Rod's Food

[ssick92]

Hey everyone,

So I have been switching between feeding mysis and rod's food, but I have a question.

When I keep Rod's food in the freezer, I have it in 2 ziploc bags, but the frost from the freezer still ends up covering the Rod's Food. Is this adding phosphates to my tank every time I mix up some food for the tank?

Is it possible to pre-mix the rods food and keep it in a bottle in the fridge, or do I HAVE to keep it in the freezer until I'm ready to feed? A ready-made bottle of Rod's Food that I could keep ready to feed would be very convenient for me, as I have different feeding times every day.

The main reason I ask is I still have some algae problems but I can't figure out the source of my phosphates, and this just dawned on me.

 

[d2mini]

I defrost a few days worth at a time, no problem.
Think of it like any other frozen food for human consumption... once thawed it has a shelf life of several days.

 

[greg1786]

Im have been a chef for ten years so i deal with frozen food all the time. A good way to keep it from getting frost on it which will eventually become freezer burn is towrap it in plastic wrap tightly with several coatings and then double bag it. Also make sure your zip lock bags are "freezer" bags. They are much havier than standard zip lock bags

 

[ssick92]

Im have been a chef for ten years so i deal with frozen food all the time. A good way to keep it from getting frost on it which will eventually become freezer burn is towrap it in plastic wrap tightly with several coatings and then double bag it. Also make sure your zip lock bags are "freezer" bags. They are much havier than standard zip lock bags

Ya I'm definitely using freezer bags. I figured I just needed to wrap it more which sounds like the solution.

Sounds like I'll be defrosting 3-5 days at a time since I don't feel like unwrapping and rewrapping 5 layers of plastic every day haha

Should I mix it with RODI water or tank water for those 3 days its in my fridge? I'm thinking RODI

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[baldbean]

I used to use only freezer bags too until the gf bought me a freezer tupperware thing to put the food in. So now I place the food in the bag and then in the tupperware. So far so good, no freezer burn.

 

[SushiGirl]

Frost is just ice crystals, it doesn't create phosphates out of nothing.

 

[ssick92]

Frost is just ice crystals, it doesn't create phosphates out of nothing.

But in order to make ice crystals you need water, and the water in there isn't RODI, so wouldn't the TDS in the water be frozen into the ice crystals?

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[Mussin]

My frozen food gets ice build up on it all the time, never noticed any harm?

 

[jamesbaur13]

Are you straining the food?

I thaw my food in a cup and dump the contents into a very fine mesh net. From there (depending on the food) I'll either strain it again or I'll empty the contents of the net directly into the tank.

 

[ssick92]

Are you straining the food?

I thaw my food in a cup and dump the contents into a very fine mesh net. From there (depending on the food) I'll either strain it again or I'll empty the contents of the net directly into the tank.

No I have never strained it. The Rod's Food website says to not strain it because then you lose a lot of the particles of food that the corals love, such as the oyster eggs, etc.

 

[jamesbaur13]

I only use Rod's Fish Only food for my fish.

For SPS I'll target feed oyster feast and zoox

For LPS I'll target feed Mysis and Cyclopeze.

I do this via a Two Little Fishes Julian's Thing.

 

[ssick92]

I only use Rod's Fish Only food for my fish.

For SPS I'll target feed oyster feast and zoox

For LPS I'll target feed Mysis and Cyclopeze.

I do this via a Two Little Fishes Julian's Thing.

I used to do the EXACT same thing but my corals seemed to respond better to the Rods food. Although my alveopora is an exception and I feed him oyster feast once a week or so.

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[Yogre]

Don't rinse Rod's food, you'll lose the small foods that constitute the filter feeder food, this is per Rod's website.

The frost on your frozen food doesn't add PO4, it's nothing more than nearly pure water vapor which has condensed on your food.

I've been thawing out feed jars of Rod's in tank water and leaving them in the fridge for several days for my wife to feed the tank while I'm on the road for a couple of years now, with no ill affects. Sorry for the run-on sentence. :lol:

 

[KeithB]

But in order to make ice crystals you need water, and the water in there isn't RODI, so wouldn't the TDS in the water be frozen into the ice crystals?

If I may, the "ice crystals" form from condensation. Condensation is a result of wator vapor cooling and becoming liquid again. Water, in its vapor form, should have a TDS of 0. As a result, the "Ice Crystals" should not be introducing any other elements (including phosphate) to your food.

*edit* Doh. Yogre beet me to it.

 

[ssick92]

Good to know, thanks everyone!

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