How do you feed your Freeze-Dried cubes?

[Lennie]

Hey everyone,

Hope you are doing well!

 

Lately I'm having issues finding frozen food. I've been trying to find an appropriate way to feed freeze dried food (I have daphnia and tubifex on hand), however, whatever I try, a good amount of portion keeps floating and never sinks. 

All fish I have likes eating either in the middle or on the bottom of the tank. So anything floats that remains untouched and mostly I have to clean the leftovers and it is painful.

Things I've tried:

- Soaking the cube in a small cup for some time and trying to make sure the worms get soaked as much as I can

- Cutting the cube into really small pieces before I soak them in a cup, worked better than whole cube, but still not very well.

- Directly feeding it. It was the worst option for me

 

I watched videos and Cory's/Dean's recommendation about pressing the cube on the glass but my fish, especially rummynoses tend to overeat a lot, even frozen food, and they get really discomfortable afterwards. I can imagine overeating freeze dried food from the glass could lead to even a worse scenario as these food are really dry, as the name says it all.

 

What is your way to feeding freeze dried food without them floating on the surface? 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Lennie

[CJs Aquatics]

I’ve struggled with this same issue with many different freeze dried foods, still do to an extent. I use techniques you listed for the most part. It appears you have to squeeze the trapped air out of the cube to get it to sink or water log it enough so it’s weight makes it do so naturally. I’ve found that the worm feeder cone although it’s not perfect has also helped. You can use it on freeze dried foods, some will sink, some will still float however it really helps eliminate the mess and helps you to work on stubborn floating pieces. I haven’t found a full proof way as I like you haven’t had 100% success with the recommended methods however some of the tools listed have helped to some degree.

[Lennie]

 

On 2/28/2023 at 8:30 PM, CJs Aquatics said:

I’ve struggled with this same issue with many different freeze dried foods, still do to an extent. I use techniques you listed for the most part. It appears you have to squeeze the trapped air out of the cube to get it to sink or water log it enough so it’s weight makes it do so naturally. I’ve found that the worm feeder cone although it’s not perfect has also helped. You can use it on freeze dried foods, some will sink, some will still float however it really helps eliminate the mess and helps you to work on stubborn floating pieces. I haven’t found a full proof way as I like you haven’t had 100% success with the recommended methods however some of the tools listed have helped to some degree.

thanks CJ!

Most of my fish are bottom feeders so wormers wouldn't work much for me I bet 😞

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I haven’t done it personally, but you could glue the worm feeder cone to the outer ring, and then turn the cone upside down at the bottom of your tank. Since the cube wants to float, it will be trapped in the upside down cone, and being at the bottom of the tank your bottom feeders can pick at it through the cone. Just an idea!

[Johannes]

This is what i do for tubifex, first squeeze all the air out of the cube then take the cube out of the water then squeeze all the water out, then it will sink is my experience

[knee]

I squeeze them to the glass like the Sera O Nip tablets. They stick to them pretty well but you have to be quick cause when they're saturated with water they don't stick to the glass as good. 

 

[Lennie]

On 2/28/2023 at 9:13 PM, Johannes said:

This is what i do for tubifex, first squeeze all the air out of the cube then take the cube out of the water then squeeze all the water out, then it will sink is my experience

Thanks, I will give this one a try

 

On 2/28/2023 at 9:15 PM, knee said:

I squeeze them to the glass like the Sera O Nip tablets. They stick to them pretty well but you have to be quick cause when they're saturated with water they don't stick to the glass as good. 

I'm worried it causing any bloating issues this way as they take lots of time to soak water meanwhile fish directly eat it dry. Ever experienced anything like that so far?

On 2/28/2023 at 8:47 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I haven’t done it personally, but you could glue the worm feeder cone to the outer ring, and then turn the cone upside down at the bottom of your tank. Since the cube wants to float, it will be trapped in the upside down cone, and being at the bottom of the tank your bottom feeders can pick at it through the cone. Just an idea!

My L199 is the shyest boy ever. On other tanks, Mystery snails would not easily let anyone else come closer to the cone I bet! 😄 But I'm gonna get one cone and give it a try when it is back to stock on my LFS!

Edited February 28, 2023 by Lennie

[Ninjoma]

With hikari freeze dried brine shrimp and spirulina brine shrimp, I crush the cubes with my fingers, so they turn into crumbs/ powder and then my HOB blows them around and they get mixed into the middle of the water. 

With the ACO tubifex worms, I hold the cubes with my tweezers in the middle of the tank and shake it back and forth until all the worms separate out. 

[knee]

On 2/28/2023 at 10:20 AM, Lennie said:

I'm worried it causing any bloating issues this way as they take lots of time to soak water meanwhile fish directly eat it dry. Ever experienced anything like that so far?

I haven't because when I feed freeze dried, that's the only thing I feed for the day. They might get some flakes an hour before lights off but not all the time.

Also, when I squeeze it to stick to the glass it also pushes the air out and saturates it with water. 

[Lennie]

Well, I’ve tried all the recommendations above and sadly none worked for me.

so I wanted to update something I’ve tried today and it worked wonders.

I cut the cubes in much smaller pieces with a knife, then soaked them in the water by constantly trying to squish them with a tweezer. When they were soaked enough, I’ve stirred it all for a couple minutes like a soup🤣 

surprisingly, i have only very little floating on top and they were easily pushed down by hob. They used to sit on top for ages.

Maybe it helps anyone. Definitely my nee way to feed it, also prevents bloating issue on a good degree from what I observed!

[Tanked]

I haven't used freeze dried food for awhile.  When I did, I sandwiched the food between two shot glasses full of water until they absorbed enough water to sink.

[Lennie]

On 3/12/2023 at 8:46 PM, Pepere said:

I use a fork and shred acube up and let it soak in water in a pyrex custard cup for about half an hour or so and stir it up.

 

I pour the slurry in the tank and it behaves like baby brine shrimp other than the fact the food doesnt wiggle…

Very similar to what I had  success with! Fish def loved it in this way. I agree

I just didn't wait that much but stirred a lot 😄