Feeding BLOODWORMS

[mgkaelen]

hi guys, i bought a frog yesterday for my freshwater tank and i have bought him some frozen bloodworms. my boyfriend accidentally bought the "floating" kind, though, so i am having a LOT of trouble feeding him. last night my boyfriend thawed them out, and with the advice of the fish store man, he sucked them into a turkey baster, and spit them out near the frog... the suction on the baster didn't really work, and the TINY bit that did make it down towards the frog, he didn't seem to be interested. this morning, (i know they're nocturnal), the froggy was nipping at some tetras... i thought that he thought they were food, so i assumed he was hungry. i decided i wanted to try a different method of feeding him.. at least if it didn't work i wuoldn't have to waste his food tonight.. so i pushed the bloodworms down to the bottom of the tank and anchored them down with a rock. but the frog didn't see them! i tried to turn him in the right direction so he wouldn't have to go hungry but he wasn't interested and my other fish found them and ate most of them. does anyone have any other suggestions as to how i can feed the frog? i know i should be feeding him at night, but maybe the buoyant bloodworms are just a lost cause...?

 

[Megalofyia]

I've only a couple of times seen my frog eat. I've had it for about a year so I would guess that he eats in secret. I just put some food in the tank in the evening and by morning it's all gone.

 

[wendy]

...

It depends on the frog. Some of them are really quick in realizing food is there and hunting for it, others aren't as tactful. To make sure they are eating, wait until about 6 p.m. or later, and use some type of clean, aquarium safe object to grasp the worm and dangle it about 2 inches from the frog's face. Their upclose vision is horrible, so they won't see it unless it is away from them. A lot of people use tweezers or an unfolded paper clip. The point is to first make sure the frog sees the object, and secondly to make it think that it is live prey so that it will feel the need to 'hunt' it. It may be easier to just move the frog(s) to their own tank. Having them live with fish is possible, but much harder.

 

[spence0416]

I found that my frogs will not eating any floating food (flakes or pellets). However anything that sinks they will eat. My frogs really like the bloodworms in nutrient gel. They sell it Petsmart and Petco. It is kind of messy, but at least you won't have to use a turkey baster to feed them.

 

[spence0416]

BTW if you do try the gel make sure you feed your fish some flakes at the same time to give your frogs a chance to get to the worms. I have three frogs living with 15 mollies, and have never had a problem getting them to eat.

 

[webmoose]

I got some frozen bloodworms last night. They have the little cubes. can I cut these in half? I don't want to over feed and the small cube looks like a lot for my small tank.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Moose

 

[ferret]

I always drop flake in, then 'aquatic frog' food. The frog food are sinking pellets that the fish ignore while eating the flake. I only use the frog food once a day. The evening feeding the frogs eat any flakes that manage to get to the bottom.

 

[Sati]

can I cut these in half?

Moose, you can cut them into any size you need. I actually buy my frozen bloodworms in the sheets instead of cubes and break off whatever I need. My community fish are absolutely voracious when I feed. I actually end up feeding quite a bit so that everybody gets enough. I put a piece on each end of the tank so that crazy fish dive at the first bit and the slower fish go to the other end of the tank to get theirs.

 

[webmoose]

Thanks Sati! I am going to do my first bloodworm feeding ever.. Wish me luck! I want it to drop to the bottom for my cories and flounder. I know that my other fish will be in there like a dirty shirt...

Frozen cube straight in will drop to bottom? Or am I better off to thaw it?

Sorry if it's a stupid question.

 

[ferret]

My experiences with frozen cubes, of multiple varieties, is that they will initially float, and may slowly sink after sometime. I use the cubes with cichlids though, so they don't last long enough to test. They seem to maintain boyancy for a while, but then they'll stop floating to the top. They won't sink, but they won't float up either.

The oscars will grab a cube each and go chew on them at the bottom. Oscars are messy and spit the cubes back out and gum it ;p The cubes don't float back to the top after they take them down, nor do they sink to the bottom.

I don't know how thawing will affect it.

 

[Sati]

Yeah, I've never thawed mine either. They separate from each other relatively quickly once they're put in my 78 degree water. If your cories aren't getting enough you could thaw them in a bit of tank water and try using a turkey baster to squirt it out near them on the bottom of the tank.

 

[BrianNY]

Here's how I feed frozen blood worms. I put as much as I'm going to feed in a fine mesh net. Then I run warm water over it till it thaws. The worms will actually become kind of clear. Why I do this is because a lot of "crap" is in the frozen liquid and I dont want that in my tanks So I'm rinsing out the garbage, and feeding the protein.

 

[Sati]

Crap? I thought it was blood. I prefer blood to crap, personally, lol.

 

[BrianNY]

Yeah, I try and avoid feeding crap whenever I can Holly

 

[Sati]

Smart thinking

 

[webmoose]

all the fish in the tank loved the bloodworms! They cories went wild for them!

 

[Fruitbat]

Thawing frozen bloodworm cubes will give you a mess of individual 'worms'. Personally I just swirl the cube in the water at the top of the tank and let the individual 'worms' separate. My gouramis and tiger barbs get what they want and enough seem to make it to the bottom that my yo-yo loaches and other loaches get their fill too.

 

[mattrox]

The worms will actually become kind of clear. Why I do this is because a lot of "crap" is in the frozen liquid and I dont want that in my tanks So I'm rinsing out the garbage, and feeding the protein.

You might be washing out some of the protien . The "blood" in the worm gives it the colour and is probably nutritious. The blood in the ice around the frozen worms should be taken care of by the filter. Plus the actual volume of "crap" comprared to the voulme of the tank is miniscule. It shound be diluted beyond recognition .

I feed in a similar method to Fruitbat. Never had anyproblems due to "bloodworm crap".

 

[BrianNY]

Well actually Matt, all of the red color doesn't come out, but much of it does. I've never heard that I've been rinsing away protein. This method of feeding bloodworms was recommended by one of the discus breeders I visited. I figured who am I to argue with success?

FYI My discus get frozen bloodworms every morning. Then a 25 % water change. They get tetra color bits every afternoon, and live CBW in the evening.

 

[stoneydee]

Hope you're not rinsing with regular tap water. Tank water would be better, unless you don't consider a glaze of chlorine "crap."