Live vs Frozen vs Freeze Dried Question

[jiffy]

I know I should be feeding my fish a variety of foods and I want to make sure I get them the right stuff.

I currently feed TetraMin Rich Mix.

As far as bloodworms and brineshrimp go, what are the pros and cons of live, frozen and freeze dried. I would prefer to have freeze dried because I would rather not deal with live food, and I don't think my mom would like me keeping frozen worms in the freezer (even though I don't see the big deal).

So freeze dried would fit the bill for my needs, but what about the fishes needs? So please share some info about the differences with each of these foods.

 

[luxum]

I've tried both freeze dried bloodworms and daphnia and don't like them. The fish don't seem to dig them much either, i think the smell of the food is removed during the freeze drying process and it makes it unappetizing. Putting the dried food directly into the tank may cause constipation in sensitive fishies due to lack of moisture in the food, so if you use it it's best to pre-soak it. By the time you are doing that you may as well feed frozen.

My fish have always reacted with enthusiasm for frozen foods. I once fed a betta a chunk of frozen daphnia that i hadn't thawed, he ate the piece whole before it had a chance to thaw! Betta only lived about a week after that, poor guy, i still feel really bad. So now i always thaw the frozen food in a bit of tank water and feed them only as much as they will eat and throw out the rest. I've never used live food, i'd have to constantly go to the LFS to get some, it would creep me out for it to be in the fridge with my food, and i don't have room in my little apartment to keep my own cultures. I think frozen is a good choice.

Don't forget that you can also vary your fishies diet just by feeding different prepared foods. I have some flake, some micro pellets, some granules, and a couple different kinds of pellets and crumbles for the cichlids in addition to a weekly treat of thawed bloodworms. I also plan to get them either some frozen daphnia or the kind that comes in a jar pretty soon.

 

[SirMinion]

Nothing beats live food, fortunately I live close to an LFS that sells it, so it's always on the menu.

Frozed (and thawed) is taken with almost as much relish.

I've just thrown out my collection of dried foods, there was no point in keeping it, none of my fish would touch it.

 

[tstenback]

Some of my fish eat freeze dried very well but they all love frozen and it is just as easy to feed and it is not messy in the freeser either. If you dont like the idea of it being in the freezer with the rest of the food put it in a plastic container so there is no chance of it mixingwith the people food. HTH

 

[pandapops001]

The lady at the lfs said there wasnt much point buying frozen bloodworms for my fish as fish food these days had everything a fish needs, which seemed odd as she was doing herself out of a sale - unless she didnt sell them and that was her excuse.

I'm glad i listened to you guys though because i bought the frozen bloodworms from another lfs and my fish go crazy for them. They dont take up much space in the freezer (and i kind of feel the same as your mum about that, even though they are frozen and cant leak unless your freezer thaws, and even then they are in sealed little plastic container things), but i have them wrapped in two bags.

I would highly recommend them

 

[CFC]

Live or frozen foods are essential to aid digestion and should be fed at least once a week to help clear out your fishes intestines, while flake and pellet foods are usually very nutritional they often lack ruffage which is a important part of any fishes diet. I tend to use frozen foods for the majority of my feeding as many of my fish will not touch prepared foods but live foods would cost a fortune due to the size and ammount of fish i have, however i do use live food for conditioning breeding pairs as it is usually far better quallity than the frozen stuff.

I do not use and would not recomend freeze dried foods.

 

[Nina7777]

I feed a mixture of frozen and freeze dried. My fish don't like the freeze dried that much. The only kinds they will eat are tubifex worms and plankton. I only feed these on occasion as a treat as well.

Freeze dried foods are nowhere near as nutritional as frozen or live foods.

My boyfriend didn't like the idea of keeping frozen fish food in our freezer either. But if you can find the fish gum drops by San Fransisco Bay foods they come in a styrofoam box so noone knows whats in them, nor do they have to see what the contents really are everytime they open the fridge.

 

[jiffy]

Well, it sounds like frozen is the way to go. Could someone explain how it is packaged though? I had imagined it was just a container with all loose bloodworms. I hear that they are packaged into portions, but how does this work?

 

[luxum]

The Hikari frozen foods are packaged in a blister pack in little cubes, similar to the way certain medicines come, you just push a cube out the front through the foil lining and return the rest of the package to the freezer. I keep mine folded in half and stuffed into a ziplock bag to make sure it never contacts human food since my paranoid mother instilled all her fears into me like in that Pink Floyd song...

 

[Nina7777]

Same with the San Fransisco Brand Products. They are all divided into individual cubes and put into plastic with foil on the back. Then they are either put into cardboard covers or Styrofoam.

You can buy the flat packs that are not individualized but all frozen together and cut peices off, but I feel the cubes are alot more conventional and alot less messy!

 

[pandapops001]

The ones i buy are like ice cube trays covered in foil, i cut one out at a time, leave it in the plastic cube until thawed in a cup of warm water, then take the lid of and tip the contents into the tank,

This is good as i dont have to touch anything eeeuukkk

 

[mrV]

I personaly think that - although nutrient value in those freeze dried food are better than in frozen food - freeze dried food contain "air" too much. Some of them are so dried that they float "days" until they sink! I have some freeze dried worms that I give sometimes. First I soak some vitamines to it and then I give it for fish. But I think, frozen are still much better. It's only my opinion. Haven't seen or read any studies do those dried food do some damage or not. I only wonder could it be harmful to feed so much "air" with food.

 

[jiffy]

I keep mine folded in half and stuffed into a ziplock bag to make sure it never contacts human food since my paranoid mother instilled all her fears into me like in that Pink Floyd song...

LOL that is hilarious. Also, it is something I am sure I am going to have to do.

I have to make sure I get the ones with the foil like you and nina talked about. I dont want anything to do with the flat pack that I would have to cut.

Infact, now that I know that the frozen foods are so easy, I think that they really are no more difficult than the freeze dried ones. They might even be easier since the servings are pre packaged. That way I won't have to mess with how much I put take out of the container.

 

[luxum]

True, but just so you know, one cube is going to be way more than you should feed to a 10 gallon tank. Maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of the cube. Some people keep the thawed food a couple days in the fridge or cut the cube into smaller pieces but i just send the leftovers down the garbage disposal, i don't want bloodworms in my fridge lol. I only have the one small tank so i'm not too concerned with wasting worms.

 

[jiffy]

Wow, I didnt know that one cube would feed that much. Well...it wont be going in the fridge. I will try keeping what I don't use frozen until the next time I use it. I bet if I use some one day and then the rest the next day that would work so it isnt in the freezer to long opened.

Doing that once a week would probably work. I will have to actually see these in person to figure out the best plan, which might be throwing out what I dont use.