Cyclop-eeze: Frozen vs. Freeze Dried?

[LCGoldman]

Does anyone have an opinion or scientific evidence that one is significantly better than the other -OR- are they interchangeable?

 

[Wayupnorth]

Nothing scientific but I know that my fish go for the frozen stuff like crazy - crack for fish. They do eat the dry stuff too but not with such a frenzy. I find I have to soak the dry stuff in tank water for an hour or so or else it mostly goes over my overflow and into my fuge.

 

[aquariumdebacle]

Just by using average assumptions; I would assume the frozen to be better than freeze dried. Think macaroni and cheese versus frozen steak. This doesn't mean that nutrients cannot be added to either. It means that you should not rely on one food source, for your fish or yourself to give you all the nutrients that you need. I think that the freeze-dried version is a great way to get nutrients and medications into the food source. The frozen material is a better way of getting nutrients in on a day to day basis. These two should be supplemented with a variety of foods to make sure that all your sepcimens receive the appropriate amount of food.

 

[LCGoldman]

In my rotation of food is:

• P.E. Mysids Shrimp
• Cyclop-eeze (frozen bar)
• Hikari Brine Shrimp
• HiKari Rotifers
• New Life Spectrum Flakes
• New Life Marine Flakes
• Spirulina Flakes
• 1/4 sheet of Nori attached to clip
• DT's Phytoplankton

I also add to the food (not every day):

• Selcon
• Kent Marine Zoe
• Kent Marine Zoecon
• Kent Marine Garlic Xtreme

 

[Tangee]

I've never personally tried the freeze-dried, but I have seen it used and it tends to float endlessly on top of the water and pretty quickly go down the overflow. My fish and corals open up like crazy for the frozen. It also stays in the water column for a long time. I've been very happy with it.

Susie

 

[LCGoldman]

Wil it still float if you soak if first?

 

[Ed Hahn]

I know most frozen food has perservatives. I am assuming the frozen Cyclopeez would too. I do not think you could rinse something so small with out losing a lot of product. I am not sure about which one is healthier for fish.
. I think Cyclopeez floats for a short time, being so fine it sinks into little particulates feeding the fish and corals. That is why its recommended that you shut off your skimmer for about a hour while feeding Cyclo. I too would like to learn the difference between frozen and freeze dried. I am glad someone asked this.

 

[aquariumdebacle]

A notable authority actually recomended running it through a blender to get it to a less than 100 micron size, seems to me suffcuent for most inverts.

 

[Cougra]

I attempted to feed my clownfish some freeze dried stuff and found the clown had a hard time swimming downwards after feeding. I didn't soak it beforehand and presume the extra air in it's system caused it to float for a while. (It's a pig!) If you do use the freeze dried I would definately recommend it be soaked beforehand and don't use the remaining floaters, only the ones that sink.

 

[My2heartboys]

A notable authority actually recomended running it through a blender to get it to a less than 100 micron size, seems to me suffcuent for most inverts.

OK, this conversation has me interested as well. I have just bought Marine Plankton with Cyclopeze in it. I have used it a few times and the fish go nuts for the stuff (regular clownfish, blue damsel, skunk clown) and I had no idea they ate meaty stuff. They would go for the spirilina flakes that I would put in--but did not seem to know what to do with the red seaweed that I put in a clip and gave to them.

When I have fed it, I would start out target feeding some of my live rock hitchhikers and then giving a squirt or two over my sarco and then over my hairy mushrooms (I did that right after I put them in the tank, in hopes they would eat a little and lessen the shock that they would go through. Seem to be alright.

I was interested in getting some of the freeze dried stuff and still am just has to wait until the end of the month.

How about it reef food experts--which one?

Anne

 

[Skimmy]

well im no food expert, but i do know that they put a preservative in the the dry flakes,(it begines with an e, equotine or something like that) i've also heard that the chemical they use for a preservative is a key component in insect repellant. that chemical is not used in their frozen product, which states that it is 100% frozen cyclopeeze with no fillers or preservatives.
so use the frozen product!!

 

[Ed Hahn]

well im no food expert, but i do know that they put a preservative in the the dry flakes,(it begines with an e, equotine or something like that) i've also heard that the chemical they use for a preservative is a key component in insect repellant. that chemical is not used in their frozen product, which states that it is 100% frozen cyclopeeze with no fillers or preservatives.
so use the frozen product!!

thank you
That was a concern of mine.

 

[My2heartboys]

well im no food expert, but i do know that they put a preservative in the the dry flakes,(it begines with an e, equotine or something like that) i've also heard that the chemical they use for a preservative is a key component in insect repellant. that chemical is not used in their frozen product, which states that it is 100% frozen cyclopeeze with no fillers or preservatives.
so use the frozen product!!

What about storage after you open it? How do you get what you need off of the block? How much of the frozen vs. how much of the dried? Also-once the feeding action has been triggered should I be feeding something else while they are trying to eat the cyclop-eeze?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but up until a few days ago, I was just feeding spirulina flakes along with clip of seaweed on the 2-3 times a week that I did not feed phyto mixed with decapsulated brine shrimp eggs (non-hatching).

Should have seen how my hairy mushroom's mouth opened after squirting some of it over them. Talk about something my boys could see!!!!! It was so cool because I could show them where the mouth was.

Anne

 

[Skimmy]

yeah, their little red foil pouch isnt the best for breaking off the very small amount you need of the frozen stuff, just a little 1cm x 1cm square is a large amount, and it's very easy to overfeed using this stuff as well, i seem to recall a story where mojo's daughter used it straight for a week while he was gone and almost crashed his tank because she used so much. so i would say that it's definately one of those "less is more" products.
as far as storage, i always take mine out uf the frozen pouch and doulbe wrap it in 2 ziplock baggies.
the only other food i have used in conjunction with cyclopeeze for feeding corals/filter feeders is golden pearls. but honestly i dont feed my corals very often anymore with the exception of my acans, which get spot fed like every other day in a seperate tank from my acro

 

[dpaynter]

I broke off a small chunk of the frozen cyclopeeze and dissolved it in a plastic jar with some tankwater. Then I would add a few squirts to my tank each day and store the solution in the refrigerator.

 

[My2heartboys]

yeah, their little red foil pouch isnt the best for breaking off the very small amount you need of the frozen stuff, just a little 1cm x 1cm square is a large amount, and it's very easy to overfeed using this stuff as well, i seem to recall a story where mojo's daughter used it straight for a week while he was gone and almost crashed his tank because she used so much. so i would say that it's definately one of those "less is more" products.
as far as storage, i always take mine out uf the frozen pouch and doulbe wrap it in 2 ziplock baggies.
the only other food i have used in conjunction with cyclopeeze for feeding corals/filter feeders is golden pearls. but honestly i dont feed my corals very often anymore with the exception of my acans, which get spot fed like every other day in a seperate tank from my acro

What are golden pearls? How big are they? What is the name brand?

Usually with the bs eggs and the bs themselves, the fish are very quick to snatch up what hasn't been tanken by whatever I am target feeding. I use a turkey baster to squirt the food right onto/upto the coral (or whatever).

Anne

 

[My2heartboys]

I broke off a small chunk of the frozen cyclopeeze and dissolved it in a plastic jar with some tankwater. Then I would add a few squirts to my tank each day and store the solution in the refrigerator.

Thank you for the suggestion. I do have a glass jar with a lid that I could use. Major problem I could see would be the smell of the cyclop-eeze. I got a whif of it the other day as I was adding my current product to my tank--well, in a word it was really fishy smelling.

Anne

 

[Skimmy]

golden pearls technically is a rotifer larval diet, but because it's 50-100 microns in size it's become popular to feed to corals and filter feeding inverts. it's high in protein(from fish meal and crustacean meal),vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, and astaxanthin for pigmentation.
the label says you can reorder at www.brineshrimpdirect.com and they give this phone #, 1-800-303-7914

 

[My2heartboys]

golden pearls technically is a rotifer larval diet, but because it's 50-100 microns in size it's become popular to feed to corals and filter feeding inverts. it's high in protein(from fish meal and crustacean meal),vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, and astaxanthin for pigmentation.
the label says you can reorder at www.brineshrimpdirect.com and they give this phone #, 1-800-303-7914

That's good because I need to order some decapsulated bs eggs (non hatching). Anytime I can order or buy most everything from the same place makes it easier for me. I am also familiar with them because I have a carton of bs sitting in my deep freezer from them.

Anne