Freeze-dried foods

[Melody]

I don't think I've posted this one before...

Freeze-dried foods are recommended for pets and humans for many reasons. They retain a lot of the original nutritional content, shape, texture, smell, taste. Unlike most commerically prepared foods, they don't lose the majority of their nutritional content to processing.

During the freeze-drying process, fresh or cooked foods are first flash frozen when the food tastes its best. Moisture is then removed in a vacuum chamber, where a low-level heat is applied to evaporate the ice without returning it to a liquid form. Since the product remains frozen during the process, the product’s cell structures do not change, retaining the freshness, vitamins, nutrients, colors, and aromas of the fresh foods while offering you the shelf-stable convenience of long-term storage. ~ Emergency Essentials

I'm a big fan of freeze-dried foods and the traditional dehydrated foods. Not only are they a nutritious choice, they're also fantastic for conditioning, growth and soaking (vitamins or meds), and they're convenient to boot. Two of the best things about them, as opposed to fresh foods, is the eliminated risk of disease introduction and of course, the incredible shelf life.

I use freeze-dried foods in my homemade foods along with fresh foods, simply because it allows me to add variety (LIKE I'm going to go out and collect slimey ol' earthworms!), and of course, because they're good sources of nutrients/protein. I also feed the freeze-dried foods directly, although not as often.

The freeze-dried foods I use most are Earthworms, Krill, Tubifex worms, Mysis, Daphnia (great for the digestive system) and Gammarus.

Any faves or uses that you want to share?

[Katalyst]

I've only tried freeze dried blood worms :Eeewww: and no one would eat them. I don't believe I've ever tried it out with the snails though. And seeing how the snails are kinda like Mikey (Life Cereal Commercial, yes I'm carbon dating myself) and they eat everything maybe I'll use it up with them. I use mainly frozen foods instead which is getting a bit pricy so perhaps looking further into freeze drying is a good idea.

I'd be interested in knowing what brand you use and who you feed what to. I'm getting a little nervous about what to feed the contents of your box.

[Melody]

There are better quality freeze dried foods it seems - if you compare Top Fin Bloodworms, which is a store generic and ... sorry, can't remember the brand but one of the major ones, you'll see that the major brand has a higher protein content. Maybe that's the quality of the food to begin with, how its stored and what the exact method of freeze-drying is.

That said, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a really aweful quality, like you can with commercial blend foods. Its pure food and the process has been proven to retain vitamins for 25 years when stored properly. I would guess that the thoroughness and efficiency of the respective freeze-drying methods would be the key, but I'm not sure.

Most creatures love bloodworms and mine did too, but I'm alergic to them and there's the digestive issues that come up. Never saw that with mine, so maybe its just the fish that are more prone to it.

As for what I'm sending, no worries there, they're fed everything that is of good quality so they're used to variety. I like feeding homemade foods but they don't live on that by a long shot - who has time for that? lol Its alternated with Omega One products at the moment, as I'm out of Dainichi again. They like Uncle Rick's food but it sinks so fast that I only feed a few pellets so none hits the bottom. Some still don't seem crazy about any pellet form food - too hard maybe, since most of my fish don't have much for teeth. They also get seaweed reasonably often. Otherwise I feed a lot of peas, softened, pealed & quartered, because everything from fish to snails to shrimp love them. They also like ripping into blanched Romaine or Swiss Chard. Garlic is very big in my house.

My fish aren't difficult to feed at all - very opportunistic feeders, so I'm sure they'll do well for you. They need their veggies and that's about the only special consideration.

The freeze-dried brands I use are Fishalicious Krill and Hikari for the most part, but I also have freeze-dried Earthworms from Ken's Fish. I think the Mysis is Nutrafin, but I can only use that in homemade foods as its too tough for my fish to eat from the bottle. Same goes for the Earthworms for the most part.

[KnaveTO]

I don't feed my guys any freeze dried foods. they do get frozen brine shrimp and daphnia at least twice a week though.

[Melody]

I use the frozen stuff a lot too :smile: .

Kat - a sample of Tubifex & Krill is going into your box. No sense in buying it only to find out they don't like it. The Krill will do wonders for red shades. However, feed it sparingly - Krill fouls tanks in record time. Its BC Krill in fact, so tell your fishies its a BC treat just for them. ::D:

[Katalyst]

I use the frozen stuff a lot too :smile: .

Kat - a sample of Tubifex & Krill is going into your box. No sense in buying it only to find out they don't like it. The Krill will do wonders for red shades. However, feed it sparingly - Krill fouls tanks in record time. Its BC Krill in fact, so tell your fishies its a BC treat just for them. ::D:

Awww thanks! Well here I was taking your advice and not feeding the bloodworms, the SBD guys have been moved into their own tank. Its a lot easier to change a 30 gallon 3 times a week then it is the big tank. Less nitrates, less floaty. I'm fasting them for 2 days then I do the pea's etc. This morning to my horror they were both tipping and there's the husbo with a cup full of bloodworms standing over the tank! I so despise when he feeds them because its never what I intend to give them, but him not knowing they have a schedule, I shrugged it off. So I bit my tongue, just about in half and smiled and said thanks. Said frozen bloodworms will be dissapearing shortly. Gah! Long story short, thanks for the heads up I had no idea they could be binding, the snails are feasting this very moment. :laugh:

[Melody]

Ah the best of intentions - killing them with kindness. That is SO hard to resist, I can relate to his dilema. At least you know now that it isn't genetics.

[Katalyst]

:thumbup: The krill you sent me was a huge hit, corys & swords went nuts for it. I'm converted. Allthough I don't like touching it lol.

[ChrissyFishy]

My fish like krill too and the next favorite is probably bloodworms.