Shelf life on fish food?

[banjocat]

What is a good shelf life on opened fish food? I only have a small number of fish(5 total), but I have a lot of food. The food is just not going down. For the most part I feed daily. I would prefer not to waste the food, but don't want to feed it to my fish if it's going to become bad for them.

Purchased
September - TetraMin tropical flakes (almost 3/4ths left)
September - Hikari sinking wafers (a little less than half left)
September - TetraMin trobical tablets (3/4ths leftt)
September - Frozen brine shrimp(18.5 cubes left out of 30)
December - Carnivore pellets (half bag left)
Unsure(at least two months ago) - Frozen shrimp (2/3rds shrimp body left).

I bet most people on MFK wish they had my problem lol

 

[beno]

I think I read somewhere it's 6 months for flake food.

 

[Lupin]

I buy foods that can be consumed within two months. Beyond my scheduled time limit, I throw them. Food can deteriorate everytime you open the container to feed your fish.

 

[banjocat]

Ok, then everthing besides the carnivore pellets will probably have to go. My bichirs are starting to go through them quicker. The flake is a problem though. I only have two gouramis(around 4inches) that eat the flake. I think even a small bottle wouldn't be used up in two or six months. Is there anyway of preserving the food?

I buy foods that can be consumed within two months. Beyond my scheduled time limit, I throw them. Food can deteriorate everytime you open the container to feed your fish.

Thanks, what about frozen?

 

[banjocat]

Something I tried with the carnivore, before getting out of the habit, was to put enough pellets for a week or so in a ziplock bag. That way I wasn't constantly opening the carnivore pellet bag. Would doing something like this help?

*Forgot to mention the reason I have so much food for so little fish. When I first bought my bichir, I had trouble finding stuff that it would eat. So I ended up with the wafers and tablets before I found the carnivore pellets.

 

[IITUFFTOBEATII]

I keep all my fish food in the freezer, helps keep it fresh longer

 

[Lupin]

Thanks, what about frozen?

I use them up within 3-4 weeks only.

 

[banjocat]

I guess the solution is to get more and or bigger fish j/k

I'm probably going to end up giving the old food gradually to my nightcrawlers

 

[banjocat]

Does freezing the food in anyway degrade its nutrients? I think I remember reading about freezing being bad for some vitamins, etc

 

[IITUFFTOBEATII]

Does freezing the food in anyway degrade its nutrients? I think I remember reading about freezing being bad for some vitamins, etc

not that I know of, lowering the temperature slows down the degradation of food items