do frozen shrimp go bad

[reef tank 2.0]

I bought a bag of frozen shrimp from the grocery store. I thaw a small piece of shrimp and cut it up for my star fish.
I cut a small piece off while frozen. place the rest of the shrimp back in a bag and back into the freezer. nothing is thawed and re-frozen.

I notice the star fish doesn't take the pieces much anymore. he takes them, then releases it.

I'm not sure if the shrimp can go bad, but It is constantly covered with ice crystals. I have tried freezer zip loc bags, I have doubled up the bags and I can't get the ice to stop forming. not sure if this has anything to do with the shrimp not being eaten by the star fish, but it certainly annoys me. I don't know how to fix the ice issue. not sure if the quality of shrimp is suffering because of it.

I have bought scallops, figured that would be more desirable since its softer, less rubbery meat. but get the same result there too.

not sure what other meat I could try to get the star fish to eat.

could the ice crystals destroy the shrimp quality?

 

[KrisReef]

Freezer burn dehydration and aging will make it taste funky and slight defrosting and re-freezing is not a healthy practice either.

Throw out the mess and get fresh shrimp from the store, chop them up and then put them in a ziplock. Press the shrimp into thin patties that can be opened and a meal sized chunk snapped off. Put the unused shrimp back in the freezer and thaw and serve the chunk.
I used cooked shrimp for this package but raw shrimp can also work if it’s fresh before you chop and freeze it.

 

[KrisReef]

I thought starfish were herbivores?

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I thought starfish were herbivores?

Nope. Some can be an herbivore, but really they're an omnivore. Most are carnivores though.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

i have slabs made just like you show. they are icy and dried out too.
maybe it's my freezer??

 

[reef tank 2.0]

how long can fresh shrimp stay in the refrigerator before going bad?

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

how long can fresh shrimp stay in the refrigerator before going bad?

Not long at all before it will smell disgusting. I'd say a few days but after a day it will smell horrible.

 

[AydenLincoln]

how long can fresh shrimp stay in the refrigerator before going bad?

For human consumption it has a shelf life of around 4-5 days once thawed this is the same for raw and cooked. Of course this can vary though. Fresh never frozen shrimp will have a shorter shelf life but most shrimp at a grocery store has been frozen at one point or another. And raw/cooked shrimp will smell like ammonia when it goes bad. This is usually extremely apparent after cooking it and sometimes prior but usually only after cooking will you get that pungent ammonia smell. Yes frozen shrimp can go bad both cooked and uncooked. And by going bad I mean it gets freezer burnt and the quality/taste is affected. If by going bad when frozen will feeding it to our fish be affected or get sick? No not really. But frozen shrimp doesn’t really go bad it just gets freezer burnt. How do I know this? Well because it’s kind of my job. Any other seafood questions? Or fish food questions related to our finned friends? I’m your gal!:)

 

[reef tank 2.0]

I guess my battle is with the freezer burn/ice crystals. If I can stop that, then maybe the shrimp would last longer.

Thoughts on vacuum sealing it after each use?

I do have an older fridge/freezer. I just checked the setting and saw that the freezer was set to max, rather than the normal/mid point. Would this add to the problem?

 

[AydenLincoln]

I guess my battle is with the freezer burn/ice crystals. If I can stop that, then maybe the shrimp would last longer.

Thoughts on vacuum sealing it after each use?

I do have an older fridge/freezer. I just checked the setting and saw that the freezer was set to max, rather than the normal/mid point. Would this add to the problem?

You could that. It may help! And yeah change it to mid not max! Max can cause freezer burn from any moisture on a food product and not just on your shrimp. You ideally want it to be at 0 degrees and no moisture or major fluctuation which are contributing factors to freezer burn.

 

[00W]

All good suggestions above and good points made.
I own a restaurant and have been in the industry almost 40 years.
Almost all if not all shrimp are IQF, individually quick frozen before they come to you mainly because of an incredibly short shelf life.
Only in certain areas close to the sea and at a fish market might you see fresh jumbo prawns or the like.
Thawing them in the fridge is the best way but once thawed they don't last long and will literally cook if left together too long.
Just add lime/lemon juice and viola, you have cheviche!
My point is they are delicate.
As @KrisReef is a great example.
Will freezer burn affect flavor?
For us most definitely.
For the fish, probably not.
My trigger eats year old freezer burnt scallops like candy.
Probably little nutrition left but a little selcon fixes that.
Just on a side note all my freezers at the restaurant are set to 5 degrees just to prevent the burn.
But it still happens anyways....

 

[reef tank 2.0]

still thinking more on this...

maybe, just maybe, the serpent sea star isn't hungry. I do attempt to feed him every night with the rest of the fish. He doesn't ever seem to leave his home, or if he does, he comes back to the same "cave" by morning. I'm guessing he doesn't leave. I mean, why would he, when he can get hand fed each night and he can sit nice and comfy in his home. normally, when he smells the food throughout the tank, he drops his arm out of his cave waiting for me to hold a piece of shrimp near by, which he then grabs it and draws it in. When I stop seeing him hold his arm/tentacle out, then I know he's had enough, or at least I hope he's eating it and not just letting it go. Some days, he doesn't even attempt to put his arm out. When that happens, I don't bother feeding him. I fear he will starve, i'm trying to avoid that, obviously.

maybe I'm just coming across days to where he is not hungry and it's not so much the quality of the food (shrimp). I do try scallops, but I still can't tell if he likes that. he seems to get more excited over shrimp. I'm still testing the scallops out. Don't feed them often. the serpent is my only hand fed critter i have. and the fish don;t ever touch shrimp / scallop pieces that are floating in the water column. I'm sure my hermits get what's at the bottom at some point. the hermits are not picky at all. they'll eat anything.

funny thing is. when my molly miller blenny sees me feeding the star fish, he comes over and waits near by for his small portion of shrimp/scallops. that started not too long ago. he takes it from my hand and he's off and happy. he still eats the fish food i provide each night. he's so fat :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes: .

i did buy a new batch of frozen shrimp tonight. with that, and the lowering of the freezer temperature to normal, I'll see if we have any change in quality of food and whether or not the star fish eats it. next on the to try list, is a vacuum bag system. As long as I can reuse the same bag over and over, and just worry about resealing it each time, then I should be good. That's the plan anyhow.

 

[robanister]

If it floats after 20 min sitting it's bad. What drops to bottom is good

 

[reef tank 2.0]

hmmmm, well, nothing floats in my tank. i have the gyre always running so everything goes with the flow. but the pieces i feed are sooo small. we're talking 1/4" maybe. if that.

 

[robanister]

hmmmm, well, nothing floats in my tank. i have the gyre always running so everything goes with the flow. but the pieces i feed are sooo small. we're talking 1/4" maybe. if that.

In a container of water sorry I wasn't clear

 

[JTP424]

Might be feeding him too often if it's daily?
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/feeding-serpent-star-how-much-how-often.792655/

 

[reef tank 2.0]

that could be the case. which is why i think he doesn't look for food each night. or if he does take it, he lets it go shortly after.

 

[Gudhjem]

For human consumption it has a shelf life of around 4-5 days once thawed this is the same for raw and cooked. Of course this can vary though. Fresh never frozen shrimp will have a shorter shelf life but most shrimp at a grocery store has been frozen at one point or another. And raw/cooked shrimp will smell like ammonia when it goes bad. This is usually extremely apparent after cooking it and sometimes prior but usually only after cooking will you get that pungent ammonia smell. Yes frozen shrimp can go bad both cooked and uncooked. And by going bad I mean it gets freezer burnt and the quality/taste is affected. If by going bad when frozen will feeding it to our fish be affected or get sick? No not really. But frozen shrimp doesn’t really go bad it just gets freezer burnt. How do I know this? Well because it’s kind of my job. Any other seafood questions? Or fish food questions related to our finned friends? I’m your gal!:)

Since your offering, what's your thinking on leaving thawed seafood in water in the refrigerator?

I usually keep frozen food, like mysis, in a patty in the freezer and break off a chunk, thaw it and feed it right away, like KrisReef suggests. It's a lot easier though, especially if I'm asking someone else to feed for me, to thaw several chucks in a squirt bottle filled with RODI, keep that in the refrigerator, and use it over the course of 4 or 5 days. The fish seem to go for it on Day 5 just as much as Day 1, but I stopped doing it because some folk thought I it was risking killing my fish. Does the 4-5 days you mention still apply if it's sitting in water?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Since your offering, what's your thinking on leaving thawed seafood in water in the refrigerator?

I usually keep frozen food, like mysis, in a patty in the freezer and break off a chunk, thaw it and feed it right away, like KrisReef suggests. It's a lot easier though, especially if I'm asking someone else to feed for me, to thaw several chucks in a squirt bottle filled with RODI, keep that in the refrigerator, and use it over the course of 4 or 5 days. The fish seem to go for it on Day 5 just as much as Day 1, but I stopped doing it because some folk thought I it was risking killing my fish. Does the 4-5 days you mention still apply if it's sitting in water?

Leaving thawed mysis or other types of frozen fish food is fine in the fridge for a few days. I do it sometimes too especially when I soak it in vitamins or plankton. I add a bit of water and the vitamins or phytoplankton and let it marinate in the fridge lol! If it smells fine and doesn’t smell rotten then I wouldn’t worry. Think of all the bad things our fish in the ocean eat/don’t eat as they may not eat for a few days at a time. Most of the frozen food we feed them is much cleaner and free of parasites compared to their natural diets.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

4 weeks later with a little update on this. I turned the freezer down to a normal range. I threw out the old bag of shrimp I had and bought a new. With the freezer down to a normal range, and the new bag of shrimp, I seem to have a lot less ice build up. The food I made does not have ice either. I expect some since it's in the freezer but so far, the quality of the frozen goods seem a lot better. Granted, it's only been roughly 4 weeks. we'll see how this turns out as time goes on.