bloodworms good or bad?

[hc8719]

im starting to hear that bloodworms shouldnt be fed to fish because they dont have enough protein in them. is this true?

my BGK just about exclussively eats frozen bloodworms (brineshrimp got a little messy, but i could go back if i really needed too) so im concerned she may not be getting a proper diet. (im hoping that she'll grow big enough soon, so i dont have baby her with feedings, chasing off the voracious gouramis)

and then i got to thinking, bloodworms are mosquitos, so where do the female mosquitos get the blood they need to lay eggs at the hatchery? i'd feel sick if they locked up some dogs or monkeys with a bunch of hungry mosquitos

 

[Thebluyak]

a fishes diet shouldnt be one constant thing. I would switch it up between bloodworms, flake, pellets and veggies.

 

[toddnbecka]

Bloodworms are actually midge larva, not mosquito. They are more nutritious than brine shrimp, but shouldn't be the only food used. Frozen mysis shrimp are excellent, I use them 2x/week, along with bloodworms 4x/week, and brine 1x/week for my spiney eels. They show great color, and have spawned several times, so the diet must be good.

 

[coldmachineUK]

Hmm...the only time I know for sure you shouldn't be feeding bloodworm is if you keep Malawi cichlids. Bloodworm is actually high in protein, not low, from what I've read in many many places, and it causes Malawi Bloat to mbunas and the like from the Malawi rift lake.

Otherwise, it can make a fine addition to a balanced diet in general

 

[Alshain]

I feed a flake food as a staple diet, 3 small servings a day. When I vary the diet I use the food only during one of those feedings and the rest return to the flake food except for the larger veggies that last all day like lettuce or cucumber, then I don't feed them at all. On Tuesday I feed Bloodworms, Thursday I feed Tubifex Worms, Saturday I feed a random veggie that I have available.

 

[7Enigma]

Like Alshain, I'm a random feeder normally 2-3X a day. Flake is my staple that is normally fed twice a day, and the 3rd feeding (normally in the afternoon when I don't mind taking more time prepping the food ) will randomly be either freeze dried blood worms, tubifex worms, shrimp pellets, algae wafers, vegetables, or brine shrimp.

This gives a good variety that I know the fish like, and also allows me to be sure everyone gets some food during the day (flake food ensures everyone gets a bite, while the others tend to get eaten by only a few due to bigger but less pieces).

 

[rich311k]

I usually feed frozen worms once a week on Friday evening, before I do my water change. That way I den't have to worry about messing up the water. I give them freeze dried worms or plankton or some other meaty treat a couple of other times during the week.

 

[QTOFFER]

Here's what I've been told or read about meaty fish foods: Any corrections or comments are welcome cause I'm no worm expert!

I've been told that bloodworms are very high in protein, but that too much of them can cause constipation and bloating.
Baby brine shrimp are more nutritious because of the attached yolk sac; unfortified adult brine shrimp are pretty much like potato chips for fish - devoid of much nutritional value.
Wax worms are high in protein, but also very high in fat and should be fed very sparingly.
Live tubifex worms are nutritious, but can sometimes carry disease. The culture also smells like raw sewage! A better alternative is live California blackworms.

 

[7Enigma]

That's what the peas are for!

 

[DepotFish]

Even though we've got peas, you still don't want a fish to bloat or get constipated regularly. A varied diet is best, one food doesn't provide all essential nutrients. Even a flake or pellet food that claims to be "complete" does not provide all of the nutrients a fish needs to be healthy. Bloodworms are good for one thing though, enhancing the colour. I had also heard they were high in protein, not low.

 

[Tostada]

I doubt brine shrimp (adult) are quite as bad as potato chips. I think the concern is that they are mostly devoid of vitamins/nutrients. If you look at something decent like the Hikari frozen brine shrimp cubes, though, they're 49% protein, 11% fat, 9% fiber, and have tons of vitamins added.

I may be wrong, but I like the consistancy of brine shrimp a lot more than any other food. They're so light and feathery looking, it seems like they couldn't possibly cause constipation or bloat or whatever. I'm much more concerned about overfeeding blood worms.

I don't think brine shrimp bring out the color in your fish as well as blood worms do, though. I wonder how directly that's related to actual health of the fish. Obviously less healthy fish have less color, but then there are things like krill which add color almost artificially, and then there are color enhancing foods which have additives strictly for color.

 

[7Enigma]

I think the freeze dried variety of foods are more often than not the cause for constipation. Most times these are not hydrated prior to introducing in the tank, and a bite of freeze dried food is much smaller than once its hydrated up in the stomach/digestive system of the fish. I like to soak all of my food prior to addition in the tank in a dixie cup of tank water for a bit to make sure the food has had at least some time to hydrate.

This is also great for tanks with aggressive fish that will eat more than their share if the food is floating at the surface. My flake food gets crumbled, hydrated for 5seconds in tank water and dumped in the tank. The food then gets spread over a large area and even the more timid fish get their share.

 

[hc8719]

i might have forgotten to point this out, my fish in general all eat flakes, freeze dried foos, veggies, and if im gonna change the tank, brine shrimp.
hhowever my BGK will only eat frozen foods. i doubt they'll constipate a carnivore by nature

 

[7Enigma]

i doubt they'll constipate a carnivore by nature

???

 

[Jchillin]

I think the freeze dried variety of foods are more often than not the cause for constipation. Most times these are not hydrated prior to introducing in the tank, and a bite of freeze dried food is much smaller than once its hydrated up in the stomach/digestive system of the fish. I like to soak all of my food prior to addition in the tank in a dixie cup of tank water for a bit to make sure the food has had at least some time to hydrate.

I believe hc means "in" nature.

 

[hc8719]

i doubt they'll constipate a carnivore by nature

???

umm sorry, i meant this in the sense that BGKs are predators by nature, and live on bugs (when they are young anyway) so im saying that i doubt an animal that eats bugs in the wild would get constipated by them. hope this makes more sense

i just started him back on brineshrimp as well, at your request

 

[rich311k]

The idea is that in the wild the food the knife feeds on, would have fed on is vegetable matter, therefore the knife gets his vitamins and ruffage second handed. If you feed him healthy frozen and live worms etc. He should be ok as the worms are raised on vegetable matter. I think the constipation issue really comes in with fish that only get dried foods.

 

[7Enigma]

Yes, the concern I had was that the hydration of the freeze-dried food if eaten before hydrated will expand the food in the digestive tract, possibly causing a blockage which could lead to constipation. No food in the wild will be freeze-dried.

 

[hc8719]

thanks for clearing that up

 

[rwbw00]

On another note, I would think overfeeding could contribute to constipation despite what is being fed. It is doubtful that a fish would eat as often in the wild as they do in our glass boxes.