Food Question - Freeze Dried Tubiflex Worms

[mrdbdigital]

I'm getting back into the hobby after a long time without fish, and I was wondering what happened to freeze dried tubiflex worms as a food? I haven't seen them mentioned on any of the forums I've visited. I used to feed them a lot in the previous days.

Did they go "out of fashion?"

 

[Zagz]

I feed them to my discus and to my african clawed frog regularily. I do feed them to the other fish as well once in a while.

 

[bs6749]

I'm getting back into the hobby after a long time without fish, and I was wondering what happened to freeze dried tubiflex worms as a food? I haven't seen them mentioned on any of the forums I've visited. I used to feed them a lot in the previous days.

Did they go "out of fashion?"

You got it! Tubifex are now known to have parasites in them and these are then taken in by the fish. The fish then get sick and can die. I purchased some freeze dried tubifex cubes about 10 months ago and have tried feeding them to my angelfish, GBR's, BN pleco, glowlight tetras, RCS and NONE of them would even touch them...not even the snails. Must be they got the memo too and avoid eating them at all costs. That was before I heard about them passing on parasites. I wouldn't even consider feeding them to my discus! You won't find any serious discus keeper that feeds these to their fish as there is simply too much risk involved. There are far much better foods available such as brine shrimp and bloodworms, though bloodworms can be hard to digest in some fish. Frozen foods are the next best thing to live foods as they retain most of the characteristics of the living form. With freeze dried foods there is almost always a lack of fat content because it is ruined in the process that keeps them "fresh".

P.S. I fed the remaining 1.5 cans of tubifex worms to my uncle's fish in his pond.

 

[mrdbdigital]

Thanks for the information. I knew there must have been some sort of reason.

 

[Zagz]

I was under the impression that freeze dried tubifex worms were free of parasites, the freeze drying process killed them off. I've been feeding my fish and frog them for years with no parasites.

 

[bs6749]

Nope, the freeze drying doens't do anything to kill the parasite and that's why they are avoided. Tubifex used to be big but now are a thing of the past.

 

[Zagz]

Hmm I will do some research, thanks for the info.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

so you wouldnt recommend feeding brine either? thats all my bala and others will eat is the brine and bloodworms.. they seem to have no problem devowering them lol

 

[bs6749]

Frozen Brine Shrimp and Frozen Bloodworms make up the majority of the diet for my discus. I also feed them NLS cichlid pellets but they prefer the frozen. They also get frozen beefheart every now and again. I pay the extra buck per flat and get the Hikari brand frozen food versus the San Franciso Bay Brand since the Hikari Brand goes through a triple sterilization process. I've fed the SF Bay Brand before but it's not woth the pennies I'd save if I end up losing a hundred dollar fish or worse, all of them.

On a side note, supposedly the USGS recently reported that mercury levels were at an alarmingly high rate in the Great Salt Lake and that is where a good portion of brine shrimp come from as far as I have heard. So, brine shrimp may be "polluted" with mercury and then they will be ingested by the fish. I wonder what companies harvest brine from that lake.

 

[Innovator]

Hmmm I tend to disagree. The freeze-drying process adds an extra step to freezing, thus lowering possible bacteria contents and eliminating parasites. Unless the process is not thorough and the the food heavily infested with parasites, I don't see a transfer problem as their might even be with that of frozen. Having said that, all major brand companies have alot to lose if their sterlization methods were not only standardized, but caused impairment of health. Personally, I think you'd be safe with all and should base choices on nutritional content, of which brine shrimp shows little to nil of. For brine, either feed as a treat or purchase live, enrich, and feed out. Just my .02

 

[bs6749]

The main problem is that the tubifex worms live in rivers that have become polluted. The worms soak in the pollutants and parasites and they are transferred to the fish. The farms and sources from which tubifex were harvested are no good anymore and tubifex worms are very poor nutritionally (supposedly) and that's another reason why they've been phased out. Brine shrimp are not good to feed soley to any fish but then again, there isn't anything that would be. A balanced diet is needed for a healthy fish. Brine shrimp are infact very nutritional, especially when they are young. That's the reason that BBS are fed to fry. They do lose a great deal of nutritional value after 12-24 hours but larger, adult brine shrimp are a good meal for larger fish as they don't have the parasites that can be transferred to freshwater fish. On top of that, brine shrimp sources aren't polluted for the most part and they are much safer to feed. Hopefully the mercury thing will get resolved.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

so then its ok for me to continue feeding my bala's and danio's brine? what about just the good old fashion mesquito larva? not bloodworms.

 

[bs6749]

Brine shrimp are perfectly fine. Bloodworms are fine. Mosquito larvae are fine provided that they are clean. I'd also give them some flake food though. Actually, flake would be the staple of their diet if I owned them.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

They wont even touch the stuff.. not even the danio's. They eat it and spit it right back out.

hence why im waiting for my bacteria to build up so i can add some long fin tetra lol. I have 2 full shakers of tetra food

 

[bs6749]

They will eventually eat it if you don't feed them for a day or two and then feed them the new food. You should add it gradually with the old food and increase the new food to old food ratio over time so they readily accept the new food. Morning is supposedly the best time to introduce new foods from what I have heard.

 

[Innovator]

Nauplii is nutritious as is enriched adult brine shrimp, but prepackaged brine shrimp or those not enriched are not worth their weight. Flake is under the same standards as adult brine shrimp with perhaps more nutrition in protein, but is easily broken down before fish can consume it. You'd be better off with small pelleted food over flake. At work our freshwater animals, depending on the system, may get food items such as: mysis, small pellets (Spectrum), bloodworms, flake (morning treat), and sometimes blended with shrimp and various fish.