tubifex cubes

[Meredith]

well, I bought some freeze dried(?) tubifex cubes for my fish. The directions say press onto glass...bla bla bla. They don't stay stuck to the glass, and they seem to be VERY messy. Does anyone else use these? Is there any danger of disease from these worms? I used to feed freeze dried blood worms to my betta, will my fish like those as well?

 

[Luke Anderson]

Freeze dried tubifex are quite messy, but i have been known to feed them a few times a year to most of my fish. There is a risk of transmitting bacteria to your freshwater fish with these (and other freeze dried foods that come from freshwater such as bloodworms). These types of harmful bacteria are not killed off by being frozen or dried. However to get around this, many brands sterilize their freeze dried making them perfectly safe and frozen foods, hikari is one well known brand that does this.
Freeze dried foods in small amounts every once in a while is great for a treat, but frozen stuff is much preferable as it is usually more palatable for the fish, and it has less risk of constipating the fish. Especially for fish prone to constipation such as balloon mollys, bettas, fancy goldfish, and blood parrots.

 

[Corty]

Try turning down your filter flow - sometimes they can break the cubes down faster than the fish can

 

[sugarloves]

I find a whole cube is FAR too much for my fish to eat and i feel like im over feeding them. I have loose dried worms that i give them now and then but i dont like using them cuz you hear nothing good of them.

 

[chasgood]

They make special feeders for the tubeflex cubes. Not sure if they help with the mess I havent tried it. Try cutting the cube in half or even quartered.
I bought some freeze dried bloodworms. They are loose not packed in a cube. I just sprinke in a little at a time. The freeze dried Daphnia is the same way.

Its good to be varrying the diet.
Algae wafers are good for most fish too.

 

[gamma]

I pull the tubifex cube into pieces and soak for just a minute, pushing it down into a little dish of water until its saturated. A couple of the chunks I can feed directly to my 2 goldfish. Another chunk I pull apart with my fingers under the water (yes, yuck) to separate all the little worms, then pour enough into the tropical tank for the little serpae tetras. The rest I discard.

Because of the mess, they don't get these everyday, but I do like that they'll sink after a little soaking, the bloodworms float and not all my tetras will feed at the top. I think its worth the trouble!

 

[Fishboy]

Just press down hard on the cube to the side of the glass. A few air bubbles should come up. Then it will stick for an hour or so. None of my fish have really liked tubifex cubes though

 

[Gunnie]

I have found that the Hikari tubifex worms are the preferred brand. I had the Wardley, but the fish wouldn't eat it. They go nuts over the Hikari. I also don't worry about sticking the cube to the glass anymore. They attack it the minute it hits the water.