Dead 'live' Food

[voo]

When i buy live food for the fish, usually bloodworm, quite a lot of it is dead. Unfortunately it's the only place nearby that sells live food, so i dont have a choice.

I'm just wondering if the dead ones are still ok to be feeding the fish?

 

[Tolak]

I feed frozen bloodworms all the time, and have yet to see one come to life when thawed.

 

[voo]

Not frozen food

I buy live food in a small bag, but usually half of it has died.

 

[Tolak]

Sure, it's live when you buy it, some die on the way home. All the bloodworms I feed are dead. I don't think the recenly deceased bloodworms will hurt at all, they are probably better than frozen.

 

[Jules H-T]

I don't worry about the dead ones. I do however ensure I pour the food into a net and rinse it thoroughly under the tap, before releasing it into the tank.

 

[4ftguppy]

It really depends how long its been sitting dead on the shop counter. Best to find out what day they come in and ONLY buy them on that day, or the day after.

Have you tried culturing your own livefoods. There are some good livefood articles here - I strongly recommend whiteworms, they are so easy, and the fish LOVE them

 

[Inchworm]

Hi voo

There's a difference between frozen bloodworms and dead ones that come in a portion of live food. That is, the frozen ones were preserved by the cold. They were probably even frozen while they were still alive. They will stay more or less the same until you defrost them.

The dead ones you get from the lfs are already decomposing and potentially harmful bacteria are growing on them. It's best to rinse the portion well and try to float them all out.

I have the same problem with live blackworms, especially in the summer months. Sometimes the high proportion of dead is because they are not being rinsed daily by the salespeople. If you point this out to the owner, perhaps his survival rate would be higher and you would have a safer food supply for your fish.

 

[voo]

Thanks for all the replies!

I know their delivery comes in on Wednesday and are available to buy on Thursday, but by then a lot are already dead. I have to sift through all the packets just to find some that are alive!!

I dont think there's much chance of getting the owner to rinse them. They already come in a sealed bag from the supplier. Also, they know virtually nothing about fish (cheap teenage labour), and most of the times they dont even remove the dead fish that must have been there for hours. Trouble is this is the only place nearby that sells live food.

It was the decomposing of the dead ones that i was worried about. Are you saying that if i rinse the dead ones they will be ok to be fed to the fish? Or when i rinse them, the dead ones will float and should be removed?

Thanks

 

[Mako Man111]

Thanks for all the replies!

I know their delivery comes in on Wednesday and are available to buy on Thursday, but by then a lot are already dead. I have to sift through all the packets just to find some that are alive!!

I dont think there's much chance of getting the owner to rinse them. They already come in a sealed bag from the supplier. Also, they know virtually nothing about fish (cheap teenage labour), and most of the times they dont even remove the dead fish that must have been there for hours. Trouble is this is the only place nearby that sells live food.

It was the decomposing of the dead ones that i was worried about. Are you saying that if i rinse the dead ones they will be ok to be fed to the fish? Or when i rinse them, the dead ones will float and should be removed?

Thanks

The dead ones should float and be removed, when they are not imediately frozen, the ones that died will start to decompose, and you don't want to feed your fish those.