How long can u keep fishfood? None of the food I have has expiary dates, I have had one can of tropical food for over a year, but I havent been feeding it for awhile, is it still usable, or do I have to throw it out? Im probably not gonna use it again anyway since its wardley food, and I dont like wardley, and the fish dont really like it either. But just wondering, thanks!

i beleive it has a shelf life of four months...but i'm not sure so don't take my word for it.
o.0

I'd toss it, personally.

It depends on how you keep the food, but I'd say it'll last six months at best. After that I'd expect the vitamin content to have degraded significantly, and the oils in the food to possibly be rancid. If it's been sitting on the shelf exposed to warm air, it'd likely have an even shorter life span. Food will keep best stored in small airtight packets containing a few days' feedings, in a cool, dark, dry place - a cool pantry if you have one, or the refrigerator would be the best bet.

If you make gel food, that'll keep longer in the freezer. Treat it just like human food. I wouldn't keep more than 5 - 7 days of gel in the refrigerator, though.

VERY good question! Especially Betta food, since you only feed those guys a few pellets at a time, those bottles can last a year if you only have one Betta, like myself.

thanks everyone, I think Im gonna throw it out then, dont wanna do harm to my fishies or anything. I agree about the bettas too, they dont really eat that much.

Personally, if it's kept tightly sealed in a cool dry place, I don't see why it wouldn't last a couple of years.

....Looks like I need to look at my fish food. I'll have to do it when I go back to my apartment tho. I'm home right now. All I have is my 66 guppies to watch.

Hehe....How long would you keep frozen shrimp/bloodworms around? Can they be kept in the freezer pretty much indefinitey?

I would think so

It depends on the quality of the food. As Kiya said most food is recommended to be chucked at 6 months and that applies most to flake food that loses its nutritional value faster. Every time you open the packet or tub you are shortening the life span of the nutritional content by letting air in. That air dampens the food and destroys it eventually. It begins to smell eventually as bacteria enters from the air but the quality has deteriorated before that. Remember the expiry date is not from once you open it!!!

Flake food goes fast esp quickly. I would not use flake food after 6 months of opening and I buy new food and chuck all half empty packets anyway after 6 months. I can never understand why people buy superlarge packs of food that last for years and years. The smaller packets are much less likely to go bad.

Some people separate new food into airtight containers which helps.

Trinket, thanks for the info on flakes! I am sure I have some flake food more than 6 months old, and I'll get rid of it tomorrow and replace it with some fresh.

The expense never ends does it with our beloved fish

Another thing to remember is that vitamin C is vital for fish and is in all fish food but is very easily destroyed (light, heat, moisture and eventually in time). Fish like people cannot produce their own vitamin C and it is an imp. antioxidant that protects the fishes' cell mebrane and therefore healing abilities.

I threw out all my old food, thats good to know, my friends feeds her fish food that is years old, but she's finally getting new food for it!

One tip is to write the date you open the packet/tub of food on the packet itself. Then you can see when 6 months is approaching and you'll be needing more.

thats a good idea! I'll do that next time

I have 4 tanks and it is still hard to go thru a bag of $20 gold pro because I intermingle my feeding with other things - I do the same:
1. When I purchase it I mark the date on the package
2. I usually add a silicate bag to each container to control moisture.
3. Lately; I have saved empty screw top fiah food containers and, whenever I buy a soft side package - transfer the product into the screw on container.
4. I keep all my food in the refrigirator as well as any liquid antibiotics or medicines I may have on hand.
5. 7 months tends to be my throwout time - it seems by then the "new and Improved" versions have come out LOL

If you get garlic - get the garlic oil- natural from the super market - it is easy to "mush" when making
up something special for your winged bottomless pit beasts to feast on. I swear;
if I ever threw an old shoe into one of my tanks they would go at it like paranah (sp.) LOL

Eric

If you do not have a large number of fish (or very large fish) you can keep you food in ziplock bags, squeezing the air out every time you open it. Air is what does the most damage to opened containers of food. Then toss the bag in the frig. It will not protect the food forever, but it should prolong the shelf life.