How to Freeze Dry Fish Mounts
Fish can be freeze-dried to preserve it in a mount. Freeze drying is a type of taxidermy that requires the fish to go into a machine that actually freeze dry the fish so that all of the moisture is removed from it. It is not often used but it is much better for larger fish.
Materials Needed
- Water
- Bucket
- Baking soda
- Plastic
- Freezer
- Freeze dry machine
- Add 1 gallon of water to a bucket. Pour in 1 cup of baking soda. Mix the baking soda and water. Place the fish into the bucket and allow it to sit for 30 minutes. This process will neutralize any fats or oils. If the oils and fats are not neutralized, it can make the freeze-drying process much longer.
- Spread a piece of plastic across a flat surface and place the fish on it. Take the fish and put it into the position that you want it to be in. This is how your fish will be mounted.
- Allow the fish to dry. Put the fish into a freezer and allow it to freeze. The amount of time it takes to freeze the fish depends on the size.
- Remove the fish from the freezer. Put the fish in a freeze dry machine and make sure it is set to a Fahrenheit of zero degrees. Allow the mount to sit in the machine until it has not more moisture in it. This could take weeks to accomplish depending on the size of the fish and the type of machine you have. Follow the instructions in the manual.
- Turn the temperature up a notch each day while the fish is drying. Make sure to check the mount each day to make sure it does not become distorted.