Who else feeds live foods?

[Craigthor]

Well with the new arrivals I really wanted to hit the live food diet for my Betta Albimarginatas'. I've stocked up on several different cultures and have put them to work. I love watching the fish hunt there food as it makes for a very interactive tank and really brings out there personalities.

First food I'm feeding them is California Black Worms. I am not culturing these but purchasing them from Aquatic Foods, best if you can find a few people locally to go in on them and purchase a large quantity to reduce costs alot.

Built a Brine Shrimp Hatchery. This allows me to run 2 seperate batches and best of all it hangs on the wall. It is kept warm and lit by a 25 watt incadescent bulb.

Started my Wingless Fruit Fly cultures and hope to have tehm ready to start feeding next week.

Next you have the Daphnia bucket- soon they will be moved to a couple of 5g tanks.

The rest in a minute!

 

[Craigthor]

Then there is the Green Water cultures for feeding the Daphnia, not everyday you aim for green water.

Finally I've got a couple types of tiny worms going both Micro and Walter Worms. These are great for small fish with tiny mouths as well as fry.

Next week I will get a culture of Vinegar Eels going, these are especially nice for fry.

I do keep some high end pellets but don't see the need for them if the fish would rather eat live.

Just a quick picture of my fish den where I have a fridge for the black worms, fish food, soda, brine shrimp eggs, etc...

Anyone else?

Craig

 

[7Enigma]

That looks fantastic! You will have some very healthy fish (you do have fish right? ).

Other than breeding pond snails for my puffer, I haven't delved into the live foods. The only word of caution I would have is on the black worms. Be very careful how you are feeding them as I've heard they love to escape and start breeding in your substrate. Personally I wouldn't bother with them (especially since I've read they can have quite the smell).

I've been giving some serious thought to the vinegar eels myself. I have a puffer that I bet would love them and my platy/guppy are always producing fry that would like some. My biggest issue has been locating a cheap starter culture source (hint hint...). And also the possible smell/work required to maintain a culture. That's why the vinegar eels really appeal to me. They apparently have very easy living requirements.

Thanks again for posting the pictures. This might finally get me off my duff and start something.

 

[Craigthor]

That looks fantastic! You will have some very healthy fish (you do have fish right? ).

Other than breeding pond snails for my puffer, I haven't delved into the live foods. The only word of caution I would have is on the black worms. Be very careful how you are feeding them as I've heard they love to escape and start breeding in your substrate. Personally I wouldn't bother with them (especially since I've read they can have quite the smell).

I've been giving some serious thought to the vinegar eels myself. I have a puffer that I bet would love them and my platy/guppy are always producing fry that would like some. My biggest issue has been locating a cheap starter culture source (hint hint...). And also the possible smell/work required to maintain a culture. That's why the vinegar eels really appeal to me. They apparently have very easy living requirements.

Thanks again for posting the pictures. This might finally get me off my duff and start something.

Black worms have no smell if cared for properly. Also then ending up in the substrate is fine as the fish will hunt them out. I've watched it 3 times now at different times of the day my Bettas' out huntiong there meal. If the start to reproduce that is that much less I have to buy. They also help arraite the sand and will help keep it from producing Hydrogen Sulfide which is deadly to fish.

Craig

 

[PaulieFish]

I don't know why but I never thought to feed my community tank live food.. I mean I see my gourami eat a snail here and there but never thought to do it, you should make a guide to caring for and how to start cultures. Would be very interesting to divee into live food, and ill be tagging along to this thread..very interesting.

 

[7Enigma]

I don't know why but I never thought to feed my community tank live food.. I mean I see my gourami eat a snail here and there but never thought to do it, you should make a guide to caring for and how to start cultures. Would be very interesting to divee into live food, and ill be tagging along to this thread..very interesting.

There are tons of articles online that go into great detail for each type of live food. Here's just 2 I have looked at in the past but a google search would find you much more.

Aquaria FAQ: Live Food

Feeding Rainbowfishes

 

[PaulieFish]

There are tons of articles online that go into great detail for each type of live food. Here's just 2 I have looked at in the past but a google search would find you much more.

Aquaria FAQ: Live Food

Feeding Rainbowfishes

Sweet thanks a ton, I might consider this.. not only it might save me some money, but also its healthier for the fish!!

 

[7Enigma]

Sweet thanks a ton, I might consider this.. not only it might save me some money, but also its healthier for the fish!!

Probably won't save you any money, and it will increase your time, but it is most definitely healthier for the fish! Kind of like live plants.

 

[PaulieFish]

Probably won't save you any money, and it will increase your time, but it is most definitely healthier for the fish! Kind of like live plants.

Eh regardless still want to try it.. where do you initially get the eggs tho? Like I have read how to take care of them etc, but where do you actually get the stuff to start the cultivation. I assume LFS?

 

[Craigthor]

Eh regardless still want to try it.. where do you initially get the eggs tho? Like I have read how to take care of them etc, but where do you actually get the stuff to start the cultivation. I assume LFS?

Depending on what your looking for I can sell some starters for your own cultures.

 

[PaulieFish]

Depending on what your looking for I can sell some starters for your own cultures.

Now once you get a culture started does it stay like that if you maintain it? I have tetras, gourami, a swordfin, and guppies. What would you suggest would be the best for them?

 

[7Enigma]

Eh regardless still want to try it.. where do you initially get the eggs tho? Like I have read how to take care of them etc, but where do you actually get the stuff to start the cultivation. I assume LFS?

After replying to your post I started googling biological supply companies and found this place.

http://www.berkshirebiological.com/Vinegar-Eel--30.html


Seems very reasonable and they have the vinegar eels I am interested in trying to propogate. But in my search I found several other places. I would go for a combination of price and close location (ie if you're on the west coast get the supplies from somewhere out there).

 

[7Enigma]

Now once you get a culture started does it stay like that if you maintain it? I have tetras, gourami, a swordfin, and guppies. What would you suggest would be the best for them?

Most of the research I've done always recommends at least 2 cultures regardless of what you are keeping. That way in case something bad happens you don't completely lose the species.

White worms seem to be the best overall food from my research due to their size, ease of care, and quick reproduction. I'd add in something tiny for feeding fry (such as daphnia, microworms, vinegar eels), but it may be best to start with one thing and then decide if it's worth the work. I'm going to go with the vinegar eels first due to the extreme ease of care and personal scientific interest.

 

[PaulieFish]

Most of the research I've done always recommends at least 2 cultures regardless of what you are keeping. That way in case something bad happens you don't completely lose the species.

White worms seem to be the best overall food from my research due to their size, ease of care, and quick reproduction. I'd add in something tiny for feeding fry (such as daphnia, microworms, vinegar eels), but it may be best to start with one thing and then decide if it's worth the work. I'm going to go with the vinegar eels first due to the extreme ease of care and personal scientific interest.

Yeah the white worms seem to be the easiest to take care of, was reading some. Now its just time to find someone who will sell me a cheap culture! lol

 

[7Enigma]

Yeah the white worms seem to be the easiest to take care of, was reading some. Now its just time to find someone who will sell me a cheap culture! lol

Post here if you find a place that meets that criteria. The only places I could find the white worms wanted >$20 after factoring in shipping which is a bit more than I'd like to pay.

 

[Craigthor]

For the white worms I've currently got Micro and Walter worms. They are really easy to culture once you get them going, I've got 2 seperate cultures of each at this time. Not sure how they would travel first class but Priority only takes 2-3 days and can be shipped in a small flat rate box, it only take a small bit to start a culture. If your interested PM me and we can try and work something out. I wouldn't ship till probably Monday as I wouldn't want them to sit in the PO over the weekend unless you lived close enough for them to be there in 2 days max.

Craig

 

[7Enigma]

For shipping (if you do) I'd recommend an old camera film holder (if they make a container that ships that way) or a cd jewel case. You want something sturdy so they don't get squished. On second though those little SD-memory card holders are probably perfect but I don't know where you can buy them as a replacement.

 

[7Enigma]

Wanted to reply to this post. So I ended up using the Berkshire company I linked to earlier in the thread. Since I'm close I was able to ship by ground and there was no extra shipping for adding more items (within reason). So for under $30 I got 2 cultures of vinegar eels (I recommend only getting one as EACH of the containers had hundreds of eels even though they say 30 on the container).

Since shipping was basically free on more items I got a culture of red worms (typically used for composting but also great fish food for adults), and an egg case of praying mantis (sounded cool, they are great for the garden/yard), and I'll see if I can get a couple in a terrarium or something.

So this morning I setup my first of 2 vinegar eel cultures using a chopped up apple and apple cider vinegar. They are cruising around in the vinegar so hoepfully they will start to multiply. They are MUCH smaller than I thought they would be so am unsure if my puffer will feed on them, but my main tank will be awesome to watch the feeding frenzy at the surface when the eels are added.

HTH