Growing Your Own Live Foods

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VaegaVic

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Hi all,
Just a quickie here.
I'm looking to grow my own live foods now, as the frozen stuff I normally use is just becoming more and more water/moisture.

Is there a particular live food that's easy to cultivate, store and doesn't smell like rotting onions?

Also, whilst we're on the subject, is there such a thing as gut loading in aquatic foods?
The reason I ask is because I have some experience in dealing with feeding live foods to reptiles and those must be gut loaded (feed the food a good diet to make it more nutritios).
Is this possible in live foods in aquaria? and if so, would could I use?

Thanks all.
 
grindall worms are easy to cultivate doesn't smell. i can post you some if your intrested
 
I cultivate;
Paramoecium, Vinegar eel, Microworms, Grindalworms, Whiteworms, Drosophila melanogaster, Chlorella, Mexican gammarus shrimp, Daphnia pulex & Moina. I also hatch Artemia on a daily basis and Fairy shrimp on occasion.
I am currently building up to growing Brineshrimp to maturity on a large scale.

Check out all my articles in the killifish section....
Regards
BigC
 
Brine Shrimp should be ok and you can buy eggs all over the place.
 
Thanks for the info guys and thanks very much for the offer.
I was looking more at white worms, where I can just literally pick them up and toss them in.

Anyone have any ideas on the whole gut loading thing.
The process is basically representative of the food chain, all the goodness goes from the food you feed the worms, to the worms and then the worms themselves become food for the fish, transferring the goodness in the original food.
 
Any feeding of worms such as White or Grindal should be done in conjunction with other foods. If you are planning to feed these worms on a daily basis then you would need to worry more about the gut loading aspects of such foods.
White and Grindal are fatty foods and should be offered probably only 3 times per week alongside other things such as flake and frozen foods.
I culture a small mexican gammarus shrimp which I feed on any leftovers from my fish feeding. They take pond pellets, flake and even leaves. (read article in killi section). this would have an effect on the fish with regards to the nutrients they supplied. The fish seem to relish this food over many other types of livefood I culture and the colouration and activeness of my charges seem to be enhanced.
Its hard to quantify what effect gut loading has on fish if you are feeding a wide range of products other than just one.
Regards
C
 
Any feeding of worms such as White or Grindal should be done in conjunction with other foods. If you are planning to feed these worms on a daily basis then you would need to worry more about the gut loading aspects of such foods.
White and Grindal are fatty foods and should be offered probably only 3 times per week alongside other things such as flake and frozen foods.
I culture a small mexican gammarus shrimp which I feed on any leftovers from my fish feeding. They take pond pellets, flake and even leaves. (read article in killi section). this would have an effect on the fish with regards to the nutrients they supplied. The fish seem to relish this food over many other types of livefood I culture and the colouration and activeness of my charges see to be enhanced.
Its hard to quantify what effect gut loading has on fish if you are feeding a wide range of products other than just one.
Regards
C

Lovely thank you, exactly what I wanted to hear.

Can you recommend a low fat live food that's easy to cultivate?
 
The shrimp are or seem to be the best as far as maintenance is concerned.
Unfortunately I cant post anything out at the moment due to the weather conditions.
Regards
C
 
Hi VaegaVic :)

Don't overlook ordinary earthworms that can be dug up from a garden or lawn. They are another good food for many fish. They can be frozen and chopped if they are too large for the fish you keep.
 
The shrimp are or seem to be the best as far as maintenance is concerned.
Unfortunately I cant post anything out at the moment due to the weather conditions.
Regards
C


I wasn't expecting anything at all, but thank you very much for offering, that's very kind.
I can't seem to find Gammarus shrimp cultures on ebay or any other usual sites, any other live food you could recommend? I don't mind maintenance, just want what's best for my fish.

Hi VaegaVic :)

Don't overlook ordinary earthworms that can be dug up from a garden or lawn. They are another good food for many fish. They can be frozen and chopped if they are too large for the fish you keep.

I did think Earthworms but I have 2 problems there:
1) I actually quite like earthworms, I think they're sweet :)
2) I live basically with an almost clay garden, be lucky if an Earthworm got anywhere near my "soil".
 

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