When to bloodworm

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

lectraplayer

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Feb 17, 2014
Messages
574
I mostly feed TetraMin or a competitor. When is "real" food like bloodworms, shrimp, etc. recommended and why?

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Based on your other thread, it sounds like you have livebearers. First, toss the TetraMin as soon as you get some good food. I use Ocean Nutrician and Ken's foods. Kens foods are 1/2lb for around $5. Purchase 1 of each guppy, earthworm, color, spurlina and mix them.

As for real food, frozen blood worms are a good conditioning food when you want to spawn fish. Be careful, a few blood worms go a long way in a small tank. I also use frozen Adult Brine Shrimp-they like it but it is very little food value. Your fish would benefit most from fresh hatched baby brine shrimp, microworms or grindle worms. Those are all fed alive and do wonders for the fish. You can also purchase 1-2 female Endlers and allow the other fish to eat the fry.
 
Are tetras live bearers?

5 neons
3 bleeding hearts

2 ottocinclous cats

Likely to get a couple more fish (including 4 neons) this afternoon.

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
I did not think they were Henningc.

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Nope, none of those are live bearers. Live bearers include fish like endlers, guppies, mollies, and swordtails. I think it's really fascinating because they actually do have eggs, but the fry hatch from the eggs inside the mother.
A simple answer to your question would be- only feed bloodworms once or twice a week. They're pretty rich, so it'd be like us eating steak every day. There are other "real" foods like frozen daphnia, adult brine shrimp, glass worms, etc. that are less rich and can be fed more often because they provide roughage.
Tetramin flakes really aren't very healthy for your fish like henningc pointed out. They have a lot of grain fillers, which fish aren't designed to digest. If you want to feed dry food, some good brands are omega one and New Life spectrum. There may be others, but those are just the ones I feed. It's also good for your fish to feed them veggies once or twice a week. Some people have success with blanching veggies like spinach, kale or cucumber slices. But my fish like boiled frozen peas the best. I just take one or two frozen peas, boil them in a small cup of water in the microwave for a minute or two, then peel the outer shell off and smash them on a spoon and dip the spoon in the water- the fish go crazy.
Also something I have learned is that fish are similar to children. I make them eat their veggies first, because if not, they won't be as excited about eating them and are more likely to taste them and spit them out if their stomachs are already full with meaty foods.
Ottos usually won't eat any food you put in the tank, because they are wild caught. They usually will only eat algae and biofilm, which is why they do best in very established, heavily planted tanks. Hope this helps :)
 
I knew the otto cat wouldn't touch meats, as I got him as an "algae eater" and he does put a hurt on algae. While I did have a guppy, he turned on my tetras. He soon died afterwards.

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Ottos won't only not eat meaty foods, it's rare for them to even eat algae wafers or any commercially prepared food.
What size tank do you have? When tetras are not in large enough schools they tend to get nippy. You usually want at least 6 of them.
 
I had 7 at the time. Lost two when my guppy turned bad (caught red finned too!). I moved him away and he died two weeks later. Added 3 bleeding hearts after everybody recovered.

I also had 3 neons in a nano previously and no fights. :)

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
 
10g right now. Also have a 29g and 1g (nano) sold seperately.

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
 
Well that's probably part of the issue. Not enough space + schooling fish kept in groups too small = aggression.
But that's a topic for a new thread. I hope the info on feeding was helpful!
 
The fight was in a 29g. A cyanobacteria infestation and "soil work" displaced them. Anyway, my qusstion was answered earlier. :)

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top Bottom