fruit flies for live feed?

[tomherndon]

A leftover apple brought on this thought: with a tight fitting tank top, would it be possible to feed fruit flies to aquarium fish? maybe use a hanging transfer box (like the LFS uses to collect fish) inside the tank so that adult fruit flies can fly out, hit the lid and then hit the water? Or maybe even just float a mason jar open topped in the tank with the fly culture inside?

My desk bettas were going nuts after the flies clinging to the outside of their tanks today.

 

[Lager]

You could start a culture of wingless ones. Seems like more trouble than needed frozen blood worms will keep your betta very happy.

 

[crazyfishlady]

I was using microworms to feed my betta fry and then the fruit flies started breeding in there...now, they're all over the house. Grrrr....they make me angry! hehehehNow I started a new culture of the microworms in a sealed container with holes big enough for air to get through, not the flies.

 

[tomherndon]

part of what got me interested in live food is how aggressive/active they were chasing the flies outside of the tank as they travelled across the glass. While they are certainly happy to pull pellets/bloodworms from the surface, this was more active predation.

 

[OldMan]

The microworm culture can be controlled by feeding the maggots to the fish rather than letting them turn into flying flies. I hate fruit flies but my fish seemed to enjoy the maggots. No way I was going to let them become flies. A trick to keep them out of the microworm culture is to cut a large vent hole, maybe an inch square, in the container lid, then cover it with a scrap of cloth that is sealed on all sides with some scotch tape. The flies can't get through the cloth or around the sides but air goes right through for the culture.