Feeding Frozen Bloodworm?

[LeeAberdeen]

I wondered how other people feed this to their fish - do you go straight in with it frozen, or slightly deforst it in some water first, or maybe some other way? Just had one of my eight fish die and am searching around for potential causes. It could be 'just one of those things' and not related to putting FBW in the tank straight from the freezer, but that's the only thing I've changed recently.

 

[DerpPH]

Putting it straight in the tank lowers the temps and your fish might have died from the sudden temperature change.
 
You should have let it thaw first before you put it in

 

[LeeAberdeen]

Putting it straight in the tank lowers the temps and your fish might have died from the sudden temperature change.
 
You should have let it thaw first before you put it in

One cube of FBW won't lower the temperature in a 275 litre tank, not even slightly.

 

[fluttermoth]

I have heard anecdotal stories of fish dying after eating frozen bloodworm before.
 
Personally, I've always defrosted completely in advance of feeding.

 

[LeeAberdeen]

I have heard anecdotal stories of fish dying after eating frozen bloodworm before.
 
Personally, I've always defrosted completely in advance of feeding.

Yeah, that seems to make sense the more I think of it. How long do you defrost it for? Is that just in a glass of water?

 

[Ciddire]

I always heat mine up with hot tap, strain & then drop into the tank
 
Or I buy them live from my LFS and drop them in with tweezers 

 

[LeeAberdeen]

I always heat mine up with hot tap, strain & then drop into the tank

 
Or I buy them live from my LFS and drop them in with tweezers 

That would work. I avoid live foods in my tank, but a strainer and the hot tap sounds easy enough.
 
I made the mistake of listening to my LFS, who said it was fine to just bang in FBW from the freezer and "watch them fight over it". My fault, though, because this is the same LFS which only changes 20% of the water for its juvenile discus twice a week and insists I must lower the pH to 6.5 to keep them, even though it's 6.7.
 
A lesson for everyone, I think - treat LFS advice with extreme caution...

 

[fluttermoth]

 

I have heard anecdotal stories of fish dying after eating frozen bloodworm before.
 
Personally, I've always defrosted completely in advance of feeding.

Yeah, that seems to make sense the more I think of it. How long do you defrost it for? Is that just in a glass of water?
 

Yep; I pop a cube in a cup, with plain tap water, and leave it for about ten minutes. I used to wash them, using an old tea strainer, but I don't bother with that any more; too many worms get stuck in it!

 

[sawickib]

I defrost mine in a small bowl for a couple minutes and dump them right in, never have problems with it.

 

[DaveIOW]

I drop a cube in a cup full of tank water, wait for it to defrost then pour back in.

 

[Brilly91]

i defrost in tank water in a tub aswell

 

[fish48]

It can be put straight into the tank It don’t make any difference,

 

[Alasse]

I do both, mostly i just drop in. But for the goldies, who i dont want feeding at the surface, i defrost first, and also i defrost a block (out of 2) for the angel tank so that the BGK gets some.
 
All my other tanks just get frozen dropped in, never had an issue