Should I Defrost Frozen Food or can I feed it Frozen?

[Yanni]

I've seen some videos where people will defrost their cube of frozen food and was wondering if there is a benefit to defrosting food or if I can just drop a frozen cube in without worrying? 

[LiorM]

Do you like to eat frozen food, wouldn't you prefer it to be nice and at least room temp? 🙂
But in all seriousness, fish don't generally feed on frozen food , even captive raised, so I would suggest to defrost

[FishyJames]

I feed it both ways.

[Lowells Fish Lab]

There isn't something inherently wrong with dropping in a frozen cube. Fish will grab the bits that fall off as it melts. For mid-water feeding fish, having a steady trickle of slowly sinking foods can be a great thing. 

I often use frozen food for fish that wouldn't eat a whole cube. In those cases I thaw the cube into a small container with added water and then use a pipette to draw some out and feed it over a couple of days. During that time it would be fine in the fridge.

[Stash Beardsley]

I've done both. Either way seemed about the same to me. Food was eaten in the end. I mostly thaw it in little containers these days and then feed. Works well that way to feed multiple tanks the same chunk of food.

[Hobbit]

I just throw the frozen food in as-is. It melts pretty fast and the fish gobble it up.

[Nordlys Fish Room]

I feed it both ways, but usually I thaw it so it disperses quickly and and fish all around the tank (especially fish that feed off the bottom) have a chance to get some. 

[AJE]

I live it going in frozen or slightly thawed more, it gives the fish a slow trickle of food and lets them peck at it for more time

[Emika_B]

I've done frozen baby brine shrimp in frozen cube form and I love how it melts slowly enough to just float mid-water.  Of course, I turn off the filter when I feed frozen food just so it has a chance to melt and float, not be blown to the far side and down to the substrate.

I've not had the same result with frozen brine cubes, though.  They pretty much just float, thaw and fall straight down.  Haven't tried other frozen things yet.  Maybe it depends on what you're feeding - worms vs brine shrimp vs tiny (baby brine or cyclops)?

[dorsalfin]

Yeah I don't think it matters too much. I tend to get a cup of tank water and let it defrost just so I can get the tetras feeding on one side and spot feed my dwarf cichlids.