Live food for dummies

[sharkweek178]

My mosquito bucket was delayed while I cleared it up with a neighbor. It's been out for about a week now and I expect to see eggs and larvae any day now.
The water is pretty junked up with I expected. But is there a way to sort through the dead bugs and other debris to get to the larvae?

 

[sharkweek178]

The all time easiest live food is freshly hatched brine shrimp. You would think they are too small but Neon Tetras and similar small fish go wild for them.

My honey gourami loves them too.

 

[Colin_T]

mozzies will lay eggs on clean water with some leaves on the bottom. just keep it in a shady place and wait for the wrigglers, then scoop them out with a fine mesh net, rinse under tap water and add them to the tank.

 

[sharkweek178]

mozzies will lay eggs on clean water with some leaves on the bottom. just keep it in a shady place and wait for the wrigglers, then scoop them out with a fine mesh net, rinse under tap water and add them to the tank.

I'll start cleaning out the dead bugs and other stuff that floats.

 

[Endlersendlers]

Back to Basics when Breeding Fish

STARTING OUT Make sure you have a pair, (1 male + 1 female). There is nothing worse than spending your hard-earned dollars buying a couple of fish to try and breed and ending up with a pair of fish of the same sex. Let's face it, to reproduce fish you need a male and a female. Two males won't do...

www.fishforums.net

But what if one of the males identifies as female?

 

[sharkweek178]

I just bought some coconut fiber. I'm going to try grindal worms next.

 

[Colin_T]

Grindal worms don't do well in coconut fiber. Use peat moss or potting mix (without anything added) to culture grindal or white worms.

 

[sharkweek178]

Grindal worms don't do well in coconut fiber. Use peat moss or potting mix (without anything added) to culture grindal or white worms.

I have some peat moss around too. I'll try both and see what works for me.

 

[Back in the fold]

Grindal worms don't do well in coconut fiber. Use peat moss or potting mix (without anything added) to culture grindal or white worms.

I disagree . My Grindal Worm cultures are in a medium of 60% coconut coir and the rest vermiculite. They have been producing voluminously since July 2020 in this medium . Everybody does something different and everybody makes whatever it is that they are doing work . There are even those poor misguided individuals who grow Grindal’s on synthetic sponges . I use coconut coir because of my personal environmental sensibilities. Peat is becoming scarce and shouldn’t be dug out in the volumes that it is . Recently I read something in The Journal of The American Killifish Association (JAKA) that claimed coconut coir has excess salt in it and should be repeatedly and thoroughly rinsed before use. That was news to me and I never have taken any extra precautions because of that . Seems to me that small worms like Grindal’s would suffer due to that and I’ve never noticed anything unusual in my setup. I get mine from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm and the price is reasonable.

 

[sharkweek178]

Just got my first batch of mosquito larvae. The fish went bananas for those little wrigglers.

 

[Colin_T]

I disagree . My Grindal Worm cultures are in a medium of 60% coconut coir and the rest vermiculite.

Beware of vermiculite. it is often found in association with asbestos.

in my opinion, vermiculite should be banned like asbestos is

perlite is much safer and does the same thing as vermiculite, but both should be washed and wet before handling, and you should wear a dust mask and safety glasses if handling these products when they are dry.

 

[Back in the fold]

Beware of vermiculite. it is often found in association with asbestos.

in my opinion, vermiculite should be banned like asbestos is

perlite is much safer and does the same thing as vermiculite, but both should be washed and wet before handling, and you should wear a dust mask and safety glasses if handling these products when they are dry.

That is not true . Vermiculite is a naturally occurring mineral very similar to perlite . You are repeating an urban myth . But don’t believe me , look it up for your own self .

 

[sharkweek178]

Question about the mosquito larvae. I know you can freeze them for later. Can I also keep them in the fridge to slow down their growth without killing them?

 

[Colin_T]

cold water doesn't slow mozzie larvae growth by much.

 

[sharkweek178]

cold water doesn't slow mozzie larvae growth by much.

Would it buy me a day or two?
Otherwise, it sounds like the options are feed or freeze. Which is ok. I don't want to feed the fish these larvae every day so I can freeze them for later in the year.