Hi guys,

My lfs just got in a new food and I am thinking of trying it but want to get your opinions first. It is Hikari frozen spirulina/brine shrimp cubes. It says it has 3-steps sterilization and has stabilized vitamin C. If you think it is good - how much would you feed 2 small (2-3 in) gf and how often? I have tried lots of foods before (my gf have issues with floatiness/sbd) and am currently alternating soaked progold and spirulina flakes from gfc. I also give peas ~1/week. Thanks!

Floating food should only be fed once a month..... I say give it a try!

It isn't floating food, it's frozen.

Sea, I use Hikari frozen baby brine shrimp for my fry. I like them a lot.

It's definitely worth a try. Let us know how it goes.

I currently have frozen Hikari:

- blood worms
- daphina
- brine shrimp
- spirulina brine shrimp

and have previously tried:
- mysis shrimp
- tubifex worms
- and krill

my fish LOVE them.
i have found that the tubifex worms and daphnia are quite messy, so i no longer get the tubifex worms and the daphnia are used only for the mollies and white clouds.
the krill are fairly large, so if you're using any kind of worm feeder, they won't fit through the holes.

as for everything else, my goldfish are fairly large, so the 5 in my 72 gal tank get 2 cubes of blood worms, and 1 cube of brine shrimp or spirulina brine shrimp.
my 3 smaller goldfish get one cube of blood worms and about half a cube of brine shrimp or spirulina brine shrimp.

for your fish if there are only two little ones, i would just suggest one cube.

make sure you put it in a cup and thaw it out so that when you put it in, the cube won't float at the top.
if you have any bettas, they also love the brine shrimp and blood worms... i feed my separate tanks bettas, mollies and white clouds included with a turkey baster.

Thanks for the info. It seemd like a good product to me (combining the protein and spirulina in a frozen form to hopefully avoid the floaties) but it is nice to hear from someone who has actually used it and liked it (ok, that would actually be your fish but you know what I mean ).

I think I will try it initially a couple of times per week, in place of 1 of the progold and 1 of the spirulina days and see how it goes - thanks again!

keep us updated!

Oops.... sorry!
EDIT: I am not a fry anymore!!!!! I am in the goldfish group now!

I use those for older fry - fry that are 3/4 of inch or so. They LOVE them - and because there is a lot of protien in them, you are promoting good growth and wen development if you wish. The smaller fish eat them readily.

I do not thaw them. I drop them into the water. When they hit the surface, the shrimp and spirilana start to thaw off - sinking as they thaw - releaseing a few at a time. The fish dash around snatching them as they sink slowly - and thus they all get eaten. If thawed, more than a few end up in the filter - and I hate feeding the filter expensive food!

When the cube thaws just a bit more, it then sinks. After it has sunk, the fish will then go and pick off hunks of the food. Some larger fry/fish will pick up the cube and shake it and worry it in their mouths - shaking pieces off for the others to eat. It is a great way of feeding.

Do not thaw them. Drop a cube in, frozen and watch. It is fun as well as great nutrition.



(these shrimp are too large for tiny fry - but plenty small enough for larger fry. They are not as big as krill - being only 1/16th inch or so. A 2 inch fish is HUGE for this food - and will snarf it down in a chomp or two. My big guys eat these cubes whole.)

haha that is a good point daryl,

i guess with smaller fish it is ok to just chuck it in there...
mine would gobble the whole cube up in two gulps.
i don't have enough money to use 8 cubes in at a time.

i've also tried putting them in a worm feeder...
but then the two fatties dominate the area and the smaller fish don't get as much.
and again, the food disappears in like 30 seconds.
oh the woes of trying to be fair to all the babies.

For my smaller fish I use Daryl's method. For my giants, since I use the frozen foods as a treat, I hand feed a couple of cubes so I know everyone gets some. When I started this most of the goldfish were fairly skittish, but the loaches were always at the top of the tank feeding within about 5 seconds. The goldies figured it out after the second time that if they wanted any large pieces of the tasty stuff, and not just tiny scraps released by the others, they would have to come get it themselves. Now its a great socilization time for me and my fish.

I use Hikari brand frozen foods too - have found them to be readily accepted and of a high quality - good results in terms of waste levels, growth and colour enhancement

Thanks for the great info. I tried it yesterday (before I came back on and saw the new posts) - I thawed 1/2 cube in a cup of water and spooned it in little by little. My fish LOVED it and definitely wanted more. There was very little piping (a reoccurring problem I am having after my fish eat) and no balance issues at all. I want to try it again today - I think I will try dropping the cube in and see what happens - it will be so cute to see them play around with it (they do that with the anacharis I have).

How often/much can I feed this - is it ok to give it everyday? I used to alternate progold and spirulina flakes and give peas weekly and still have trouble with floatiness. Any suggestions on how to work in this great new food to my feeding schedule? I'm so excited

I have three 5" lionheads in my 30g tank and I feed frozen blood worms, brineshrimps and mysis shrimp cubes to them everyday. I will drop 4-5 cubes in the tank and feed them three times a day on weekends when I'm home. They would never get floating problems. I feed them progold once in the morning before I go to work.

My fish just can't stop eating. also I do 80-90% w/c twice a week. so heavy feeding isn't a problem in my tank.

Sea, IMO I wouldn't feed high-protien foods on a daily basis- increases the chances for blockage/floaty problems. You might wanna try just a couple times a week, alternating with the pro-gold and spirulina flakes. Have you ever fed gel food? It's easy to make and my goldies love it. There are some great recipes linked here too! It is very good for goldies with swim badder problems. I have not had any sbd problems with my current fish, and I believe alot of it has to do with the foods & feeding schedule i have them on. Here's how I feed them:
Sunday: frozen brine shrimp -or- bloodworms
Monday: gelfood
Tuesday: peas
Wednesday: gelfood
Thursday: shrimp pellets or spirulina flakes
Friday: gelfood
Saturday: fast

When I make my gel food I use alot of ProGold & spirulina flakes in it, along with the veggies, so I know they are getting a nice share of it. Every so often I offer a (blanched) fresh veg for them to pick at. Today it's orange for the first time!

Like I said, this is just MO. Glad to hear they like the new food!

Thanks - I really like to hear about different menus folks use on a weekly basis. It was so much fun to feed my guys the new food this week and they did better with it than on the soaked progold. I agree though that variey is a good thing - how does something like this sound:


Mon: progold
Tues: brine shrimp/spirulina cubes
Wed: spirulina flakes
Thurs: progold
Fri: brine shrimp/spirulina cubes
Sat: fast
Sun: peas

I did try gel food - let's just say it didn't go over too well I also have anacharis in my tank that they like to munch on from time to time