Anyone still feed freeze dried brine shrimp cubes...

[Magnum Man]

my fish get a really good variety of packaged foods... I've tried doing a few live foods, but I just don't have the time, & frozen foods are not available locally...

"Studies have shown that freeze-dried foods often retain over 90% of the original fresh food's nutrition, much more than other drying techniques (air-drying, heat-drying) which usually damage micronutrients and phytonutrients"

... by far, the crowd favorite, & I buy some of the best packaged foods I can find, is the freeze dried brine shrimp cubes... literally every tank does the happy dance, when I crush up a cube or 2 to granule size... these are fed as treats, maybe 1 feeding per day, one day per week

Vampire approves...

 

[Back in the fold]

My three least favorite words in the English language - “studies have shown.”
Always go by your own personal observations . I’ve never liked freeze dried foods but only because they appear so lifeless and stale but if your fish relish them then feed them the stuff . Another drawback to freeze dried is that it won’t sink but a guy could reconstitute it by soaking first . I don’t like frozen foods anymore either . The frozen brine shrimp you get these days just ain’t right . It stinks ! It used to smell good . I’m feeding very little prepared foods to my fish , mostly live foods , Grindal Worms , wingless fruit flies and freshly hatched baby brine shrimp . I’m retired and have all the time in the world but not everyone has that advantage so most people feed store bought fish food . I like what you say about the aquarium doing a little happy dance when you feed . In the end that’s what matters most , that the fish like it and that they eat it .

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

The freeze-dried brine shrimp stink although I didn't mind the daphnia so much

 

[Back in the fold]

The freeze-dried brine shrimp stink although I didn't mind the daphnia so much

Some fish food does stink but some smell really good in a weird way . I like to take a deep inhaling hit off a brand new can of Tetra Min Flakes . Heaven !

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Some fish food does stink but some smell really good in a weird way . I like to take a deep inhaling hit off a brand new can of Tetra Min Flakes . Heaven !

Ewwwww!

 

[Magnum Man]

... & really what are Tubiflex worms??? Freeze dried Tubiflex are also treats... those don't really have a smell the way the brine shrimp do...my Apistogramma's just love those

I bought a pretty big can of daphnia... no one will eat those???

 

[Back in the fold]

Ewwwww!

Then there’s the fruit fly cultures . At first the medium smells like fresh bread but after a couple weeks it smells like a wet diaper that’s been sitting in the sun . It smells bad but I can’t help myself - I just have to have another whiff . Kind of like looking at the aftermath of a car wreck . You HAVE to look .

 

[Back in the fold]

... & really what are Tubiflex worms??? Freeze dried Tubiflex are also treats... those don't really have a smell the way the brine shrimp do...my Apistogramma's just love those

Tubifex are a type of detritus worm . Sometimes you will find a pet shop that sells live tubifex and if you do then get some and watch your fish go totally ape .

 

[Magnum Man]

I'd want to like your dirty diaper post... but something seems just wrong in that post

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Then there’s the fruit fly cultures . At first the medium smells like fresh bread but after a couple weeks it smells like a wet diaper that’s been sitting in the sun . It smells bad but I can’t help myself - I just have to have another whiff . Kind of like looking at the aftermath of a car wreck . You HAVE to look .

Oh jeepers all sorts of wrong!

 

[GaryE]

Freeze dried tubifex are something I should try again. They used to sell black mosquito larvae too, but that seems to have vanished, probably for a good reason.

I find freeze dried daphnia to be not much more than shell, and the same for brine shrimp. With freeze dried bloodworms, I find my allergy to the food really intensified as there's a risk of inhaling some of that powder.

 

[Magnum Man]

With breaking up the brine shrimp cubes ( I just roll them in my fingers, they are crispy ) usually the filters make it "snow globe" in the tank, or if they stay on top, & slowly sink, in a calmer tank... I do also feed freeze dried bloodworms the ones I got last time, came in a big container, & they are huge, they look like dried pleco poop... 1st bloodworms I tried, were in a little Tetra can & they were almost powder... my fish like them, but not as much as other freeze dried foods listed here...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have been feeding my fish frozen foods for a couple of decades. I have never bought them from a retail store. I buy them online shopped to me. But, I keep more tanks and fish than many, so I am able to order 10-12 pounds at a time. Most vendors who sell frozen charge a fixed overnight shipping charge so it is the same whether one buys an ounce or 50 pounds.

I am really allergic to blood worms. So while I buy the slabs of most foods when available, I have to get blood worms in the cubes, I wear latex gloves when I have to feed these.

For years frozen foods were shipped sing cold packs. During my suppliers switched to dry ice. During the pandemic when vaccines hade to shipped kept very cold, it was a lot harder to get dry ice.

Because I feed a lot of plecos, loaches and even some corys, I stopped using freeze dried as it does not sink easily.

 

[Back in the fold]

I'd want to like your dirty diaper post... but something seems just wrong in that post

Okay , yeah , I get you on that but we are in a hobby that is entirely organic and the smell of things can tell you a lot and can alert you to something wrong . I smell my water and my filters on water change day and I smell my food cultures every time I feed . Sometimes you smell something that is not agreeable and that is your signal to investigate . The big plus is that I can take a sample to the Mrs. for her olfactory edification and delight myself in her displeasure.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Okay , yeah , I get you on that but we are in a hobby that is entirely organic and the smell of things can tell you a lot and can alert you to something wrong . I smell my water and my filters on water change day and I smell my food cultures every time I feed . Sometimes you smell something that is not agreeable and that is your signal to investigate . The big plus is that I can take a sample to the Mrs. for her olfactory edification and delight myself in her displeasure.

you may be right but you're still wrong