Freezing Feeders....

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B

BOTR

Candiru
MFK Member
May 5, 2006
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Ok, here's the scenario..... My Armatus absolutly is refusing to make the leap to Smelt, or Krill. So today I try to figure out if he will eat frozen feeders. Bam, takes them every time. He has eaten 6 so far in the last 10 minutes. I drop them in one at a time, and he takes them down. But I drop a Smelt in and no reaction at all. Even when using line to try to stimulate a response. So here is my question.....

Are frozen feeders safer to feed than live? Are they as "safe" as frozen Smelt? I would assume so, but Im not sure what survives freezing. I am thinking it would be nice to gut load a bunch of feeders with some good food, then freeze and feed. Im just not certain if freezing kills off all of the undesirables. Anyone else doing this? Any concerns of parasites, or bacteria surviving the freeze? Fungus?

Thanks,
Chris
 
No offense, but I understand that. Thats the point here. Do you have exp. with freezing feeders because a trouble fish will not take anything other than the feeders? I am trying to pick the brain of the community to see if freezing takes care of most of the issues with feeding feeders. I just dont know that there is much difference between a frozen Smelt/Silverside as opposed to a frozen goldfish.
 
I thought I read something similar to this a while back...

I remember someone saying feeders must be frozen for a week or so for the "Diseases" to die off... then I am assuming it would be the same as Smelt/Market Shrimp etc....

I could be wrong but I will try to find that post that is a couple years old
 
Freezing for at least 24 hours is a good idea as it kills some viruses, bacteria and parasites.
"Freezing and storing at -4°F (-20°C) or below for 7 days (total time), or freezing at -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at -31°F (-35°C) or below for 15 hours, or freezing at -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at -4°F (-20°C) or below for 24 hours is sufficient to kill parasites."
From:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceCom...ProductsHazardsandControlsGuide/ucm091704.htm
Also see
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/pests-diseases/reporting/submission
http://www.charkbait.com/article/RAPC2.htm
http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/PUBS/nematodes.htm
http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/199908/000019990899A0220710.php
 
There's something in gold fish that's undesireable that freezing won't fix. Not sure what the exact name is but its something that actually inhibits bone growth. Thiacin maybe? Whatever it is its said to block the absortion of calcium. I don't think the same thing's found in smelt making smelt healthier. But as far as diseases nothing to my knowledge survives freezing.

I broke mine by starving for a few weeks then using the tail half of a piece of cut cleaned smelt tied to fishing line. Can't give in though, can be tough at times but must resist.
 
Ok, update....

After some further "expirementation" I have found that he will take any fish of the right size, alive or dead, as long as it is whole. I tried with 4 different varieties of fish, and all were taken immediately.

Interesting fact about the goldfish that I did not know. I wonder how much affect it really has on the fish though. I remember back when snakheads were legal and thats all I fed mine for years!

Chris
 
If I had to feed feeders I'd much rather feed something like shiners or minnows. They seem cheaper and should be healthier. I have a few fish still stuck on feeders and they get rosies most of the time. I think you have to be talking pretty long term in order to be able to argue the health effects issue... I just know goldfish in my neck of the woods are always in far worse shape health wise then other feeders like rosies. My main issue with feeders is cost. My broke azz can't afford to keep all my fish fat with them. I was spending more to feed my 5 Armatus for 3 weeks then I was feeding 15 rays for a month with some rays being close to 1.5' across. And that was back when the Armatus were 5-6 inches.
 
BOTR;3619790; said:
Ok, update....

After some further "expirementation" I have found that he will take any fish of the right size, alive or dead, as long as it is whole. I tried with 4 different varieties of fish, and all were taken immediately.

Interesting fact about the goldfish that I did not know. I wonder how much affect it really has on the fish though. I remember back when snakheads were legal and thats all I fed mine for years!

Chris
Click to expand...

thats what i was thinking.
ive heard so much about goldfish being unhealthy as they stop bone growth,and yet ive known so many people that have fed a major diet of goldfish to their fish almost their whole lives and the fish still grew as per normal and remained healthy and got big.:confused:

anyways,ive fed frozen goldfish before and never had problems.
then again,ive never really had any problems with feeders before.
 
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