Live Food?

[fish48]

Ah, that's good to know, thanks! I've always just stuck them in my fish stand cupboard and within 24 hours they're climbing the sides.


Speaking of live foods though, @Colin_T remember I was making mosquito ice cubes recently? I just went to change my dog's water bowl and found it full of mosquito larvae. Turns out my mom wanted to cool her water for her and chucked an ice cube in there, not realising it was my fish food! Hmmff. Oh well. The dog would have loved it anyway.

I am lucky to have a section of the freezer to myself when collection daphnia I often freeze a lot of it a culture and lots of fruit flies so freeze some of them

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I am lucky to have a section of the freezer to myself when collection daphnia I often freeze a lot of it a culture and lots of fruit flies so freeze some of them

I do always keep fish food in the bottom drawer, but she spotted the cube tray and didn't think about it, lol. I did remind them that I was freezing a load of the mosquito larvae because there were so many, more than my fish could eat! But I guess she forgot... she is getting a little forgetful at her age. I'm just relieved that she put the cube in the dog bowl, and not her own drink!

 

[anewbie]

I only feed Omega One, Bug Bites, and New Life Spectrum. These do not have cereal meals or fish meals, they are whole fish(or bugs).

northfin is pretty good (but expensive); however with northfin and new life spectrum one concern i have is the amount of garlic they use.. There was an article i saw that was fairly recent that indicated that constant feeding of garlic is actually unhealthy to many fishes.
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From my readings bloodworm - are quite popular and common but not good for fishes as frequently they have contain contaminations (this has to do with how they are mass produced). There are various worms that are supposed easy to culture (such as vinegar eels) and after i move i might dwell into some of these. I have raised bbs for newly hatched frys (apisto/angels) but as noted by @TwoTankAmin shelf life is very short (I go as long as 48 hours). You can refridge some which is suppose to slow down their metabolism and extend their shelf life but i've not tried that. After i move i inted to focus more on some less common apisto and so will probably set something up for them.

 

[Byron]

Bloodworms have more problems than just the contamination risk. These (and other) worms should not be a staple, just once a week as a treat if at all. I believe it is the fat or something. Their nutritional value is very low anyway, though obviously the frozen do excite fish. But that is like us stuffing ourselves with a favourite rich food that should be eaten in moderation--if at all!

 

[Back in the fold]

I am lucky to have a section of the freezer to myself when collection daphnia I often freeze a lot of it a culture and lots of fruit flies so freeze some of them

You freeze fruit flies ? What is your procedure ?

 

[Colin_T]

You freeze fruit flies ? What is your procedure ?

Put them in a plastic bag with some air. Seal it up and put it in the freezer. The following day, pour the contents of the bag into a plastic container and leave that in the freezer until needed.

I did that for mozzies, flies, aphids, midges and any other insects I could catch in large numbers, including ants.

 

[sharkweek178]

I thought I read somewhere about cultivating the larvae of those bugs that get into dry goods like flour or rice (I think they're called pantry weevils) as live food for fish. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[Colin_T]

I thought I read somewhere about cultivating the larvae of those bugs that get into dry goods like flour or rice (I think they're called pantry weevils) as live food for fish. Does anyone know anything about this?

Flour weevils will live in flour or grains but it's easier to separate them from flour.

Just set up a plastic container (we had 40 litre plastic rubbish bins that were filled with flour (any sort of flour but we had plain and self raising flour made from wheat). The buckets don't have to be full and you can have a couple of inches of flour or a half full bin. Leave the lid partially open for a month and then let it sit for a bit. Check it once a week and see if any small moths come out. The moths are the adult weevils.

To harvest the larvae, simply use a flour sieve to sift some flour. The flour stays in the bucket and the larvae stay in the sieve.

 

[GaryE]

"Flour beetles tend to be for larger fish, at least the ones I can get.

 

[Colin_T]

"Flour beetles tend to be for larger fish, at least the ones I can get.

the ones we get here are about 8-10mm long and suitable for big tetras, rainbowfish, medium to large angelfish.

 

[sharkweek178]

the ones we get here are about 8-10mm long and suitable for big tetras, rainbowfish, medium to large angelfish.

I don't want the beetles though. I just want the larvae.

 

[Lanpenn]

Never use live bloodworms. They can cause problems to any fish that doesn't chew them up really well before swallowing them.

The following link tells you how to culture a number of live fish foods.

Back to Basics when Breeding Fish

STARTING OUT Make sure you have a pair, (1 male + 1 female). There is nothing worse than spending your hard-earned dollars buying a couple of fish to try and breed and ending up with a pair of fish of the same sex. Let's face it, to reproduce fish you need a male and a female. Two males won't do...

www.fishforums.net

What would be the problem with bloodworms, exactly, that doesn't apply to other larvae? Or this would be applied to other aquatic larvae?

 

[Byron]

What would be the problem with bloodworms, exactly, that doesn't apply to other larvae? Or this would be applied to other aquatic larvae?

Other membersmay know the specific science, but if memory serves me from my discussion with a marine biologist on this, it is one of fat that is unhealthy for fish, plus the possibility of disease. All "worms" have the fat issue (I know bloodworms are larvae of something I can't remember). Advice from several sources will say only once a week if at all, and for many fish not at all. Corydoras are often assumed to be good fish for these, but nothing could be more inaccurate. The stomach contents of wild fish have shown that insects and insect larvae are primary food, followed by crustaceans. Worms were not even mentioned.

 

[Uberhoust]

Mosquito larva is easy to feed your fish. I put out buckets of water to encourage them to lay eggs. To make the job easier don't plant things or add substrate in these buckets and about every 4 to 8 days I pour the water out into a net. I then quickly rinse the larva in fresh water, don't really know why I do this, then release them into the aquarium. I find pond water attracts the adult mosquitos faster than water out of a tap, so I refill the bucket from one of my small ponds, then top off the pond with new water. The fish in the ponds keeps the mosquito population to 0 or near 0 so I cannot get larva from those water sources.

 

[anewbie]

I think i'm going to try banna worms or vinnergar eels in another life; i'm sick of hatching bbs; of course these aren't great solution for your 18 inch oscar; but they are excellent solutions for my 2 inch a. pucallpaensis; hum. I guess size matters; for your 20 inch shark i recommend you start cutting fingers or maybe even an arm.