Thawing frozen food -- do you use RODI or saltwater?

[mike550]

Hello! Wondering how people thaw their frozen food before feeding their fish. I've been using "fresh" saltwater, but also heard someplace that thawing food with RODI is better for the fish because it helps with maintaining their own internal salt balance which is lower than saltwater. I suppose it's a similar question if you hydrate pellet food too.

Thanks in advance.

 

[rwreef]

I use tank water and thaw, then dump thru net...sometimes i just dump it in.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Saltwater. I guess it could work if you're really trying to rehydrate a fish, but typically when I've thawed in RODI, it tends to make the food float more and get sucked down the overflow. So now it's just thawing in saltwater.

 

[sp1187]

tank water. I feed using a turkey baster and spot feed my nems. don't know how they would like a squirt of RODI.

 

[Cell]

You are probably overthinking this one. I put frozen cubes in a cup and set them on top of the tank to thaw sans additional water. Some cubes, like PE mysis already have too much liquid that I like to drain before feeding.

 

[NanoReefs]

I use tank water.

 

[BlennyTime]

You are probably overthinking this one. I put frozen cubes in a cup and set them on top of the tank to thaw sans additional water. Some cubes, like PE mysis already have too much liquid that I like to drain before feeding.

I do the same with PE mysis, my fish are fine with it.

 

[mike550]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts! Much appreciated.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I personally use the Innovative Marine defroster cup. https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/aquarium-supplies/gourmet-defroster-pro/ I used to use a mini "red solo cup shot glass" to defrost with tank water and pour it in but this thing makes it a lot simpler~ Shaun K

 

[FangsAndGames]

I use tap water, probably not a good idea

 

[DaneGer21]

I use a mini strainer. I toss all my frozen cubes in it and thaw under tap water rinsing any preservatives off. Then I take about a half cup of tank water to rinse the thawed food and strainer of tap water. Then into the tank it goes.

 

[Homebrewer]

Going on 15 years with tap. Thaw with mini strainer inside a small cup. After thawed, dump out the thaw-water, rinse food in strainer under the sink (leaving nothing but food in strainer) ... dip the strainer into the tank to feed the food.

 

[TheGreatBarrioReef]

I don’t thaw at all. Just stop all pumps grab some tweezers and wave the frozen cube in the tank back and forth.

 

[Tastee]

RODI here. As long as your tap water is not stupidly high in TDS or has Chloramines it’s unlikely to cause an issue either, particularly for larger tanks. Do the math - introducing 10 ml of water into a 250+ litre tank is not going to raise anything to a detectable level. Even over time. Maybe a concern for zero WC folk. Maybe.

If you have RODI on hand however why not use it.

I use tank water when I feed Reef Roids for the reason mentioned above - SW is heavier than FW so using tank water helps the RR sink, which is what I want. For fish food however floating is good as it means the food stays in the water column longer. My return is off during feeding so that isn’t an issue for me.

 

[homer1475]

I just thaw the cubes with a swishing action in the tank between my fingers.

All you people that are thawing and discarding the "juice", you do realize your just throwing away coral food? Then you buy "coral food", yet you throw it away every time you discard the "juice" from the frozen. I have to LOL on that one.

Plenty of studies that show the small amount of "juice" left in frozen has no significant impact on nutrient levels in the tank, and yet people continue to thaw and discard any of the "juice", and only feed the main ingredients.

 

[ReefPig]

I defrost enough food to last about 7 days, and put it in a food squirt bottle (normally for sauces), this keeps perfectly well in the fridge. Even after a week, it still smells fresh.
I defrost it in RO, drain most of the water away (but not all) and top it back up to around 200ml, including the food. I like to keep some of the juice, as my tank is moderately stocked, when it grows out, I’ll likely stop draining it.

 

[scdigby]

i have always used tank water.

 

[ScottR]

I’ve always used tank water. But sometimes I’ll throw the cube (Mysis or krill) in frozen. The aggressive eaters have a slower time getting to the food and allows the more finicky/shy ones a chance to come out and get a bite. But if I’m feeding something like LRS, I thaw in tank water first.

 

[Zionas]

Don’t mean to derail the thread, but how many of you feed frozen food as a staple over pellets and flakes? I heard pellets are more nutritious than frozen foods but I could be wrong.

 

[Zionas]

How do you get LRS if you’re in Hong Kong? Which foods (Frozen, flakes or pellets) do you generally source locally?