Thawing and re-freezing frozen foods?

When feeding frozen foods, if you put the cubes in the tank there’s a lot of small bits that come off that are just too small for the fish to eat. Often, I will thaw the food in hot water before feeding, but could I pre thaw and pre rinse the food, and then refreeze it for later use?

 

From a food safety point of view, there wouldn't be any problems if you refroze it right away.

 

If you completely defrost the food it must be used immediately(especially if you are rinsing with hot water). I would not suggest "prepping" the food in this way unless you intend to immediately use whatever you are prepping. I can go into detail about my reasoning behind this if you'd like.
I use a knife to cut the desired sections of the frozen food and float the cube in a small dosage cup filled w tank water to defrost and break apart the food before feeding. I use tweezers to feed my betta fish so I want to make sure I am grabbing individual worms when feeding.

In my other, larger tanks, I just drop in the cubes and let my scavengers do the rest.

Hope this helps,
Emily

 

. . . I don’t have any scavengers.

 

I worked in the food service industry for 35 years. I can assure you that you have eaten food that was thawed and then refrozen many times without harm. As long as it doesn't sit around unrefrigerated for hours, it's safe.

I put the frozen cube in a jar for a little while so some of it melts, and then put the rest back in the freezer.

 

I worked in the food service industry for 35 years. I can assure you that you have eaten food that was thawed and then refrozen many times without harm. As long as it doesn't sit around unrefrigerated for hours, it's safe.

I put the frozen cube in a jar for a little while so some of it melts, and then put the rest back in the freezer.

I too have worked in the restaurant industry for years and I’m not here to argue semantics, to each their own.
I agree it would be safe but not optimal. Depending on what OP keeps some fish are more sensitive than others. OP mentioned using hot water to thaw and if you do that I personally would not suggest re freezing.

MoshJosh that’s okay instead i would suggest using tweezers/spoon to put the food in the tank after defrosting in a cup of tank water.

To each their own though, this is just my personal opinion and method.

 

I only use hot water because I know I’m going to feed it immediately. if I were to thaw the food I would probably throw it in the fridge or with coldish water.

I’m just trying to optimize my feeding, so that I can prepare all my food for the week and pop it in the tank each morning, without the process of thawing it or rinsing it first. Realistically I’ll probably just end up Using it straight out of the freezer instead of rinsing it, my levels are fine even with the excess food particles that don’t get eaten. . . but would be nice to eliminate those little floaty bits.

 

I only use hot water because I know I’m going to feed it immediately. if I were to thaw the food I would probably throw it in the fridge or with coldish water.

I’m just trying to optimize my feeding, so that I can prepare all my food for the week and pop it in the tank each morning, without the process of thawing it or rinsing it first. Realistically I’ll probably just end up Using it straight out of the freezer instead of rinsing it, my levels are fine even with the excess food particles that don’t get eaten. . . but would be nice to eliminate those little floaty bits.

Makes sense, always the best option to eliminate any excess before it gets into your tank. Whatever works best for you! You've got the right idea though to put it in cold water if youre going to prep it the way you've stated. I misunderstood your OG post. I may even suggest buying a small ice cube tray and freezing it combined with water in there. Good luck regardless!
Best,
Emily