Live food for Parosphromenus sp.

[TekFish]

Hi guys,

Looking to set up a small tank ~30L/6G
to keep Parosphromenus sp.

Just FYI, the pH will be 4 and 6.5, depending on whether I can find some tank-bred ones or not. Substrate will most likely be some kind of acidifying plant substrate, with Almond/Catappa leaves and, possibly, Alder cones. If I can find them. Will be using RO water to make it very soft.

I would like to find some live foods that I can use. Happy to do pretty much anything, as long as its not Artemia, as I won't be able to get yet another tank.

I need a high protein supplement for BS. Can anyone recommend?
Preferably fairly easy to cultivate.

Thank you very much.

 

[Tyler_Fishman]

Vinegar eels
micro worms
mosquito larvae (make sure you have a good for this to make sure that if any mosquito larvae do manage to pupate they can't get out of the tank)
Daphnia
Scuds
Black worms
You will need starter cultures obviously, if you live somewhere warm Mosquito larvae, Daphnia, and scuds should
Be readily available in ponds, lakes or even puddles in your area, the rest you will need starter cultures for, these species are really beneficial due to their easy cultivation

 

[TekFish]

I hadn't considered black worms...they seem like exactly what I'm looking for.

Do you think that they would be ok with these as the majority of their diet, maybe with a few white worms every now and again?

Or will the diet need to be more varied?

 

[Tyler_Fishman]

Varied is best no matter the species,are they wild caught? If so variety is key, captive bred fish seem to be more used to staple diets, blackworms are used mostly for conditioning and breeding purposes, but as long as their diet is varied they should be fine living primarily off black worms

 

[TekFish]

OK, at the moment I don't know if they'll be wild caught or not. I haven't even got the tank yet haha. I just want to make sure that I can provide what they need.

How many of these would I need to use for it to be considered "varied"?

 

[Tyler_Fishman]

I would say white worms, black worms mosquito larvae occasionally are fine. But I'm sure they'll expept frozen blood worms also in their diet if you feel it's a better Altnative to mosquito larvae

 

[TekFish]

Yeah. Only problem with Mozzie larvae is I live in quite a cold climate most of the year. I've barely even seen any where I live. Apparently they aren't too fussed with frozen food most of the time. If they would take frozen though, I think I'd do Cyclops or mysis. Doesn't it have a bit more protein than blood work usually?

 

[Tyler_Fishman]

Yes, mysis is very nutritious alone, I think now that you bring that up it's a better option then mosquito larvae or blood worms

 

[TekFish]

OK then, live black worm and white worm, and frozen mysis/Cyclops. Thanks for the help.