Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Freezing food

I've got a 1/7 acre pond with HBG and HSB and a few CC. All of the fish were in the 1.5"-3" range when I stocked them about six weeks ago. I have been feeding them Optimal starter #2 (sinking pellets) from the beginning and their growth has been astounding. They are plenty big enough for the Optimal Jr. now so I got a bag of that so that I can enjoy some surface feeding. I still feed them primarily the #2 but toss out some of the Jr. as well.

The problem is, I probably still have at least 30 pounds of the #2 plus the 40# of the jr. and there is no way I will come close to using it all before winter. I put the #2 in sealed containers in the freezer as soon as it arrived and just did the same with the Jr. My question is, how long will it keep for while frozen?

Thanks

From what I have learned here at PB, freezing the food is not recommended. I have overwintered Optimal foods for the last two winters in a non climate controlled area of my shop. It's been said to keep it in a dry cool place. I just put it in a five gallon bucket with the lid loosely snapped on so it can breath a little. Clothes pinning the bag shut would work, I'm sure, but that's not mouse proof. So far so good...it still stinks like fish food and not like mold, the fish still like it too.

Should last over winter if you keep it cool and dry. One visible sign of mold is whitish gray color. If you get mold, throw it out, as it can be toxic to the fish.

And watch out for ants!

I store food over winter purposefully. The reason being I want to start feeding about mid to late March and for some reason feed stores and Purina seem to think fish feeding in this are doesn't start for month or two later. So I always have problem sourcing feed early in the season.

I have some blue plastic barrels with lid tops that I just dump the feed out of the bag (mice, rats and coons will get into the bags) and can store several bags that way. It always smells fine and feeds fine the next spring.

There is some argument that essential vitamins may be lost through extended storage and I suspect that to be the case. But from my perspective slightly poorer feed is better than no feed and any feed I can source early in the spring would be lower quality 32% protein stuff so storing it seems the best compromise for me.

Dustin at Optimal told me that while he doesn't recommend going out of your way to freeze food, he said it should be ok if it does freeze. I told him I store mine in a plastic drum outside and he said it should be fine, but to watch for mold or if the oil in the feed separates. I've had no problems.

Thanks guys. Appreciate the information.

Optimal feed has a "best used" date of 6 months, but has a 12 month shelf life. With that said, I've had some 2 years and have not noticed any off smell or change in smell or appearance.

snrub, you can order from Optimal 12 months of the year so there is no need to wait on the feed stores to carry the feed. Optimal is shipped right to your door.

snrub, I have used two different Purina dealers, seed and feed stores. One in La and one in Texas that I am now using because Louisiana does not except Texas agg exemption any longer. Both of these stores keep MVP in stock for me with no problems getting it or keeping it in stock for me. I use around 5 bags per month. It sounds to me that the local feed dealer is dropping the ball if it's hard to get. I have used Optimal and I started out with Cargills both was shipped to me. I liked the Optimal and the Cargills and the fish also like both of those feeds. But the reason I changed is I no longer have to store it at the farm where it feed the mice. Mice love that stuff.