Frozen vs. Freeze Dried Blackworms

[roclement]

Great write up! I stand corrected! And I'll add!

"...Freeze-drying also causes less damage to the substance than other dehydration methods using higher temperatures. Freeze-drying does not usually cause shrinkage or toughening of the material being dried. In addition, flavours, smells and nutritional content generally remain unchanged, making the process popular for preserving food. However, water is not the only chemical capable of sublimation, and the loss of other volatile compounds such as acetic acid (vinegar) and alcohols can yield undesirable results."



Rodrigo

[YSS]

I have one picky eater who appears something is wrong with him. He stopped eating flakes and pellets for the most part and started spitting out some freeze dried blackworms, but goes crazy after the frozen blackworms. I am not even sure what my point is ....

[Mrylln]

Happy Christmas to all and a most prosperous New Year!

That said, I am about to start feeding my discus freeze-dried blackworms for three reasons: 1) water quality; 2) the availability of more food to the fish; 3) my old boss, I've been told, patented the process for freeze-drying tubifex back in the day.

It's all about time. I am not good about defrosting and rinsing when I can see for myself that the bloodworms (our current faves) are defrosting as the little block floats in the water. What does frost me about the block of any type of worm is the inaccuracy about the amount fed to the fish. How much of this particular block is icky water and how much food?

With the freeze-dried product, the icky water problem is solved.

If it's so that they can eat more because the food is dehydrated, that would be very interesting.

I've always liked to feed an assortment of foods to the discus, including frozen bloodworms and mysis, whiteworms, pellets, and now maybe freeze-dried.

Sounds good.

Best fishes,
Mary Sweeney
Sr. Editor
Amazonas-US
www.amazonasmagazine.com
mary.sweeney@reef2rainforest.com