some of the best fish foods are free

[fish48]

one of many live foods that i feed to my fish. more than 15000 2-day ord mosquito larvae

 

[Slaphppy7]

one of many live foods that i feed to my fish. more than 15000 2-day ord mosquito larvae View attachment 139182

Looks like one of the ditches by my house, lol...mosquitos are bad where I live this time of year...

 

[Uberhoust]

I used to feed my fish with the occasional batch of mosquito larva but stopped because I feared giving my fish some sort of parasite. What has been your experience concerning disease and pestilence feeding wild feed?

 

[Naughts]

My LFS didn't have any live food so they suggested I would find daphnia etc. in my patio tub. There are definitely some little dark worm things but I don't know if they are safe to put in the tanks? Birds drink from the patio tub and I heard they can spread parasites.

 

[Uberhoust]

I am pretty good at ID'ing insects and their larva, what I was really concern with were parasites where the first host is mosquitos and the fish by eating them become the second host. If I remember correctly fish are the second host for a number of parasites that have multiple hosts. That said given the opportunity my angels would eat mosquito larva all day long.

 

[fish48]

if you're collecting from the wild there can be a small risk of introducing parasites I have 7 large water Butts outside my fish room in the summer months I collect mosquito larvae, daphnia, and blood worm, I regularly feed them on bakers yeast.
I have collected livefoods from two different locations for the last 30 years the biggest problem iv'e had is with hydra. however cultivating your own is almost 100-percent safe

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Nice. I don’t like taking mosquito’s from the wild, because I have no idea what kind of diseases they pose.

I’ll stick to my omega one and fluval thank you very much.

 

[Uberhoust]

@fish48 I would be really interested in how you setup your water "Butts" to culture food for your fish.

 

[AbbeysDad]

It's the [female] mosquitos that are 'bad' because they draw blood from infected critters and transfer to humans. However, The larvae is relatively pest free. I collect mosquito larvae and blood worms (along with the daphnia) from my outdoor daphnia bins all the time with never any trouble. I'll confess I haven't gone collecting out in the 'wild country', but if I netted critters into clean water, I doubt there would be any issue. I have heard of many that collect daphnia from 'the wold' with no incidences or concerns.
In addition to collecting 'free' fish food, culturing live foods also benefits the fish and the pocketbook! ...

Blog – Live Cultures & Collection – MJV Aquatics

mjvaquatics.com

 

[Avel1896]

Fishes looove mosquito larvas that wriggle around
Same for vinegar eels, daphnias, artemias.... so easy to breed !

 

[fish48]

@fish48 I would be really interested in how you setup your water "Butts" to culture food for your fish.

Nice. I don’t like taking mosquito’s from the wild, because I have no idea what kind of diseases they pose.

I’ll stick to my omega one and fluval thank you very much.

if you introduced any diseases of parasites from wild livefoods it will be from daphnia and mainly cyclops which are also collected with daphnia

 

[fish48]

@fish48 I would be really interested in how you setup your water "Butts" to culture food for your fish.

how i set up water butts or containers for culturing daphnia I put water butts in shaded areas where it doesn't get too much sun, I feel them with old fish tank water then add some Daphne about the equivalent of 4 bags what you would usually get from local fish store, I then add 2 tsp of brewer's yeast to a small jug or container add water and mixed to aliquid and pour into water butt it can take up to 2 weeks to get the daphnia while established as the water ages it will attract mosquitoes and blood worms, I find the easiest and most convenient way is to feed them is on brewers yeast once every two weeks

 

[Uberhoust]

The brewers yeast is it in the form that one eats for a vitamin b boost or is it live culture? I will have to source some daphnia or find them naturally. Our LFS does not have that sort of stuff.

 

[fish48]

sorry meant to say bakers yeast it can be bought from most supermarkets it can be bought fresh or in powdered forms other foods that work well are lettuce leaves or spinach
my outside water Butts where I breed daphnia pulex and also breed daphnia moina in my fishroom

 

[Colin_T]

@fish48 I would be really interested in how you setup your water "Butts" to culture food for your fish.

The following link has info about culturing live foods at home.

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

Mozzie larvae are illegal to culture in most countries due to the diseases they spread. However, if you accidentally leave a container outside under a shady area and it fills up with rain water or sprinkler water, and some leaves drop into it, then female mosquitoes will lay eggs on the water and after a week or so you will get mozzie larvae in these containers. You should use a fine mesh net to scoop the mozzie larvae out and feed them to the fish so they don't turn into adult mosquitoes.