live food

[ruffmeister]

what live food is best for a community tank of guppies platys and balloon mollys

i have used daphnia but seem to introduce desiese every time i do feed that even tho i do clean them suffciently

is frozen food a good idea or dried food because i dont want to keep feeding them flakes as its not fair

 

[david27]

Frozen food will be fine once or twice a week as a change from dried food. Bloodworm always seems go down well with my smaller fish.


David

 

[MAM]

i suppliment flakes with frozen brine shrimp and frozen bloodworms ( my mollies go absolutely nuts when i drop in the frozen bloodworms). my mollies also really love the shrimp pellets i originally bought for the cories (since they sink), and swim down and eat them up before the cories even know i put them in.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

My fish seem to savor frozen brine shrimp. If you could ask people in this forum how to raise brine shrimp to adulthood, you could easily set up a hatchery and have a steady supply of life, parasite-free (for the most part) food.

 

[elgecko]

I buy live brine shrimp from time to time. I raise flightless fruitflies, which my fish go nuts over.

 

[Eelzor]

I am going to the store soon to get live bloodworms and live brine shrimp, probably and xtra 2 clown loaches for the hell of it, they have a good sale going on at my lps. 5 bucks a clown - get em' while there hot! Anyway, regarding your point, if you get live phoodz from the store, you shouldn't introduce any disease. Make your fish grow faster too.

 

[Losi]

I feed my community blood worm, tropical mix (not sure what exactly is in it!?) and other frozen foods.

yyou can get the little trays with a mixture of foods in for about £2.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I've read about the flightless fruit flies. How would one:
a) Acquire them?
B) raise them?
c) Feed them to which fish?

 

[elgecko]

I bought mine at petco.

I raise my fruitflies this way.

1 cup mashed potatoes mix, a tablspoon of sugar and a pinch of yeast. Mix the ingredients, add some vinager (helps to prevents mold) and water. Mix. You might have to add more water or potatoe mix if it is too dry or wet. I myself make it on the dry side.
I then use 20 oz. soda bottles for the cultures. I put some small holes at the top of the bottle, thumbtack. I cut the bottle in half. Place some of the mix in the bottom of the bottle. Tear a piece of paper towel and place in bottle. Cut a small reverse "v" into the top piece. This is so you can place the top into the bottom section a little. I then duct tape the pieces together again. Use a funnel to place some fruitflies from another culter into the new culture. 1 cup of mix is good for 3 20 oz. bottles.

Just add some to the tank. If you have large fish, fruitflies might not be your best bet.

 

[ruffmeister]

thanks ill bare it in mind frozen seem the way to go

 

[Inchworm]

Hi ruffmeister

For promoting growth and good health, live foods cannot be beat.

I feed a lot of live bloodworms and tubiflex worms to my fish and have never had a problem with them.

If you are in doubt about the safety of live food, you can soak it in a solution of Myxazin (mixed at the rate of 2 drops per gallon of water) for 1/2 hour before feeding it to the fish. It will kill any bacteria that may be on them.

 

[Magnar]

If you want fruit flies in my house I open a bottle of red wine and the little drosophila dive straight in. Are claret soaked flies good for fish?

 

[Inchworm]

Here's a link to a site where you can buy cultures to raise a variety of live foods for your fish and fry:

http/www.livefoodcultures.com/

If anyone tries any of these, please post whether your fish liked them or not.