Frozen Food "shelf" life

[Hannys_Papa]

OK i had some hikari frozen foods from a not so close petsmart for ~ 4 months now and am wondering how long they last/ are good for.
There is no expiration date on the packages - which also makes me wonder - is there supposed to be one ?

Last time i went to the LFS they had good prices on frozen food but i couldnt check if their stuff had an expiration date on it or not - the freezer is behind the counter and the guy was busy in the back/ with customers and i didnt have the time to hang around.

What i am basically "worried" about with the LFS is that they might not have a lot of people buying a certain kind - and i end up with a 3 year old pack of frozen food that ends up killing my fish.

 

[carttman]

I once had a person tell me not to keep it for more than a year

 

[SDRANGER619]

I'd say look for "freezer burn"...but if the fish eat it then I don't se what could be so bad about it?

 

[ceatwood]

Ditto, freezer burn means toss it. The foods I buy are in a bit of water to avoid that, and I would assume that Hikari does the same being such a name brand. (all mine are San Franciso Bay, usually chaper and I like the bigger portions for my chichlids. 4 months doesn't seem that long to me. I usually buy enough to last about that long. Look at the food when you put it in the water, do the worms/whatever look partially freeze dried or full and plump?

 

[loaches r cool]

I buy the San Franciso Bay stuff too in the bigger sheets. I have noticed that the brine shrimp seem to go more quickly,whereas bloodworms I have never had a problem with. Maybe my freezer isnt as cold as it should be but the flat sheet of brine shrimp seem to pool up in the bottom of the package, and usually after about 2 months kinda turn very dark like black colored. Maybe there is a higher salt content in the brine shrimp or something - causing its melting temp do go down to were it just starts to melt over time or something.

Hannys, were in upstate are you from? I grew up not to far from Watertown.

 

[Hannys_Papa]

I am on the east side of oneida lake - close to Rome, NY.

I saw the pics on your website - the one from around here. Nice page by the way - lots of "crazy" stuff on it. LOL

To come back to the subject though - so your frozen food doesnt have any expiration dates printed on them either ?

 

[loaches r cool]

Negetory... atleast the stuff I have in the freezer now has no dates printed on them. I usually go through stuff pretty quick though, probably 8-12 oz a month or so.

I have a lot of different hobbys as you probably noticed. Close to Rome... been down that way a few times, my best friend is from forestport wich is around Rome, but probably on the opposite side from you. My grandparents live by Massena wich is realy upstate (by the St. Lawrence river).