freezing of DT

[terryansimon]

my bottle of DT was chucked into the freezer by accident...

has this major boo boo rendered my DT invalid? or can it still be used?

[FuEl]

Of cause it still can be used....just make sure you keep it in the freezer when not in use.

[terryansimon]

wait wait. it states Do Not Feeze in bold print on the front bottle...

surely there must be a reason to that? apart from the fact that freezing it makes it rock solid...or is that it?

[Achilles Tang]

You will kill the live cells.

They are in a state of suspended animation when kept cold enough but freezing will damage the cell walls and kill the live cells.

[terryansimon]

just as I thought.

so how now? is it a wasted $15, or can it still be useD?

[bawater]

up to you

if you still want to use it then keep it frozen and cut a small chunk to feed the tank.

Use a little less than your usual live amount due to the ruptured cells and 99.99% of it being dead matter. so try not to overfeed.

The Do not freeze caution is because its meant to be a 'Live' product - and thus there is no anti freeze agent or chemical in it to stop the algae cell wall from being ruptured by the ice crystals forming when water freezes.

[terryansimon]

think I'm better off buying a new bottle.

and putting it into the fridge myself, instead of letting my maid do it.

thanks a bunch. (=

[corrado]

hi

what you are left with now is an

expensive bioplankton.

[Cookiemunster]

think I'm better off buying a new bottle.

and putting it into the fridge myself, instead of letting my maid do it.

thanks a bunch. (=

bro dun worry its still safe to use. Just that its no longer live. Meaning one cannot use it to start phyto cultures from it anymore.

But feeding to tank is still ok. In fact if its frozen you can easily keep it to use for up to 6 months or more.

[terryansimon]

wait wait wait.

so the cells are dead because the cell wall has been ruptured by the ice crystals that are formed when freezing takes place. am I right to say that I'm feeding my tank dead organisms now? hmm. no issue with that...

I transfered it to the fridge compartment....should I keep it in there or throw it back into the freezer? its a real pain in the a** to extract it when its frozen.

[Cookiemunster]

Its dead but freshly dead. Just like the meat and fish you buy at NTUC.

Since its frozen hard, as bawater suggested, chop it into small cubes and use it to drop into your tank each time to dose. Slow dosing and cheapo method of cooling tank too. hahahha

[terryansimon]

wait wait. then if I dump the whole bottle in, it will pollute my water right? since its dead. *mutters*

chop them up ah? hmm. yeah maybe I should get my maid to do that.