Collecting Your Own Bloodworm

[Synirr]

I dunno how long it takes for them to develop, but when they get a big lump on one end it's time to dump them out! You've only got a day or two by then until they turn into mosquitos. They look kinda like just the torso of a mosquito then, without any wings, visibly thicker at one end.

EDIT: Ok, I looked it up, apparently their lifecycle lasts from one to several weeks depending on the species, so I guess it's best to just check every day and watch for pupa. Here's a good website with some info about them, and real pics of what to look for
http/science.howstuffworks.com/mosquito2.htm

 

[CFC]

Bloodworms come from a non biting species of mosquito and are usually found in stagnent water with large ammounts of leaf litter and detrius at the bottom where they hide in the sludge.

To collect decent numbers of your own bloodworms take a bucket of tankwater, add a couple of handfulls of fallen leaves to it and place it under a bush in the shade in the garden. Within a few weeks the water will be teaming with life, all of which can be fed to your fish. Simply pour the water through a fine seive or net and then pick out all the bits of leaf and sludge as best as you can, the rest can be rinsed off in fresh dechlorinated water and then feed the beasties you find to your fish, yummy.

 

[Qays]

nice one CFC

The "yummy" part got me worried though

 

[lljdma06]

Ah the joys of Summer, free live food for my fishies. I will occasionally pick off ants for them too. I have one betta, Siegmund, who adores ants. He likes picking off their little legs, then eating them segment by segment, little tyrant! Little aphids are good too, as are gnats.

 

[Griz]

Bloodworms are the larval stage of a non-biting midge (chironomids). Mosquito (culicida) larvae are different (although similar) creatures. Both are great fish food but care should be taken with mosquitos as they can carry many different diseases.

edit: These are Canadian terms, common names my vary in other parts of the world.

 

[kimmers318]

Thanks for all of the great information. Hopefully I will have happy hunting this summer! The girls will probably think it is a blast...they love to get earthworms for hubby's oscars. (And, no, no chemial treatments have been on our yard in at least 7 years as we have dogs and invisible fencing which doesn't restrict them to any part of yard, so no chemicals)

 

[BWBettas]

Might get a bucket from shop near the beach and try and get some of my own bloodworms then.. nice one CFC

Bret

 

[dgwebster]

ah now if they come from midges, they do bite the little baskets, we get MILLIONS of them. I would say "i think ill chuck a bucket n some gunk in my back garden then" to try and get some home grown food, but there are already dozens of tub type things with rainwater n debris collected over winter. I just know they will still be there all summer, will just keep an eye on them.

 

[pieman]

Ok i'm the noob here, what's this hydra

 

[Synirr]

Hydra are tiny aquatic critters, almost microscopic, that carry a sting. They usually aren't harmful to fish, but can be dangerous to very small fry. I had some brought in by live plants in one of my betta fry tanks one time but they disappeared once the bettas reached a certain age, so I believe some small fish will eat them. Either that or they starved when I stopped feeding BBS.
They look like this, but can also be brown. The green ones have photosynthetic bacteria living in them, the brown ones do not