# Sticky  Prepping food for storage- Shrimp



## BlackSunshine

OK kids. Time for a how to from uncle sunshine. I know this may seem obvious to some of you but alot of people don't ever consider how much money,effort and time this will save them when it comes to feeding their predators. (not like the ones on Dateline)

Anyways here we go.

What you want to do is head down to your local supermarket and find your fresh seafood section. take a gander at their selection of tiger shrimp. also labeled as thai. shrimp or Malaysian shrimp. They are about 3" long and come raw with shell on. Sometimes you can also find them de-shelled (this is handy if you're a lazy bastard. Ideally you want to find some that are Uncooked and SALT FREE. Or unsalted. This isn't always possible but you might search around your local markets and see whats available. for sure you want them to be iodine free. This is why you want to stay away from the ones that are in the frozen section. Anyway, depending on where you are you can get a pound or so of these shrimp for around 3-4 bucks.

Once you get your shrimp home, break out *a plate*, *a Med-Lg bowl* a nice *sharp knife*. (I emphasize sharp) And a 4"-6" rubbermaid or ziplock container.

If the shrimp are shell-on take this time to de-shell them. some people would feed shell on. I don't and i think leaving the shells on would make the next step harder if not impossible. You do lose some of the nutrients that are in the shrimp but that can be fixed. We will get to that a little later.

Once you have your pile of de-shelled shrimp cut them down to bite sized pieces. I chop mind down to about a half an inch. and then toss them in a bowl.









Now that you have all your shrimp all chopped up. I recommend purchasing a bottle of *Kent Zoe Freshwater*. 








This is a great vitamin supplement that does wonders for the coloring and health of your fish. you can add it direct to your water or to make it most cost effective you want to soak your food in it. This is what we will do here. Pour in enough to cover all the shrimp. you can add a little water to help deluite it but not too much t. let it sit in the Zoe for maybe 20 min. you want it to absorb as much of it as possible. the shrimp should take on a green tint. this will let you know that it is absorbed.

Next take your shrimp and toss a small amount into a sandwich baggie. (notice the green tint. I was almost out of zoe so didn't get a good soak yours should be much greener)










You only want it to be enough so that when you flatten it all down it is only half way up the bag and no more then *1 chunk thick.* This is a very important. 1 chunk thick. 
*Now depending on how big the container you have is you may skip this part. If your baggie flattened out fits lengthwise and allows you to place your baggie in flat then cool. If not follow along*
If you have a small container then you want to probably split the portions in the baggie up so that you can fold the bag and keep both portions flat. 









Now fold close your baggie, keeping the food flat and put it in your container









Repeat until all your shrimp is in the container. now find it a home in your freezer. 









*FEEDING TIME*

Ok so you're food is prepped and now its time to feed the fish.
So break out the box and open a package of shrimp. 









Depending on how many fish you're feeding and how big they are will determine how much YOU need to break off. I'm feeding an arowana, snakehead, bichir,convict and flowerhorn. So I break off about 2" sq of shrimp. (this is why keeping it 1 layer thick is important. any bigger and its a pain to break off pieces.)










Since I add vitamins to my shrimp I don't want to run them under water to thaw them out. So I put my shrimp in a little paper cup and defrost it in the microwave. 








Make sure you are using the Thaw setting or else you will cook the shrimp. Again since your microwave is different then mine your thawing times may vary. for me I defrost on pwr lv 3 for 10-15 sec. 









this leaves the shrimp slightly frozen. but a couple sec's in the tank takes care of that.









Now toss it in the tank and let the fish enjoy.


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## Coldfire

Very nice step by step BS!

"not like the ones on Dateline)" 
















The only thing that I would change would be to defrost the strimp in cold water. By using the microwave it will cook the shrimp a bit. Other than that, solid DYI instructions.


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## FishermanCanada

great post!


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## adestef

thats a great idea that i think i'm going to try


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## BlackSunshine

Coldfire said:


> Very nice step by step BS!
> 
> "not like the ones on Dateline)"
> 
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> The only thing that I would change would be to defrost the strimp in cold water. By using the microwave it will cook the shrimp a bit. Other than that, solid DYI instructions.


Nope dosen't cook the shrimp at all. Thats why its on defrost and for only a few seconds. At that level for that duration the Micro barely has enough time to even warm up. and again you cannot rinse food that has been presoaked in vit's because you will wash it away.


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## ___

great ideal.... might try it myself


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## Coldfire

BlackSunshine said:


> Very nice step by step BS!
> 
> "not like the ones on Dateline)"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The only thing that I would change would be to defrost the strimp in cold water. By using the microwave it will cook the shrimp a bit. Other than that, solid DYI instructions.


Nope dosen't cook the shrimp at all. Thats why its on defrost and for only a few seconds. At that level for that duration the Micro barely has enough time to even warm up. and again *you cannot rinse food that has been presoaked in vit's because you will wash it away*.
[/quote]

Ahh, good point. I did not think about that.


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## mrstreetz

I wanna thank you so much for sharing this recipe, my fish love it. it was a little hard to find the zoe but everythingb else was a piece of cake. only thing different I did was let my shrip soak over nightin the fridge so it would really take on a dark tint. thanks again. one more thing do you knw of any other recipes?


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## nameless

Thank you for the great info...


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## Tyrone5797

great post!


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## the_skdster

Now why didn't I read this sooner?


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## ashkahn

lol this is great bc i have the same microwave


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## Mattones

I'll be trying this soon.


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## StryfeMP

I still don't know how to make 3 bucks in shrimp last me a month though...

very informative nonetheless.


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## base935

I posted this in another post, but I think its applicable here. I got the ideas from the initial post, LOVE IT!!!

Something I did when my two RBs were small and eating pellets was to crack them in half with a knife blade, and then set the halves in a shotglass until they got soft. Then, they'll sink. There must be some coating on them to keep them hard and water-impenetrable, like cereal.

Now that they're bigger, I've been buying about 1/3 of a pound of every type of shrimp, white fish, and seafood. I cut the filets into small squares, marinade them in vitamins from the pet store, and then freeze them in one layer thick sheets, back in the coated paper that they came in. By now, I have about 8 different meats there, sitting upright in the freezer door. When its time to eat, I grab the first sheet, cut a strip off, and cut it into smaller pieces. Replace it towards the back of the order, keeping it naturally alternating. I have one of those little cups that they bring out extra ranch dressing from Applebee's, throw the chunks in there with the hottest water that comes out of the tap, and let it thaw. Drink a beer for about 5 minutes, and make sure the chunks are not cold, and drop them in.

Even scallops, for 1/4 pound, cost me $3.50. The sheet that it made is about 8 inches by four inches. They eat about 1/3 of an inch of that each time, so that should give me about ~30 feedings. But since they go through 8ish different foods, they always get something new, fortified with vitamins, and somtimes get the larger Hikari pellets cracked in half.

Hmmm, what types of fish...

Catfish
Meat counter, fresh Thai Tiger shrimp, shelled
Scallops
Salmon
Oyster
Tilapia
Soul
Anything else that sounded good if I was a Piranha...


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## remy5405

heres a idea. just float them in the tank for 20 min like a new fish. then there the same temp as the fish too.


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## BlackSunshine

base935 said:


> heres a idea. just float them in the tank for 20 min like a new fish. then there the same temp as the fish too.


Also a good idea. I have too many fish tanks and too little time to wait 20 min. I also don't think my fish would allow it to float for that kind of time.


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## sprtslvr785

so will this work for lake malawi cichlids? Im not even sure if they can have shrimp or not, just curious...gets boring watching them eat flakes and pellets.


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## Trigga

awesome how to man thanks


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## kfreeman

Very creative. Excellent post. This should get everyones brain cooking on new food prep.


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## RBP7

what you could do is grind all the different types of meat into a puree. and some jellaton sheets then your fish get a variety every day. also adding tablets is easy this way.


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## blacklabel

why is salt, and more specifically iodine bad for piranhas? and do you or anyone have a source?


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## Googz

Could i use pre frozen shrimp that are boiled and deshelled?


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## EZmoney

Great post... I love the idea of vitamin soaking the food!

Two things that I would do different tho:

1. I like to lay the pieces of fish on a large tray to freeze them individually. After they are mostly frozen, then I toss them all into a ziplock bag together. This makes it very easy to pick out 1, 2, or however many pieces that you want to feed the fishy.

2. Avoid using the microwave at all costs, for all food... even your own! The microwaves of the machine will actually destroy all nutrients that are present in the food. Next time you are using the microwave, remember that you are really 'nuking the food'.


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## PELIGROSO PYGO

thanks for the step by step process. this is going to benefit me for now on


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## Restricted-

would you be able to soak it in melafix???


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## Restricted-

could you soak it in melafix?


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## Trigga

why would you? all melafix does it help with fin damage its more of a medicine that anything.


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## Restricted-

Trigga said:


> why would you? all melafix does it help with fin damage its more of a medicine that anything.


because i have a big tank and it costs alot to get alot of melafix when i need it


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## Trigga

piranhafatality said:


> why would you? all melafix does it help with fin damage its more of a medicine that anything.


because i have a big tank and it costs alot to get alot of melafix when i need it
[/quote]
ok but why would you feed your fish melafix? Thats you eating calmine lotion...its meant for exterior ailments, its not nutritious


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## notaverage

Its tea tree oil man...I wouldnt do that.
Thats why there are hospital tanks.
Throw them in a 10 gal...you use TON less meds when and if needed.

Funny i took pics of my step by step food prep last night...just didnt get to post it yet.
If anyone cares anyway.


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## dschoter05

i am having trouble findin the vitamins that i should soak the shrimp. in any directions as to where i can find it?


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## AKSkirmish

dschoter05 said:


> i am having trouble findin the vitamins that i should soak the shrimp. in any directions as to where i can find it?


Big als' or dr foster and smith should carry them....


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## dschoter05

AKSkirmish said:


> i am having trouble findin the vitamins that i should soak the shrimp. in any directions as to where i can find it?


Big als' or dr foster and smith should carry them....
[/quote]

found it on foster and smith but says its for saltwater does that matter???


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## Malawi-

Great post, may try this.


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## ju5tin95

awesome 411, just went out looking for Zoe locally that stuff is hard to find and its pricey, I paid like 18 bucks.. and im letting the shrimp soak as we speak


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## rolac79

BlackSunshine said:


> OK kids. Time for a how to from uncle sunshine. I know this may seem obvious to some of you but alot of people don't ever consider how much money,effort and time this will save them when it comes to feeding their predators. (not like the ones on Dateline)
> 
> Anyways here we go.
> 
> What you want to do is head down to your local supermarket and find your fresh seafood section. take a gander at their selection of tiger shrimp. also labeled as thai. shrimp or Malaysian shrimp. They are about 3" long and come raw with shell on. Sometimes you can also find them de-shelled (this is handy if you're a lazy bastard. Ideally you want to find some that are Uncooked and SALT FREE. Or unsalted. This isn't always possible but you might search around your local markets and see whats available. for sure you want them to be iodine free. This is why you want to stay away from the ones that are in the frozen section. Anyway, depending on where you are you can get a pound or so of these shrimp for around 3-4 bucks.
> 
> Once you get your shrimp home, break out *a plate*, *a Med-Lg bowl* a nice *sharp knife*. (I emphasize sharp) And a 4"-6" rubbermaid or ziplock container.
> 
> If the shrimp are shell-on take this time to de-shell them. some people would feed shell on. I don't and i think leaving the shells on would make the next step harder if not impossible. You do lose some of the nutrients that are in the shrimp but that can be fixed. We will get to that a little later.
> 
> Once you have your pile of de-shelled shrimp cut them down to bite sized pieces. I chop mind down to about a half an inch. and then toss them in a bowl.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now that you have all your shrimp all chopped up. I recommend purchasing a bottle of *Kent Zoe Freshwater*.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is a great vitamin supplement that does wonders for the coloring and health of your fish. you can add it direct to your water or to make it most cost effective you want to soak your food in it. This is what we will do here. Pour in enough to cover all the shrimp. you can add a little water to help deluite it but not too much t. let it sit in the Zoe for maybe 20 min. you want it to absorb as much of it as possible. the shrimp should take on a green tint. this will let you know that it is absorbed.
> 
> Next take your shrimp and toss a small amount into a sandwich baggie. (notice the green tint. I was almost out of zoe so didn't get a good soak yours should be much greener)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You only want it to be enough so that when you flatten it all down it is only half way up the bag and no more then *1 chunk thick.* This is a very important. 1 chunk thick.
> *Now depending on how big the container you have is you may skip this part. If your baggie flattened out fits lengthwise and allows you to place your baggie in flat then cool. If not follow along*
> If you have a small container then you want to probably split the portions in the baggie up so that you can fold the bag and keep both portions flat.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now fold close your baggie, keeping the food flat and put it in your container
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Repeat until all your shrimp is in the container. now find it a home in your freezer.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *FEEDING TIME*
> 
> Ok so you're food is prepped and now its time to feed the fish.
> So break out the box and open a package of shrimp.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Depending on how many fish you're feeding and how big they are will determine how much YOU need to break off. I'm feeding an arowana, snakehead, bichir,convict and flowerhorn. So I break off about 2" sq of shrimp. (this is why keeping it 1 layer thick is important. any bigger and its a pain to break off pieces.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Since I add vitamins to my shrimp I don't want to run them under water to thaw them out. So I put my shrimp in a little paper cup and defrost it in the microwave.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Make sure you are using the Thaw setting or else you will cook the shrimp. Again since your microwave is different then mine your thawing times may vary. for me I defrost on pwr lv 3 for 10-15 sec.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this leaves the shrimp slightly frozen. but a couple sec's in the tank takes care of that.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now toss it in the tank and let the fish enjoy.


I like the detail; What I did was purchase 200 large grey shrimp from my father in-laws food distribution company about $8. I separated them into 2 large freezer bags, 1 in my in my kitchen freezer and 1 in my garage freezer. I take 1 shrimp about 4x's a week a place it in a cup with cold water for about 11/2 to 2 hours. I de-shell it and cut it into 5 or 6 peices and feed my 5 2 month old rb's one chunk at a time. If they take no interest in any of the chunks after 5 to 10 min (usually the 5th or 6th peice) I remove it. One thing I do disagree with is microwaving the shrimp, it can remove numerous nutrients. I would suggest defrosting in cold water.


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## blazedapurp

instead of putting it in the microwave cant u just throw it in a cup and put some fish tank water and let it thaw? then u can just pour the the water and food in the tank. this is what i do with frozen brine shrimp but instead of pouring it in the tank i use a turkey baser to feed them.


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## keasone

I did the same thing with talapia


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## lovemyreds

great place to pick up kent freshwater zoe http://www.thefind.com/search?query=kent+zoe


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## RedneckR0nin

This is the best posting for nutrition and cost savings for your P's!!!
Everyone should read this and Innes water chemistry question and you will be better off!!!


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## thasiccest13

Thank you....
My fish love the food they go crazy for it!


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## lderrau2

I do the same thing with chicken hearts and gizzards... super cheap and no prep time cause they are already bite size! just divide and freeze, you and you fish will love it hehe


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## lderrau2

Just something else I thought of, not to say I never feed my p's shrimp or seafood, but most of the shimp and fish etc at the grocery store are probably farmed, which is not only detrimental to the oceans and surrounding areas, but the shrimp are probably full of antibiotics and hormones. One more reason to try fresh chicken hearts (IMHO), plus baby birds are a part of their natural diet!


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## Pirambeba

Very instructive, I will definetly be trying this out!!


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## RuthlessCarnage

Epic post. Kent Zoe and cut up pieces of tiger shrimp FTW. Great idea.


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## bigshawn

redbelliedchicka said:


> Just something else I thought of, not to say I never feed my p's shrimp or seafood, but most of the shimp and fish etc at the grocery store are probably farmed, which is not only detrimental to the oceans and surrounding areas, but the shrimp are probably full of antibiotics and hormones. One more reason to try fresh chicken hearts (IMHO), plus baby birds are a part of their natural diet!


Do you think that chickens don't have hormones and anti in them???


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## streetthrowback

great idea, thanks


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## OMGnitrateAGAIN

I just fed my reds & snowflake moray (2tanks







) this little recipe. 
Everyone enjoyed it. 
Thanks!


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## Bacon Of Time

This is awesome and im all about ready to try it.
One question tho, do you leave water in the bag with the shrimp?
Do i dran the bags completly and just let the shrimp stay wet?


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## TRIG

One thing that I have been using with my fish food for years is a product called Vita-chem by Boyd Enterprises. The stuff literally smells like a multivitamin.


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## TRIG

here's what I use: vita chem


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## BlackSunshine

Bacon Of Time said:


> This is awesome and im all about ready to try it.
> One question tho, do you leave water in the bag with the shrimp?
> Do i dran the bags completly and just let the shrimp stay wet?


Shrimp is a wet product. But don't leave excess water in with them. Literally follow this process exactly and you will be fine.


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## timmylucas

What is that in the bottom? a eel? or what type? it looks awesome


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## Dashina

Hi I'm New here. I have 4 young RBPs about 3".
Followed this guide. But I screwed up a bit. I cooked the shrimp a little is this okay to feed to my fish?


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## Ægir

Yeah, you will be fine... not as good as fresh, but still way better than most foods!


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