Feeding live foods

[abe]

Hi, I read on here that someone fed their fish mosquito larvae. So my mom kindly left my 10 gallon outside, and now there are these worm things in there, w/ a small head, about a half an inch long at most. Would it be safe to feed them to my fish? Would they be carrying any diseases?

 

[Dragonslair]

The worm-like creatures you describe are most likely creatures known as cyclops. They are the larval form of midges. If they look greyish to brownish in colour, wriggle to the bottom when you approach them it is almost a certainty.However as I don't know where PA is I can't say for 100%
Yes you can feed these to your fish, but you also run the risk of introducing disease into your tank. The best by far is to feed your fish specially prepared frozen food. There is everything from the humble daphnia to mussel and squid for lancet fish.
The best of all is you know that it's safe.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

I've been to PA......Pennsylvannia (I think I've spelt it right).

Think you're wrong Dragonslair, they sound like mosquito larvae to me. One way to confirm this. Abe, do their bums look like a tube that stick to the surface of the water?

Wild caught live foods run the risk of having disease.

 

[abe]

Yeah I didn't think it would be a good idea, just thought I'd make sure as my fish haven't had any live or frozen foods yet.

 

[Bling]

I never heard of mosquito larvae giving fish disease! What sort of disease?

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Very good question Bling. I'll try to answer your question.

There are many diseases out there. After all, you have to ask yourself, how many can a human get? There is a disease for every type of animal that exists. Be they adult or juvenile, and I'm sure being an egg does not even ensure protection.

Mosquito larva feed in still, stagnant, 'dead' and 'green' water. Who knows what may have died, passed through, pooed and peed in that water. If I know my mosquitos right, they filter the water and may become infected with god knows what diseases.

All live foods, farmed or wild, has its risks.

 

[FishDan]

I agree, all live food carries risk of disease and parasites. The later probably being the worst problem. Farmed live foods are certainly much safer than foods caught from the wild, as they are grown in more controlled environments. But even the farmed foods carry risk. Personally, if you want to feed live foods to your fish (which they will love) I would try to find other hobbiests that grow their own live food and get a started culture from them/ That way you are less likely to introduce parasites/disease to your fish. Failing that a trusted LFS is a good alternative.

\Dan

 

[csr mel]

i think you guys might be a bit overprotective on this issue.

fish in the wild eat just about any kind of live food they can fit into their gut. this includes mosquito larvae and pupa as well as just about anything else.

i have been feeding my platies home grown mosquito pupa for a while now and have no problems at all with it. my fish LOVE pupa feeding time.

most disease that adult mosquitos have are NOT present in mosquito larvae or pupa. for instance, west nile virus. a mosquito must first contract this disease by biting an infected animal. then and only then is it able to spread this disease to other animals.
mosquito larvae do not bite anything, they filter feed as was already said, so their changes of picking up any harmfull diseases are small. only adult mossquitos which fly not swim are able to contract west nile, and most other disease.

perhaps it may be wise to not feed youre fish adult mosquitos.