How Long Should Worms Be In Tank - Dp Feeding

[jaxx]

Hi all!

Ive recently added 4 Dwarf Puffers to my dedicated species tank.

So far they seem happy, starting out with hiding in the corner they have started to venture round the tank and have a good look round.

So i have tried them out with their first meal which consists of (a block of) frozen bloodworms. thawed, rinsed and dropped into a feeder that floats at the surface of the water.

With pleasing results, each one of the fish has ventured to the cone, scoped it out and plucked 3-4 worms each, and devoured "most" of what they have taken, and are now swimming about looking pleased with fat bellies!

My question is, how long should i leave the cone and excess worms in there? Giving enough time for them to fill up and not start to play with the chemistry in the water of course? I wouldnt have thought i could leave them in there until the cone was empty without having problems?

My other tanks have always contained fish that will obliterate a block of worms before its hit the water! So a mothering technique is a bit new to me!

Thanks

Rob

 

[nmonks]

You really shouldn't leave food in the water for more than 5-10 minutes. Beyond that, all its doing is polluting the water. Your puffers will eat all they need within a minute or two: if their bellies are swollen, they've eaten more than enough! Being small fish, two or three meals per day is better than one big meal.

Try using a knife to cut cubes into smaller sections prior to use. Be careful though; it's very easy to cut yourself when cutting ice. Otherwise, just use the remainder of a de-iced cube to feed your other aquarium fish. Kept cold (i.e., in a fridge) defrosted food is good for a day, but at room temperature, it likely goes "off" very quickly, a few hours at most.

Cheers, Neale

 

[jaxx]

Thanks Neale

I did indeed leave it there for about 10-15 minutes, 3 of the 4 seemed more eager than the 4th, which came at the very last few minutes. But they all did eventually seem to have "had enough"

I dropped the rest into a small sealable glass bottle and dropped it back in the freezer, hopefully itll last out a few more days... i wouldnt dream of leaving them at room temp!

 

[nmonks]

You can't re-freeze defrosted food. Or rather, you can, but what you end up with loses nutritional value and may well go off. It isn't safe to give to your fish, at any rate.

If you look at any frozen food, it usually says "do not re-freeze" somewhere on the packaging. That's why I specifically said you can chill defrosted food, as opposed to returning in the freezer.

Cheers, Neale

 

[mikster]

Just cut the cubes up with scissors and then take one bit out at a time.