Just used PE mysis for the 2nd time..

[Treezer8]

So after using the 2nd time, I realized that it makes a skummy-bubbly-disgusting looking waste on the top of the water, and it builds up in a spot where the flow forces it to.

At first it looks almost how oil looks when you put it in water, you can see the streaks, but then it gets thicker, and sometimes you can see a discoloration, and then thick bubbles and it just doesn't look good.

Did I get a bad tray? Is this common? Am I using it wrong?

 

[chichimom79]

Sometimes I will thaw it in tank water, pour off most of the first water and get new to feed with. Takes some of the phosphates out. Others say that rinses away too many vitamins from the food and the protein skimmer will get some of that too. I have never had food foul the water the way you describe though. Pics?

 

[Treezer8]

Sometimes I will thaw it in tank water, pour off most of the first water and get new to feed with. Takes some of the phosphates out. Others say that rinses away too many vitamins from the food and the protein skimmer will get some of that too. I have never had food foul the water the way you describe though. Pics?

I should have taken some..
But when I thaw it out in the cup of tank water, I see the pieces of shrimp and then a looooot of smaller little brown specs and its really cloudy. Am I letting it thaw to long?

I might be able to get a pic tomorrow. But it basically looks how oil looks on water, you can tell something there. Then as it builds up it gets thicker, and makes bubbles and has a white foam to it. Only after I feed my fish with this food..

 

[yote]

I use the PE Mysis at the LFS on a daily basis. Hadn't noticed an oily film. But then again I am paying more attention to the fish feeding than I am how the food reacts to the water.
One thing you might do, is sniff the Mysis. If it smells rotten, I wouldn't use it.

And I'll be sure to see how it effects the water at the store the next time I'm in there.

 

[baeya]

I've been using it for my Seahorses for 6 weeks now and haven't noticed anything like that. I'm thinking you got a bad batch. Maybe thawed and refrozen a couple times......

 

[Treezer8]

My best guess at this moment is that I got a bad tray..
Regardless of the fact of what it's doing to my water, it looks very brown and discolored in the individual slots, and it comes out weird and very easy, like it was thawed at one point.

Either way, I'm not going to use it anymore. I'm throwing them out, and I'll post back in this thread after new years when I try a new tray. Don't want to risk anything

 

[BL1]

Does your tank have an overflow into a sump? Before I had a sump on my tank, I'd get a protein buildup on the surface that would look like what you're describing.

 

[Treezer8]

Does your tank have an overflow into a sump? Before I had a sump on my tank, I'd get a protein buildup on the surface that would look like what you're describing.

Adding an overflow and a sump its literally the next thing on my to-do list. Once I get back from Missouri, and my trip to the Georgia Aquarium, I'm going to buy the overflow box and start working on the sump.

But I've never had this sort of "build-up" on my water after feeding before

 

[grozier]

Could be natural oils from the shrimp? Brown specs are the eyes if it's the same thing I'm thinking of. Shouldn't be that much oil coming off it though

 

[RockStacker]

How much fish do you have in the tank and how much of the food are you putting into the tank on a single feeding?

Without an overflow/sump your tank will be more prone to have a buildup of organic film on the surface. This is just a result of biology/chemistry/physics.
You have several ways to address this (including):
1. Setting up your skimmer intake to pull in water from the surface. This will take most of the organic buildup and process it through the skimmer.
2. Create surface agitation to mix up whats in the surface back into the water column so that the organics can be utilized by the tank inhabitants or pulled in by the skimmer intake which could be lower in the tank.
You could set up a powerhead closer to the surface so that it creates ripples on the surface. Another option is a HOB mechanical filter without any filter media.