2 questions minnows and crickets

[tank212]

My dad went fishing and brought home some crickets and minnows.. I put the minnows in a large container with water and dechlorinated it. Will these minnows breed? What do I feed them? I have spirulina flakes and algae wafers.If they do breed can I feed the smaller minnows to my mbuna as an occasional treat?

Also the crickets are these a good OCCASIONAL as in once a week treat for my mbuna? I put one in there and they were all fighting over it. If so can I keep them in a small container and feed them potatoes to keep them alive? Or what do I feed them?

Any help is greatly appreciated thanks!

ps Is it ok for my minnows to be in a black container? but they do have sunlight of course!

 

[Dorkhedeos]

crickets eat plant material like leaves and stuff

 

[tank212]

so what should I feed them? I heard somewhere that they eat potatoes.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

I put the minnows in a large container with water and dechlorinated it. Will these minnows breed? What do I feed them? I have spirulina flakes and algae wafers. If they do breed can I feed the smaller minnows to my mbuna as an occasional treat?

i hope you put a filter in there with them... if you just have an airstone, you will need to immediately start performing water changes to cut down on the ammonia levels! also, add some gravel from one of your big tanks to seed the container with the beneficial bacteria necessary for the nitrogen cycle.

odds are extremely good that your minnows are egglayers and eggeaters. that means you'd have a hard time recovering any fry presuming you could breed them.

i wouldn't mix any fish i caught with i fish i bought, especially not as feeders. the risk of introducing foreign parasites and diseases is just too great.

in summation, unless you wanted to start up a local biotope aquarium, i'd just save those minnows for a second round of bait.

 

[tank212]

Thats what I was planning to do just hoping I could make more and possibly benefit my cichlids. I mean more bait to throw to the fish in the lake

 

[Kinda Fishey]

The minnows are most likely some type of native , freshwater fish. They will probably require coooler water , and be a bigger challange to keep and breed than your cichlids. Personally I would hesitate to put wild ,lake fish, with all the possible parisites , and sicknesses in with my fish.

I tried keeping crickets for fishfood, no luck at it. Some folks do , but I don't seem to have the touch. If your going to keep them in your room, get ready for cricket music all night.
Luck with your fish.
KF