Can I Feed Crickets To Fish?

[TallTree01]

I've got loads of crickets to feed my frogs and I want to try to give my neon tetras some variety. The crickets are about 1/2 cm long and the neon tetras are about 3-4 cm. can I feed my neon tetras crickets or would this be a bad idea?

 

[Baccus]

Since you know the source of the crickets (ie farmed for frogs not just field caught and potentially carrying poisons from gardens etc), then they should be safe for the fish. Might have to remove the rear legs though. Just make sure the to only feed the smallest crickets, fish with food jammed in their mouths are not easy to work with. The smaller the fish the harder it is to remove the stuck food.
I get live fly pupae for my birds and people keep asking me if I give them to my fish, I haven't as yet but they would also be a good protein source for fish with smallish mouths.

 

[TallTree01]

Thanks. I'll post up how it goes tomorrow.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

I presume as mentioned by Baccus you can only feed the smallest ones to your fish, and at least make sure they'll fit in your neons mouths otherwise they'll choke.

 

[TallTree01]

The cricket swam around for a while the climbed on the top of the rocky sculpture which is just peeking over the water line. The cricket lives.... For now.

Neon tetras weren't interested in the cricket at all. They have been corrupted by life in captivity !

 

[Joshwainwright]

Wow, that's actually surprising!
 
Although when you think about it, compared to something like frozen bloodworm that's all juicy, a cricket isn't too interesting

 

[Baccus]

My fish also always enjoyed fresh ant eggs, its an OLD style fish food. I used to collect the eggs and pupae from the garden (thankfully we didn't use pesticides in our yard) and would sieve out as much dirt as possible. The eggs would float on the surface and mill about in the surface currents, and the fish really loved them.
 
I think to get the fish interested in trying crickets it would pay to fast the fish for a day and then feed the crickets at the normal fish feeding time. That or reserve crickets for larger fish, danios I would bet would have no issues with tearing apart a cricket or two.

 

[TallTree01]

Good point. I have some darkling beetles on the way right now. When they breed I could try giving fish cut up mealworms. Thoughts?

 

[Baccus]

Yes but be careful, a friend of mine was feeding her young barra mealworms and believe it or not the barra choked and died on a mealworm. Now even small barra have pretty big mouths so it was surprising. Maybe only feed your fish what they sell as Micro mealworms, in other words just really young and small mealworms.

 

[TallTree01]

I think I might steer clear of meal worms then. I'll see if the cricket gets eaten in the next few days. If it sinks to the bottom I'm sure my Britlenose will gladly suck it up.

 

[Joshwainwright]

I'll see if the cricket gets eaten in the next few days. If it sinks to the bottom I'm sure my Britlenose will gladly suck it up.

I'm sure they're just happy to suck anything up. Mine is anyway