How long is frozen Hikari food good for after thawed?

[tbone28]

I have frozen Hikari brine in cubes (no flat packs available at my LFS) that I am feeding to my nano tank that only has 3 fish (2 clowns and a PJ cardinal). One cube is too much. I thaw a cube in a cup filled with tank water and pour a small amount into the tank.

Will the food still be good if I refrigerate the leftovers? For how long?
What if I re-freeze?

 

[musaabi]

I would say at least three days. You can always smell check and if it starts to smell bad get rid of. But wouldn’t go longer than 3 days personally. Also try feeding 1 cube over a day so like 3 times a day and you’ll be good and your fish will love you

 

[Reef By Steele]

That is an issue. @Jay Hemdal told me only like one night. You can test to see how quickly it turns by testing ammonia in the water.

I take the cubes and cut in half or 1/4th’s with a heavy knife or chisel and put in freezer ziplock bags. Then take out what you need.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have frozen Hikari brine in cubes (no flat packs available at my LFS) that I am feeding to my nano tank that only has 3 fish (2 clowns and a PJ cardinal). One cube is too much. I thaw a cube in a cup filled with tank water and pour a small amount into the tank.

Will the food still be good if I refrigerate the leftovers? For how long?
What if I re-freeze?

Can you thaw it under refrigeration, not water? It’s good for 48 hours that way, some people even go 72 hours.

Jay

 

[JayM]

That is an issue. @Jay Hemdal told me only like one night. You can test to see how quickly it turns by testing ammonia in the water.

I take the cubes and cut in half or 1/4th’s with a heavy knife or chisel and put in freezer ziplock bags. Then take out what you need.

That's exactly what I do.

 

[tbone28]

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback. I'll give the thawing under refrigeration a try.

 

[ScottJ]

Try popping out all the cubes into a small zip lock bag, let them thaw just enough so you can flatten them out into a thin, flat sheet, then refreeze. You can then break off as much or as little as you want.

 

[tbone28]

Try popping out all the cubes into a small zip lock bag, let them thaw just enough so you can flatten them out into a thin, flat sheet, then refreeze. You can then break off as much or as little as you want.

That's a great idea!

 

[ILikeFish!]

Can you thaw it under refrigeration, not water? It’s good for 48 hours that way, some people even go 72 hours.

Jay

Ive been thawing my food with tank water since the beginning. Is that bad?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Ive been thawing my food with tank water since the beginning. Is that bad?

Yes - food should not be thawed in tank water. That rinses nutrients out of the food and it introduces bacteria from the water itself which can multiply if the food is not fed out right away.

Thawing in a refrigerator works. If you need to thaw it faster, put it in a plastic bag and hang that in water.

Jay

 

[Kathy Floyd]

Yes - food should not be thawed in tank water. That rinses nutrients out of the food and it introduces bacteria from the water itself which can multiply if the food is not fed out right away.

Thawing in a refrigerator works. If you need to thaw it faster, put it in a plastic bag and hang that in water.

Jay

Oops. I've been doing it that way too. Then I use a syringe to feed. So, just let it thaw in the refrigerator just by itself?

 

[ILikeFish!]

Yes - food should not be thawed in tank water. That rinses nutrients out of the food and it introduces bacteria from the water itself which can multiply if the food is not fed out right away.

Thawing in a refrigerator works. If you need to thaw it faster, put it in a plastic bag and hang that in water.

Jay

Can i just thaw the food outside the fridge and is it okay to feed the food while its still a little cold?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Can i just thaw the food outside the fridge and is it okay to feed the food while its still a little cold?

Air thawing is o.k., but you should then feed it all out at that time, don’t refreeze or refrigerate it to feed later.

I often toss frozen chunks of food in and let the fish to feed directly as it thaws, no issues from that.

Jay

 

[Nick711]

I try to only thaw what I will use same day. Usually thaw it in a small amount of Selcon (half ml) and refrigerate until ready to use. May add a small amount of RODI as well if I’m trying to thaw faster. Have not tested the boundaries too much but I’d be hesitant to let it go more than say 48h

 

[tbone28]

Yes - food should not be thawed in tank water. That rinses nutrients out of the food and it introduces bacteria from the water itself which can multiply if the food is not fed out right away.

Thawing in a refrigerator works. If you need to thaw it faster, put it in a plastic bag and hang that in water.

Jay

Interesting. I've been doing this for almost 2 decades. I'll thaw in some tank water and once thawed, I dump it all into the tank. I don't let it sit around. Am I still losing nutrients?

 

[JayM]

Interesting. I've been doing this for almost 2 decades. I'll thaw in some tank water and once thawed, I dump it all into the tank. I don't let it sit around. Am I still losing nutrients?

That’s my method as well. Couple of ounces in a specimen cup, drop in a cube, shake it up a bit after it’s thawed, and dump it in.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

My fish must have an iron gut. I thaw out enough flats to feed my fish for 10 days, sometimes closer to 2 weeks.

 

[littlefoxx]

I have frozen Hikari brine in cubes (no flat packs available at my LFS) that I am feeding to my nano tank that only has 3 fish (2 clowns and a PJ cardinal). One cube is too much. I thaw a cube in a cup filled with tank water and pour a small amount into the tank.

Will the food still be good if I refrigerate the leftovers? For how long?
What if I re-freeze?

I make my tanks food the night before for 3 servings, dinner, then lunch and dinner the next day and just put it in a cup in the fridge with tank water and use the next day if this helps!

 

[littlefoxx]

Yes - food should not be thawed in tank water. That rinses nutrients out of the food and it introduces bacteria from the water itself which can multiply if the food is not fed out right away.

Thawing in a refrigerator works. If you need to thaw it faster, put it in a plastic bag and hang that in water.

Jay

Oh I did not know that. What do you thaw your food in??

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Oh I did not know that. What do you thaw your food in??

Sorry? For small amounts of food, I just put the frozen food in plastic bag and place that in a cup of room temperature water. For larger amounts of food, I place it on a tray and let it thaw at room temperature for a bit (sometimes using a fan to speed things up). However, just like with human food, thawing in the refrigerator is best.

Jay