Frozen foods?

[William Lynch]

I have a 20 gallon long with 4 juvenile guppies and 10 cherry shrimp that I am currently trying to grow up. I want to feed them frozen foods to help promote their growth. I have frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp but my gut is telling me that a full cube is too much for one feeding. What would you reccomend? Thanks!

 

[JettsPapa]

I've seen frozen blood worms in sheets instead of cubes.  If you look around you might be able to find those instead of the cubes, and you could break off small amounts.

By the way, you may already know this, but juvenile guppies will have trouble with whole blood worms.  You will need to cut them into small pieces.  For shrimp it won't be a problem since they'll just tear off little bits at a time.

[William Lynch]

On 11/11/2021 at 1:45 PM, JettsPapa said:

I've seen frozen blood worms in sheets instead of cubes.  If you look around you might be able to find those instead of the cubes, and you could break off small amounts.

By the way, you may already know this, but juvenile guppies will have trouble with whole blood worms.  You will need to cut them into small pieces.  For shrimp it won't be a problem since they'll just tear off little bits at a time.

Interesting, I actually never knew that about the bloodworms. I only have the cubes which I don't mind chopping up but it may just be best to wait until they're bigger. Is the issue that the guppies have trouble digesting the whole worms or can they get it stuck in their mouths?

[Atitagain]

Something I learned from @Guppysnailtake the cube to a cheese grater. Those usually have different ways easily could do fine dusty on some of them. Juveniles would love it shrimp as well.

To encounter Set of 5 Cheese Grater & Peeler,Lemon Zester, Stainless Steel Multi-purpose Kitchen Food Grater Slicer for Vegetable, Fruit, Chocolate With Cleaning Brush (Green) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FY571KQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_Y9NMX773C1ATCWFY78Q1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

lemon zester would work great!

Edited November 11, 2021 by Atitagain
Added link

[William Lynch]

On 11/11/2021 at 2:44 PM, Atitagain said:

Something I learned from @Guppysnailtake the cube to a cheese grater. Those usually have different ways easily could do fine dusty on some of them. Juveniles would love it shrimp as well.

cool idea.... might have to give that a go

[JettsPapa]

On 11/11/2021 at 2:50 PM, William Lynch said:

. . . Is the issue that the guppies have trouble digesting the whole worms or can they get it stuck in their mouths?

They're just too big.  A single blood worm can be as long as a juvenile guppy.

[Ken]

I slice thin strips off the frozen cubes with a single edge razor blade then put the cube back in a baggy in the freezer.

[William Lynch]

On 11/11/2021 at 3:44 PM, Ken said:

I slice thin strips off the frozen cubes with a single edge razor blade then put the cube back in a baggy in the freezer.

Thanks for the tip. How do you determine how much to feed? I believe that I've heard before that the fastest growth for fry comes when there is a continuous supply of food for them to graze upon as desired but how do you balance that with overfeeding or underfeeding?

[Guppysnail]

I use a knife and slice but I also use cheese graters like @Atitagain mentioned. To keep pristine water in grow out tanks I rinse through an artemia sieve. My guppies also love frozen my sis shrimp ground up. 

[Ken]

On 11/11/2021 at 3:50 PM, William Lynch said:

Thanks for the tip. How do you determine how much to feed? I believe that I've heard before that the fastest growth for fry comes when there is a continuous supply of food for them to graze upon as desired but how do you balance that with overfeeding or underfeeding?

I'm not the best person to ask, I overfeed the heck out of everything and have the snails and shrimp to prove it. Keep an eye on the water and adjust feeding down if it gets bad more quickly than you want to change it. I end up doing weekly 30%-50% changes because of my overfeeding habits. 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/pages/water-changes

[William Lynch]

On 11/11/2021 at 4:18 PM, Ken said:

I'm not the best person to ask, I overfeed the heck out of everything and have the snails and shrimp to prove it. Keep an eye on the water and adjust feeding down if it gets bad more quickly than you want to change it. I end up doing weekly 30%-50% changes because of my overfeeding habits. 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/pages/water-changes

You and I sound quite similar lol. I am currently facing a losing battle against my water quality but my plants and shrimp do not seem to be wanting to help out! I'm doing every other day 30% water change to get back on top of it though. Thankfully I haven't noticed any issues or odd behaviors out of the tanks inhabitants.