 

[redfishbluefish]

Hold on folks……all this work has already been done by Dr. Randy Holmes Farley. The bottom line is that rinsing food is a waste of time. There is about 1% of free phosphate in frozen food. The rest is part of the food itself…..NOT RINSABLE. With only one percent free, the dilution factor of you tank volume makes this negligible. When you rinse you are washing away small bits for your corals to eat. Again VERY LITTLE FREE PHOSPHATES in frozen food.


I’ll try to find the Holmes paper and post it here.



EDIT TO ADD:

OK, HERE is the reference. To summarize,

1. The greater majority of phosphate in frozen foods is bound up within the food.

2. Rinsing only washes away approximately 1% of phosphate.

3. The large dilution of tank water makes this "free" phosphate insignificant.

4. See 1 (one), above….the food contains the phosphate (as part of the food.)



So if you want to minimize phosphate within your tank, just stop feeding your fish. Rinsing does virtually nothing to help reduce phosphate.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Thanks for clearing that up!!! Can't argue with that.

 

[Eienna]

I'd still like to know what the rationale is for thawing first. Obviously you'd want it to thaw, but the tank water can do that just fine.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I'd still like to know what the rationale is for thawing first. Obviously you'd want it to thaw, but the tank water can do that just fine.

My rationalle is there is no ice in the tropics

 

[Eienna]

My rationalle is there is no ice in the tropics

No flakes either, lol, unless you count some of the people.