keeping live blood worms?

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John-Solo

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Apr 22, 2013
Messages
42
Location
Fairfax, VA
so Im wondering if anyone can give me some tips on the proper way to keep live blood worms on hand to feed my puffer and bolivian rams. I get a scoop full from my LFS and keeping them in a Tupperware container right now. I feed them a little bit at a time, but the worms dry out or die and get really stinky before I get half way through. does anyone have any suggestions? or am I destined to waist a bunch of these guys every week. thanks!
 
Are you sure they are bloodworms ? They are not often sold live, as they turn into midge flies which bite, among other things. Also, as you've learned, hard to keep alive. Might be tubifex, which can be really stinky.

There's also the issue of contamination. Frozen is safer, cleaner, easier. You can thaw a cube in a small amount of tank water, which takes very little time, and then feed as much of the worms as needed. Refreeze any leftovers right away, do the same thing with them next time.
 
The store sells them as live blood worms. They look like the ones from the frozen cubes when I though them out, they just squiggle around and my puffer go's nuts hunting them down. but I think your right, Ill just stick to the frozen ones, much easier.

I also decided that I was going to start to keep and bread snails. I have a 2g with an air pump and a small heater, I put some plants from my 30g and gravel in it and went to the store and go a bunch of pest snails as well as a few bigger ones to go in it. Iv read thats about all you need to do. do you know anything about that?
 
Generally, that's about all it should take. The small bladder snails and ramshorns snails breed fairly quickly once they get going. I put half a dozen in a 2.5 just a few weeks ago and so far I've seen at least six clutches of eggs. They are not large, because the snails are tiny, but they're persistent at the business of reproduction. I don't use a heater, they don't need it. I feed them a bit of algae tab, a sprinkle of fish food now and then and of course, I feed green water for the other critters in there. Tank has ostracods, copepods and some other wee beasties living in it, I think even some Dero worms.

If you can get live Dero worms, or Moina, or daphnia, your fish will love them ! Dero worms are fairly easy to culture from what I understand, none of the drawbacks of bloodworms, and you can coculture with Moina or daphnia and snails all together.. the snails provide food for the Dero worms. Moina and daphnia eat yeast dissolved in water.. baking yeast. In fact, that's what I'm trying to do with the ostracods.. seed shrimp. So far, so good, and the Dero worms were a bonus. Got them all from a potted Lotus at a LFS, they kindly let me drain off the water with all the lifeforms in it.

If you got any MTS snails.. the small conical ones, which have sharp points on the ends, they don't lay eggs on anything. They have live young from eggs laid inside a brood pouch. The fish may not be able to handle those, because they do have very, very hard shells that are difficult to crack. Just so you know.
 
Thanks! so Dero worms, Moina, or Daphnia, Ill as my LFS about them and I can keep them all in the same breading tank? Others on line say to put cucumber in the tank with the snails to gut load them, so Ill stop by the store on the way home form work. What is "Green Water" that you mentioned?
 
You can purchase MTS locally from Centreville Aquarium at 10/$1. I did that a few months ago and the population just took off.
Which store did you get the blood worms from?
 
Centerville Aquarium actually, Fresh2o... I think you suggested them to me for a piece of drift wood a while back. I like them, they seem to be knowledgeable, There prices can be a little high at times but I like supporting local independent shops so I dont mind spending a little extra now and then. If I dont see any action in my breeder tank in a few weeks I may pick some up from them.
 
Green water is single cell algaes.. when you get it in your tank, it's called an algae bloom and nobody wants it.

I buy lab cultured disks of pure Japanese chlorella and culture it. Grows in either fresh or salt water, one of the few that does this. Very tiny cells, so good food for filter feeders.

You can also dissolve bread yeast in water and feed that to filter feeders like Moina, daphnia, seed shrimp, copepods possibly too. I feed yeast to the seed shrimp I have, [ ostracods], and fry food to the Dero worms now and then. A bit of algae tab or fish food for the snails, not too often. So far, so good. If you can't find these things live in a store, you can order them from Carolina Biological labs.

I can't get Dero worms from them, because it costs too much to get them to Canada. Some sort of inspection is needed, costs nearly $200... but I can get the other critters, live by mail order. The only live things my local stores have are the occasional flightless fruit fly, for frogs, but great for fish, and crickets, etc., for reptiles. I get them to feed my floating frogs.. hate crickets but the frogs like them.

Green water is the best food for filter feeders like daphnia and moina, but yeast is a very good second best.

Snails would likely eat the veggies, but spinach would be a lot better than cucumber I'd think. Boil it to soften it, they prefer it that way. Small pieces, don't let leftovers rot in the tank too long if they don't get eaten up.
 
@John-Solo - they are practically giving them away. They are quite prolific...sure the spinach will help.

@fishfur - I always viewed Carolina Biological Supply as the Sears catalog (showing my age but the words "wish list" comes to mind). Nice insight on live foods and cultures.
 
thanks guys for all the help. Im sure my fish will be very happy once this tank takes off! Ill post an up date in a few weeks.
 
Yeah, I just wish we had an equivalent to Carolina labs here in Canada. Apparently, we don't, not that I can find.

I wanted to buy Dero worms, which Carolina has, but I'd have to pay a $200. fee to have them inspected by, I think it's Fish and Wildlife, before they can leave the US. If it was the Canadian government asking, I'd understand it better, but it's beyond my price range no matter who is asking for that kind of money. sigh...
 
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