live foods for livebearers

[fish48]

If you want to keep your fish healthy and in best condition then feed some live food, it cost very little to buy collect or cultivate, it's one of the most natural food that you can offer a fish,
earthworm and grindal worm culture happy living on banana skin and ready break.

 

[emeraldking]

My fish do get live food as well like springtails, earth worms, artemia, tubifex, daphnia, blood worms and white mosquito worms. But they also love flies.

 

[Back in the fold]

Every fish will do better with live foods . Not just a supplemental feeding or a treat but at least 50% weekly . The colors brighten , the body becomes rounded and full and fry seem to be more vigorous . You are right in that it costs very little and also it’s fun to do . This is their natural diet . You will not find one reptile fancier who does not feed live food and they are dealing with a cold blooded creature as well .

 

[sharkweek178]

Every fish will do better with live foods . Not just a supplemental feeding or a treat but at least 50% weekly . The colors brighten , the body becomes rounded and full and fry seem to be more vigorous . You are right in that it costs very little and also it’s fun to do . This is their natural diet . You will not find one reptile fancier who does not feed live food and they are dealing with a cold blooded creature as well .

No animal should live solely off of processed foods.
And it's not hard. Grindal worms are super easy. So are baby brine shrimp. It's getting close to mosquito season too so people who live in states where it's legal can culture those. I'm looking forward to starting some daphnia cultures. Which might be slightly more challenging but worth it.

 

[sharkweek178]

Every fish will do better with live foods . Not just a supplemental feeding or a treat but at least 50% weekly . The colors brighten , the body becomes rounded and full and fry seem to be more vigorous . You are right in that it costs very little and also it’s fun to do . This is their natural diet . You will not find one reptile fancier who does not feed live food and they are dealing with a cold blooded creature as well .

My brother kept reptiles. For snakes, it has to be live or frozen. They won't eat anything else. He would keep a tank of crickets for his lizards. Usually he'd put orange slices in there for them to eat. That also hydrated them without having a water dish that either dried up or was a drowning hazard.
Turns out that crickets will eat pretty much anything. One of the feeder mice died so my brother put it in the cricket tank and they ate it!
Another story and maybe a cautionary tale for anyone considering keeping crickets as a live food. One night one of the crickets escaped. I had to get up early the next day. But there was this cricket somewhere in my bedroom chirping away. It took me hours to find it.

 

[emeraldking]

But there was this cricket somewhere in my bedroom chirping away. It took me hours to find it.

I used to keep reptiles and amphibians as well. And from time to time crickets knew to escape. It's always such a long hunt before I found them again. And even if you think where the sounds come from, it might be coming from another direction.

 

[Back in the fold]

@sharkweek178 I want to try my hand at raising daphnia too . It can’t be that hard ,people have been doing it for many years . From what I’ve read the hardest part is finding just the right thing for them to eat and then finding that sweet spot where you’re feeding enough to keep them reproducing without over feeding and fouling the water and crashing the culture .
Now about those crickets eating a dead mouse . . . . that is weird and creepy in a fascinating way .

 

[sharkweek178]

@sharkweek178 I want to try my hand at raising daphnia too . It can’t be that hard ,people have been doing it for many years . From what I’ve read the hardest part is finding just the right thing for them to eat and then finding that sweet spot where you’re feeding enough to keep them reproducing without over feeding and fouling the water and crashing the culture .
Now about those crickets eating a dead mouse . . . . that is weird and creepy in a fascinating way .

Me too. Now my rule for live food cultures, is to always have two in case one crashes. I also want to have decent sized containers, at the very least 10 gallons each but I'll probably go bigger. And I want to keep a container to age their water in for water changes. I'll probably have way more daphnia than I need. But you still have to harvest them to prevent crashes. Maybe I'll find other fish keepers that would like them.
My main consideration is where to put them. Maybe outside, but then the culture slows down in winter. My basement isn't too well insulated but it's a little warmer than outside. Or I have a kitchenette area near my fish room that's become my fish supply area. Maybe I'll rearrange that.

 

[sharkweek178]

I used to keep retiles and amphibians as well. And from time to time crickets knew to escape. It's always such a long hunt before I found them again. And even if you think where the sounds come from, it might be coming from another direction.

My search involved flipping furniture over.

 

[fish48]

Every fish will do better with live foods . Not just a supplemental feeding or a treat but at least 50% weekly . The colors brighten , the body becomes rounded and full and fry seem to be more vigorous . You are right in that it costs very little and also it’s fun to do . This is their natural diet . You will not find one reptile fancier who does not feed live food and they are dealing with a cold blooded creature as well .

I regularly feed a variety of live foods and as much as possible , There are many myths about feeding live foods The biggest one is only feed as a treat,

 

[sharkweek178]

I think variety is the key to a balanced diet.
Crustaceans like daphnia or scuds are easy enough. So are worms like grindal worms or blackworms.
But it seems like every insect live food has a big drawback.

Mosquito larvae: Seasonal and not always predictable.
Wingless or flightless fruit flies: They don't sink so no good for mid and bottom feeders.
Bloodworms: Not great nutrionally.
Crickets: Too big for nano fish. Noisy. Can escape.
Black soldier fly larvae: Too big for nano fish.

 

[emeraldking]

My search involved flipping furniture over.

Well, those escaped crickets kept me awake a couple of times when I wasn't able to catch them yet. For they make noise at night.

 

[sharkweek178]

Well, those escaped crickets kept me awake a couple of times when I wasn't able to catch them yet. For they make noise at night.

I hear you. That furniture flipping was in the middle of the night.

 

[sharkweek178]

I regularly feed a variety of live foods and as much as possible , There are many myths about feeding live foods The biggest one is only feed as a treat,

It's like anything else. You have to vary the diet. If you only feed the same food with no variation, then the fish will be nutritionally deficient in something.

 

[fish48]

It's like anything else. You have to vary the diet. If you only feed the same food with no variation, then the fish will be nutritionally deficient in something.

I always have a good variety and plenty of live food,
My worm factory,
Grindal worm. Springtails, And large containers holding white worms And bottom row tanks Used for culturing Daphnia, tubifix. and and black worm.