MrZ2u Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 (edited) In my battle against the GHA outbreak of late I had cause to examine some of my daily habits and how they might be contributing to the phosphate and nitrate that was clearly fueling this issue at least at some level. The API kits show neither in any measurable amount which could mean that its all being consumed by the GHA so it seems that it is clearly there at some level and point. Feeding the fish is without a doubt a source so I had cut back on that a bit. I alternate between NewLife Spectrum and Omega one pellets only and I was looking for one of those little floating rings all over town with no luck. Last stop was Aquadome before I resorted to the box stores. It was at Petco where I got turned on to the idea of frozen to control the nutrients. Fella there said that what they do at his store because he is in charge and its what he does at home… thaw it out, rinse it well with RO water and feed. The rinse he claimed removed a lot of the nitrates/phosphates that would be there if you just tossed the cube in as is...seems reasonable enough. I only have two small clowns, a Banggai and Pajama cardinal and a Filefish so I don’t need a whole frozen cube…in fact, one would last several days. If I could thaw and wash a whole tray of frozen whatever and make smaller cubes that would be awesome. This method sounds like a small hassle it sounded like so I thought I might try a variation on that and see how it works. So, to do that I found these and they are I think just about perfect, they are silicone so it should be easy to get the cubes out and the three of them were like $11 on Amazon. They can be had cheaper but this was the best value on prime and I am not in the mood to wait on shipping out of China. One tray holds about 4oz of liquid and each cube is looks like a little less than centimeter cubed…or, in my case, one feeding. This is the first experiment with this process so this is two rows from each container seen above. I will wrap this in foil cause, yeah, its not a smell I want in the freezer. In a couple hours I will see how this works out and post a picture of the results Edited February 6, 2019 by MrZ2u Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddius-maximus Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 That is a super cool find! Perfect for your application. Another thing you could try is making your own food - I'm not sure what additives are in the cubes we all use but there's definitely something. I goto HEB and grab a half pound of mussels, oysters, shrimp, scallops, random fish, toss them into a food processor and then smoosh into a thin layer in a ziplock bag and toss in freezer. The time it takes to thaw in saltwater is very different than the cubes which tells me extra ingredients are definitely added. One batch lasts me months and months - and that's feeding 18 fish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrZ2u Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Success! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrZ2u Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Dammit! I dont guess I really believed this was JUST my idea or that I was the Neil Armstrong of tiny cubes but I do like to live with the fantasy a few days before I find someone elses flag on the moon! Same **** trays even!!! But I paid half what they did so I win! https://reefhacks.com/rods-food-frozen-cubes/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merman Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Good call on rinsing your frozen food. Probably the easiest way to reduce the amount of nitrate/phosphate you are adding to the tank. Another option is rinsing right before feeding. Add a little bit of water to a plastic container along with some frozen food (enough for a week or so) and store it in the fridge. Whenever you feed just strain out the juice before adding food to the tank. A tea strainer works well. Something you might consider if making your own cubes becomes too laborious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrZ2u Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 11 minutes ago, Merman said: Another option is rinsing right before feeding. Add a little bit of water to a plastic container along with some frozen food (enough for a week or so) and store it in the fridge. Whenever you feed just strain out the juice before adding food to the tank. A tea strainer works well. Something you might consider if making your own cubes becomes too laborious. Thats sorta how I was doing it honestly. I had an amount thawed and rinsed in the fridge and I was feeding from that. I kinda question how long it will "keep" thawed out like that. I realize I was applying human metrics with that thinking but at some point it is a real question even for fish...plus, decomposing organic material and what it becomes and all of a sudden we are back at adding things we were trying to avoid. There is another element to this and that is when its not ME doing the feeding. Having the tiny cubes in the freezer means the instructions are simple for the kids/wife. Right now apart from a plethora of GSP this is a FOWLR tank for several reasons. It is not my intention for it to stay that way and I do want to put corals back in there in the near future. Having cubes with something for the fish and something for the corals is kind of a two-for proposition in some ways. Add to that, just about any hobby I have is partly because of the DIY element. This in a way adds a little element of that with the process of taking something "off the shelf" and modding it to my needs...though, sometimes that loses its appeal so the last line above is considered for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 BRS has a good video on feeding. I’ll see if I can find it. They suggest not rinsing. The tiny particles you’re ringing down the sink are the ones small enough for the corals to eat. He said when the companies manufacture the food, it’s already rinsed and clean, so no need to again. BTW, How do you rinse a mysis cube? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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