Rinsing Frozen Food

[Cap'n]

In a recent post it was mentioned that you should always rinse frozen food. I believe it is because of the oils and extras that would accumulate in the water portion.

Can you please provide more details why I should rinse and the preferred methods?

Thanks

[Aquattro]

I rinse to remove any blood or other juices that will contain phosphate. I use a plastic seive and run it under the tap.

[EmilyB]

I thaw mine in tank water and drain in a small net. I should probably rinse it more depending on what I feed. I don't rinse my homemade food.

[Cap'n]

I thaw mine in tank water, thought that would be better than untreated tap water.

So I guess I could just get a small, plastic strainer and rinse a couple times with more tank water after it thaws.

Does it make a noticable difference in water quality?

[Doug]

I use a brine shrimp net.

[AJ_77]

From Mysis.com, a tip from a zealous food-thawer:

http://www.mysis.com/popup.html

Sounds like work... If I'm inclined, I run it under the RO spigot for a few seconds until the cube breaks up. Otherwise, I put a piece on a spoon for about 5 minutes. Done - nicely thawed.

As for the juices, it has been debated whether or not they have some value. Were there any conclusions on this?

[Doug]

Originally Posted by AJ_77

As for the juices, it has been debated whether or not they have some value. Were there any conclusions on this?

I often wonder about that also Alan. The juice looks like good coral food to me. As good as some of the crap we try feed our corals.

[AJ_77]

I tend to agree, Doug... wish I could remember where I read about this...
Maybe OFR is setting in early?

NEwayz, if I get a nice thaw where the individual pieces are looking good without too much sluice, it's all good - in it goes!

Would be good to have some data about the potential nutrient-vs-phosphate trade-off, though.

[powerreef]

Most frozen foods use perservatives to keep the food viable while being frozen. On natural made food (blender type mush) the seafood that we buy from the store has already been sprayed with a phosphate based product to enhance color and retain moisture. When rincing your frozen food it is best to rince it in ro/di water (striped down) this allows for more of the P to be drawn out, then toss the rince water out and feed the balance.
I am sure that a small ammount of good is lost in the process, but the removal of so much nutrients for me anyway is definately worth it. As per its value as a food source for corals I would imagine it might be, but when one conciders that virtually all corals eat detritus and waste (which we all seem to have to much of already) I dont see the need to add another food source to an already nutrient laidened enviroment.

Just some thoughts


Mike

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by powerreef

When rincing your frozen food it is best to rince it in ro/di water then toss the rince water out and feed the balance.

Mike

thats my method

Steve