KathyC

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Just thought I'd share where I purchase mysis shrimp to feed my tanks. I used to buy the little frozen cubes like these for about $3.00 or so for a 3.5 oz package.
AHK30920.jpg


Then someone turned me onto Jehmco and wow, what a difference in pricing..and it gets delivered to my door :)

They sell the mysis by the kilo and I just ordered 2 'blocks' of the E. Pacifica plankton last week. One of the packages weighed in at 2.79 kilos, the second one at 2.62 kilos. Including delivery (1 day ship to NY from NJ, so no need to overnight it :)) it came to $67.00... Wow!! :spin:

In my 3 tanks I have a total of 15 fish and they get mysis at least one time per day. I also spot feed my duncans and dendros with it. Granted the original outlay of money is higher than buying the cube packs, but it lasts me easily about 8 or 9 months.

I got a total of 11.9 pounds (with incredibly little water) of mysis for $67 which equals 190.004 ounces ...the little cube packs being 3.5 oz each.at 3.00 a package. Yikes!

What do you do with a HUGE block of mysis - you cut it up :) I wish I could remember who first told me how to do this, so I could thank them, but instead I will thank them by sharing this with you so you can also save some money on feeding your fish!

How to make the mysis user friendly:


The blocks come in a styrofoam box with a small amount of dry ice and are frozen solid when you get them. I usually leave a block in it's original wrapping in my micorwave (not on!) for about 3 hours before attempting to cut it - it must have ice crystals in it for you to be able to safely re-freeze it, so you do NOT want it to thaw out, simply get a little softer!!. The second block goes into the freezer as is for later use.
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Here is a pic for size comparison :)
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I use Hefty Freezer Bags - gallon size to store the mysis - they measure 10 9/16" x 11 " and this particular block of mysis FILLED 9 1/2 bags!!!


Using a sharp knife I cut the mysis into 1/4" thick slabs. It tends to break somewhat as you are slicing it. After getting enough cut to fill a bag, you want to get it into the freezer right away. (lay it flat in the freezer).
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When you are finished you will have a bunch of little pieces, I put them into a bag and flatten it out and pop that in the freezer too :)
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Here is what it looks like in a freezer bag.

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To use it, I break off however much I want, soak it in a cup in some RO water and when it is thawed I rinse it a few times in a net (with more ro or sw ) and feed it to my fish :)

Update: - as mentioned on Post # 73 - you can also smush it into a piece of egg crate- freeze it and then pop out the little cubes, or make it in those tiny ice-cube trays you can find at a store like Bed, Bath & Beyond :)


If you want to see Jehmco's pricing - you can find them at:
www.jehmco.com
They also sell frozen cyclopeeze (and a ton of other food!) at about $39 for a HUGE block and that I simply 'scrape' off the block as I need it (you really can't thaw it & re-freeze the cyclopeeze as it is so small).

Hope this came in handy for those of you with a bunch of fish to feed, we could all stand to save some money in this hobby!
 
Last edited:

KathyC

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I could see a group buy would benefit a lot of ppl.


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While there is a savings on a larger quantity, the product is Frozen and if you get too many people, where would you keep it until they show up?

Almost not worth it IMO as each person can have it shipped to their home for a tremendous savings without getting involved in a GB and having to go pick it up.

Think of it as your own personal Group Buy ;)
 

ryangrieder

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holy mysis! that is awesome. thanks alot for sharing kathy! guess im going to be placing an order myself soon. i figure i can split it between 2-3 of my friends and it will still last a long time! god thats awesome...

the site its-self has alot of cool random products as well!
 

basiab

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secret
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I use silversides and find it to be much cheaper. I don't know what the difference is in nutrition. I was told that a good college library would have the info. Anyway I just buy it local at chinese fish stores. Sometimes it is fresh and other times I buy it frozen. I don't know the price per pound because I don't know chinese. But for a couple dollars you get plenty.
And my guess is that you could use salmon as well which you can get anywhere and for the shipping itself you can buy a lot of salmon localy. But again I do not know the the difference, if any, in nutrition.
 

greggnyce

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I feel like food is the cheapest item to purchase in this hobby, unless you are feeding a store full of fish, how much could you possibly spend on food in a year. I buy about six packs and it last almost a year, on a 120 gallon. $25. After you factor in the time of breaking up the large block and freezer burn loss, you might just be better off with cubes, unless you have a ton of fish and feed them three times a day. Good deal but it seems like a lot of work on the purchasers end. jmo
 

Imbarrie

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Loss from freezer burn being a large consideration. Unless you are feeding a lot of fish these blocks could sit in the freezer for months upon months.
I think a 4 to 6 month supply would be the limit balancing these two.
The increased quality and reduced cost really appeal to me. But, I think one block would last me over a year considering I would probably feed this 2 or 3 times a week. And I have a 75 with a descent bio load.

Maybe this is for the larger tank community.


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It is a fantastic deal and the product quality is very high, but as alluded to above it is only worthwhile if you use A LOT of frozen food or you split a block with some friends.

The group buy idea while seemingly a good one is actually not as this is an exceedingly difficult product to deal with in a GB situation. Ask Jim (House) who has taken the lead on GB's for this many times. It is a major PITA. I'm sure he's be happy to elaborate why.
 

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