Rinse frozen food or not?
 

Just wondering how many people rinse frozen food.

I always rinse in a small bowl with tap water (or RO/DI if i'm not lazy) until all the cloudiness goes away. Not sure if there is any benefit to either way, but I like to see less cloudiness in my aquarium after feeding.

But the cloudy stuff is all the fine particles that feed corals

But it's probably packed with phosphates

I cant vote cuz I make all my own food which is way chaeper and more nutritious than that store bought stuff. I'm convinced that "that cloudy stuff" is pretty much all phosphates. I do use PE Mysis in my recipe and it is rinsed extensively before added.

might of bought into a myth since never tested for PO4 but rinse anyways. Maybe I should throw in a cube without rinsing and test if my phosphate rises.

Exactly my thoughts.

I thaw my frozen food in a cup of tank water, drain, then feed the fish. I don't "rinse" it. I see too much fleshy stuff going down the drain as it is. Mysis and Phytoplankton. was told the PP didn't need rinsing, thaw and feed.

I get phosphate issues feeding pellets. Stop pellets, cyano goes away. Feed pellets exclusively for a week or more, cyano comes back.

I use PE mysis and I rinse it in tapwater through a metal strainer before I feed it to my fish.

Same, but plastic strainer. My corals eat light!

My friend tested his PE mysis before rinsing and said it had phosphates. We've been draining/straining the melt water (at least) ever since. When I'm not lazy I rinse through a fine mesh net using tap water.

No doubt it has phosphates, but I believe that adding a couple of ounces of it to a 120 gallon system will have a negligible affect. And besides thats why I run gfo and bio-pellets.

The cloudy water is full of phosphates. Run a test and put in a drop and you'll see how much there is. My color changed drastically and since then ive always rinsed

I've always always rinsed. Never dared to think about putting a cube in without rinsing! The stuff that runs out probably feeds the algae more than the corals.
I target feed my corals whatever I feed my fish.

Same method as others. Place the cube in a fine mesh and run tap water through it until water runs clear.

I'm surprised this many people don't rinse.

Good article on the subject by Randy Holmes Farley

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/3/chemistry

I have some phosphate issues in my tank as it is, so I started rinsing in a small cup with some tank water. Couldn't hurt.

Don't do it.... packed with phosphates... be alright if you were growing algae... lol

Haha I just came on to put the same article up. Interesting read but I'd still rinse.

Yep I still rinse too lol

I currently thoroughly with tap water but I find that fish do not have that great of an urge to eat it as much compared to when I do not rince it.

"A half cup of water at 1 ppm (1 mg/L) phosphate contains a total of 0.12 mg of phosphate. A cube of Formula 2 contains about 11.2 mg of phosphate. So the hypothetical rinsing step has removed about 1 percent of the phosphate in that food. Not really worthwhile, in my opinion, but that decision is one every aquarist can make for themselves."

Thats the part that concretes it for me. I've never rinsed frozen food, simply because its effects are negligible and the phosphates are going to get in there anyway. Plus the feeding response from my corals is greater when the fine particles are left in the tank.

Granted, I prepare my own frozen food, but there is some mysis in there, and cyclop eeze, both of which go into the mix unrinsed. I have never had any algae issues as a result.

Also I'm pretty sure the unconsumed cloudy particles end up being skimmed pretty quickly

I rinse my food but not necessarily to avoid adding phosphates to my tank. I also prefer putting in clean food because the cloudiness just looks untidy and I like watching my tank as the fish and coral are feeding. I use a tea-sieve that is very fine mesh so I still retain most of the food particles but just lose the milky colored water that it defrosts in.

I rinse with tap water (in a reusable coffee filter) whenever I feed the mysis. If I don't the residue that thaws out will make my skimmer go berserk!

I've also found that with my Deltec skimmer. If I neglect to rinse as soon as I dump in the mysis it suddenly starts bubbling like mad. What brand of skimmer do you use?

Bubble Magus

I rince with RO/DI water. If I don't I eventually get cyano build up again. Also after I rince the frozzen food I portion it as well into small cubes so I feed the same portions all the time. This makes it easier for the people who help me with my tank.