Frozen or thawed

[Bob]

I don't know, perhaps just lazy. For years I have dumped in frozen cubes.........mysis, brine, formula one and two etc. I was reading today in a reef book that this is a no no. They say to thaw and discard liquid, and add tank water to feed. Any comments from anyone? Also second thread.....I always turn off my main pump to avoid food getting sucked into return. Is there something different I could be doing? Seems like turning off and back on the pump twice a day is more wear and tear than it constantly running.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

I like to thaw, rinse, and discard liquid.

[bigJPDC]

man that's a lot of work. I just drop a frozen cube of mysis in a cup of tank water long enough for it to dissolve and then slowly pour in with the return pumps off. Never had an issue with algae or cyano or phosphates.

 

ETD - what are you hoping to remove by draining the liquid? Why not switch to flakes or freeze dried foods instead?

Edited September 4, 2007 by bigJPDC

[fry_school101]

I drop the frozen cubes in. I make my own food and I've noticed that by just dropping the cube in the tank frozen and letting the fish pick at it there is less "dust" which in turn means less nuisance algae. On the flip side, some of my corals like to eat things and I may squeeze the thawed cube over them from time to time to get them some small particles. . .

[jason the filter freak]

I try to avoid adding the liquid after the cube is thawed in my pico tank. In my larger tank I just toss it right in.

[mogurnda]

I'm another one of the irresponsible people who drop the whole cube or chunk in the tank. I figure the liquid and debris is good for the filter feeders, and my sponges and worms seem to concur. There is one author in particular who seems to think that "pack juice" is the work of the devil, but I have not noticed any ill effects in a few decades of throwing whole frozen chunks in the tank.

[bigJPDC]

seriously? My eductor would blow that cube right through the overflow teeth if I left my return plumbing on and all that crap would be in the skimmer. I have awesome surface agitation but I leave my closed loop on so the food gets blown around and touches various food eating corals - picked that up while tank sitting dbartco and the fish love the workout.

[Almon]

Rinsing the food is high maintenance, IMO. So is turning off the pump. I thaw the frozen food in tank water and dump it in. I let the food get blown around everywhere in the tank which allows the fish to continuing hunting for food for hours (That is what they do in nature 50% of the time, the other 50% is trying not to become food). Some food may go into the overflow and down to the sump, but so what. It will get skimmed or get pushed back into the tank for a second go at it. What doesn't get eaten by fish gets eaten by corals or inverts. IMO.

[treesprite]

I hold a chunk of frozen food in the tank, the clowns pick at it, I let it go and no matter how big it is, the female clown tries to eat it all at once frozen solid. Anything that falls off goes to the other 2 fish. Of course I only have 3 fish (in 45g).

 

Maybe there will be another food making party and everyone who is buying store stuff can go and get some homemade food - that way you know what's in it before you put it in the tank.

Edited September 4, 2007 by treesprite

[trble81]

The discarding of the liquid that was frozen is to help keep phosphates down. I don't feed frozen, but that's what some of the other members had told me.

 

[bigJPDC]

probably less work to stop overfeeding than micromanage a few drops of liquid you think has phosphates in it - which you can't even accurately test for and has less to do with any algae issues than regular water changes and good RO\DI water.

I know I took nitrates from 40 to zero by cutting my feeding in half and not using seafood meant for people. Not to mention there is so much oil in fresh shrimp, scallops and clams that my skimmer would go insane for an hour after feeding.

[HowardofNOVA]

Being that I use various items, I usually chip off pieces of Mysis, Brine, Cyclopeeze and cubes into a small tupperware container and thaw. Keeping it in the frig and dumping a bit into the tank and let them go at it!

LPS love the small stuff and bigger stuff goes to the fish! Usually a mix will last a week at a time and fish seem no worst for the wear!

 

..ok, no comment that I lost 17 of 20 fish do to Ich, but the rest of the time, everything was fine!

[Almon]

I agree, it's the overfeeding that contributes more nitates.

[lanman]

Ah... feeding techniques! I thaw out 3 cubes of mini-mysis, and a 'chunk' of larger PE mysis in a bowl of tank water, then feed it with a turkey baster. I have a large hermit that was fighting with everyone, and a large emerald crab that kept eating snails, and a mantis shrimp in the sump. I figure they pick up the scraps.

 

bob

[flowerseller]

and not using seafood meant for people.

This I gotta hear about? Care to expand?

 

I'm basically a total flake

 

 

 

feeder that is.

 

I also use sea veggies by TLF because all my fish, including a leapord wrasse, love it.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

ETD - what are you hoping to remove by draining the liquid?

 

Whatever crap may be in the liquid...it doesn't seem to be food. Rinsing takes less than 5 seconds...

 

In general, "if I wouldn't dose it to my tank intentionally, I try not to put it in".

 

Why not switch to flakes or freeze dried foods instead?

 

I mostly use PE mysis, which all of my very picky eaters (mandarin, diamond goby, etc) eat voraciously. I've never seen those 2 go for anything else.

 

 

Thawing it out also lets me squirt it with a turkey baster at the slower guys so they dont get outcompeted. If I put a cube in, they would never get any.

 

 

-the tooth

Edited September 4, 2007 by extreme_tooth_decay

[bigJPDC]

I meant like buying raw seafood at the grocery store and blending it up, that's what I mean by 'for people'. I got really tired of the skimmer going insane every day at feeding time and there is no way the fish know any different.

 

lanman - how many fish do you have that you use four cubes of food per feeding?

[rioreef]

Any food I put in goes into the return portion of the sump. It slowly thaws and pieces shoot back into the tank. Not all at once because the cubing is breaking up in the sump and is a semi controlled return. I also put in flake and small ripped up pieces of seaweed in there also.

 

With the food shooting into the tank, the fish go nuts to chase it down. With a OM diverting return the food gets dispersed quickly enabling all fish to get a meal.

 

It is much easier this way since I do not have to lift the hood or put it in through the back of the hood. Open the door and toss it in. Makes job of guest feeders easy too, not comfortable with having someone other than me lift up the top.

[davjbeas]

I use one of those small strainers with handles like you would use to remove pulp when pouring orange juice through it. Every night I get 5 cubes of frozen prime reef (sometimes frozen mysis) and turn the kitchen faucet on hot water. it takes 20 seconds for the cubes to unfreeze then i Squish the cubes to get all the fluid out.

then the feeding begins. very simple.

 

David B.

[treesprite]

interesting technique, Chris

[rioreef]

Thanks, also with my method I have never had a problem with any of the food fowling the pump or the OM diverter too. My return pump is a Mag 12 and it comes with a large strainer that will prevent an entire cube from entering the pump intake. It may get sucked onto this strainer, but over time it melts and breaks up. This pre-filter never clogs, it is meant to prevent large objects from entering the pump. So no worries over cleaning it.