Reducing Nutrients From Frozen Foods

[Reefland]

Frozen foods such as Mysis and Brine shrimp are a big contributor to nutrients in a reef tank (popular literature also mentions this). The nutrient source is the liquid that is used to allow the food to freeze and when thawed and added to the tank, the nutrients are being added to.

What is your method of straining the frozen food once thawed?

We have recently began using a typical fish net to strain the frozen food. A cup is filled with hot tap water and the cubes are placed in it to thaw. Once thawed out, the cup is dumped into the fish net and then the fish net is placed into the tank and quickly turned inside out to let the thawed food release. Got to be quick about it to ensure that floating food doesn't enter the net after it is released.

Another benefit to this feeding method is that the fish become adapted to the net entering the tank, in fact they start picking at it before the food is even released. The cool thing about this is if I ever need to remove a fish from the tank, the fish are adapted to the net and it would be extremely easy to net one up.

[saltjunkie]

i was doing that for awhile.. but i truely have noticed no difference at all in my water quality, or chemistry (not that i check anything) ..But my creatures let me know..
to me it just seemed to be more work than needed..

What i do, is basically the same..
i place the cubes or whatnot frozen into some fresh water that i use for top off (in a cup of course) let it thaw in there and then just dump it all in...

[James]

Hey Scott, I do ruffly the same thing you do, but I just put the frozen cubes of (1 Mysis shimp, 1 Brine Shimp, 1 Frozen Squid, and 1 Formula Two) in the fish net and run tap water over them until they are no longer frozen. Then the food is placed into a small cup and vitamines (Selcon and Vita Chem) are added.

Funny thing.....found out why they like the Formula Two so much, you can really smell the garlic in it when defrosted, though its not listed in the ingredients.?.?.

[lobophyllia]

I just get a shot glass, fill it halfway with water from the tank, cut a chunk of frozen mysis off, put it in the glass until it thaws, then pour it in the tank. sometimes the clownfish bites the glass haha.

[michael7979]

I take the frozen food and place it in a cup with filtered water. Let it thaw and then dump out the water, then refill with a little water and break up the food some more if needed, and dump all that into the tank.

[gqsmoothster]

Just curious if you all do spot feeding with Mysis or does the circulation provide adequate delivery to your corals/anemones?I use a plastic Taco Bell cup that I add the frozen cube to. I then add about 2 tbsp of tankwater to the cup and elt it sit for about an hour. I've been trying to use a turkey baster to feed my new LPS and mushrooms but they can't hold on to the mysis. They seem interested at first, but just let everything go. The fish run around and catch all the tidbits left over.

[Penguin]

I put a few drops of Selcon or Zoecon on the frozen cube and let it thaw out in a cup for 10-15 min. Then I use forceps to pick up clumps of mysis and drop them in the tank. The nutrient-laden liquid is left behind in the cup.

[Steven Pro]

A cup is filled with hot tap water .....

You really should not use hot tap water. It is better to allow the food to defrost in the air or in room temperature water. Hot water could breakdown some of the vitamins.

[Reefland]

I didn't realize that, thanks for the tip!

[rayjay]

I don't have a problem putting in the whole shooting match. As a matter of fact, when I used to rinse the frozen foods, I once dumped the fluid into the tank just for the hell of it, and man, what a reaction from some of the corals, especially the polyp type like on leathers and brown sea rod. Now I put juice and all in.
But then again, this is from a reefer who uses spirulina flake food as the primary food source for all the fish except the dwarf lion fish. (that includes my cleaner wrasses also who usually take a few months before they eat the flakes)
Ive been told that flake food and juices from frozen foods will cause massive unwanted algae problems, but, the only algae problems I seem to have are the green bubble algae, and that's as bad as combating aptasia.
(I use tap water and have no need of clean up crews either)

[inwall75]

I usually prefer my homemade mush but will occassionally use frozen foods like this. However, there is no way that I would put the juice into my tank. I soak it in RO/DI water, drain, soak in selco for a bit, redrain, and then feed my fish.

Polyphosphates are sprayed on seafood (as well as other meats) as a preservative. In addition, it prevents cellular damage that freezing causes and it helps the tissue retain water so when you pay $XYZ per pound, you pay more. RO/DI water is stripped so it kind of acts like a magnet and sucks the polyphosphates off.

My computer crashed so I no longer have my favorites. For those interested in further research, here's a google for you. http://www.google.com/search?q=polyp...n&start=0&sa=N (I'm pooped and don't want to dig through it right now).

[Elmo18]

Hey Curt! Nice to see you here!

welcome.

- Elmo

[inwall75]

Hey Curt! Nice to see you here!

welcome.

- Elmo

Thanks....I don't have time to hit the boards much these day. I happened on this board and thought I would post.

[Reefland]

Welcome to Reefland.com, inwall75! Thanks for giving us a Google, got a couple of their stocks to pass around too?

[inwall75]

Welcome to Reefland.com, inwall75! Thanks for giving us a Google, got a couple of their stocks to pass around too?

No such luck on the stocks.

However, here is some info on polyphosphates.

Phosphate in cured meats slow the loss of natural juices between slaughter and packaging. In seafood, phosphates control oxidation, retain color and prevent crystals of magnesium ammonium phosphate from forming on the fish or seafood.

http://www.wholefoods.com/healthinfo/phosphates.html

There's lot's of good info in this link (which requires Acrobat so I cannot post quotes). Page 18 actually shows that polyphosphates increases intracellular water. http://www.nfi.org/uploads/Lanier.PDF

Additionally, many types of seafood available at the grocery store have various inorganic phosphate salts intentionally added to them as preservatives. These foods include canned and frozen seafood, as evidenced by the label, and even some fresh seafood. In these cases, rinsing the food before using it may help reduce the phosphate load added to the tank.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...t2002/chem.htm

There's obviously a LOT more info on my original google. I just thought those were pretty good snippets.

Also wanted to mention that polyp extension of SPS or movement of polyps of softies is not a good way to judge a food. Show me a bannana-split and I'll salivate. That doesn't mean that it's a good thing for me. With SPS, their polyps move for many different reasons and it's hard to make any decision based on that.

[inwall75]

Extra post

[64Ivy]

I usually thaw my frozen foods in a cup full of tank water, then strain the stuff through a fishnet over the sink. Next, I actually squeeze out as much of the remaining liquid as I can by hand, then rinse the whole thing again with another cup of RO/DI water. If it's the morning feeding, I'll squeeze it out again, add some Selcon and garlic, then spoon it into the tank. If it's the evening feeding (I have quite a few Anthias), I do the same routine except I forego the additives, pour it in with tank water, then go get myself a Whopper with cheese.

Of course, I do wash my hands first. ;)

[Poseidon]

Guess I have some reading to do....

[John Hamilton]

I see that this is an old post but it did catch my attention. I do have a FOWLR so why not put the nutrients in?

[Poseidon]

You want Nutrients for the FISH and to some extent Corals, but NEVER the ALGAE! or AIPTASIA! If you overfeed, or dump in dissolved nutrients, the only things that can use them are nuisance critters!