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I live in a small town and have only one very expensive option to buy fish supplies from. For this reason I tend to buy bulk online or whenever I’m in the city. Now I find myself wondering how long these products (and others) will last before expiration.

Fish food – flake / freeze dried. (I keep mine in my freezer in an attempt to keep it fresher. I’m not positive this is a good idea though)

Fish food – frozen. (Things like frozen blood worms ect.)

Dechlorinators and other additives, buffers and conditioners.

Meds (I have a 1 gallon bottle of melafix pro and dosage for it is 5ml to 50 gallons. If melafix doesn’t expire and my fish stay relatively healthy this bottle could be around for 20 years)

Test kits – Liquid form / paper strip form.

Basically I’m curious as to how long these products will last sealed and also how long they have until expiration after being opened.

good question - i bought some 'hikari carnivore food sticks' from a store recently because they were on sale for half the price i can normally get them for... i thought later (of course after i'd brought them the 45 min home from where i bought them) that they were probably pretty old to be on sale so cheap... i wonder how long they last in the package? the fish eat them though

i doubt that fish food actualy goes off unless it goes mouldy or anything.

my fish never seem to care

i would guess that the nutritional content of the food might get worse over time, but aslong as the fish are healthy and eat it - thats all that matters doesnt it?

Fish food will lose it's vitamens in about six months if I remember correctly. My schedule doesn't leave time for running to the LFS whenever so I buy the larger sized containers as well. Leaving them in the freezer will keep it fresher, I only keep a small portion out for everyday usage.
Test kits can go bad, think it'd take a year + though....water conditioner I don't know. I've been using the same bottle for over a year now .

As a side note, melafix IMO shouldn't be used unless there is a specific reason to... such as following treatement for fin rot or in the case of injury.

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*


Last edited by Babelfish at 12-Oct-2004 12:03

I agree with Babel re: Melafix; it's to be used sparingly. I find it tends to clog certain filters (namely sponge and certain HOTB types (i.e DyanFlo)) and you can tell me what you like, but I'm sceptical of what is effectively a broad-range natural anti-bacterial agent not messing with bacterial beds in filters (that being said, when I kept a Betta in a 2 odd gallon tank I did use it every 2 days when I did water changes, sponge filter or not). So far as it's shelf life- I know people who keep tea-tree oil for many years with occasional use, so I doubt it would be *much* different (Look for clouding, which would indicate moisture absorption).

I tend to only ever buy small containers of flakes/prepared foods for feeding, but if they ever seem slightly soggy or anything I ditch them (I have visions of the fish tripping out on some bizarre fungus or something otherwise).

Ditto for size wise when it comes to de-chlorinators (and I'm kinda anal about changing water and tend to do it at least every second day anyways (it does help that I'm all but a shut-in and have nuffin else to do all day))

I presume if you use test kit re-agents often they probably wouldn't last long enough to go off... I'm kinda sure going back to my Uni days that paper test trips would indicate a failing in some way however (i.e. becoming colored before being used etc).

For frozen food: It never lasts me long enough to go off generally , I tend to go through blood worm packs at least once a fortnight

As a general rule of thumb I'm sure the old "keep in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight" thing works for just about everything known to man (or Babelfish).

Sorry for the waffle, I've had few tonight

Dex

Last edited by dextroze at 12-Oct-2004 12:48

Last edited by dextroze at 12-Oct-2004 12:48