Feeding Latest Topics

Live Foods

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 07:10:20 +0000

Types of Live Foods you can feed adult fish and fry
by Brett aka Crabros
Hi guys,
There are a lot of different types of live food that you can feed your fish. In this article I will try and give you some information on a few I have used with great success. Live foods are very good source of food all fish from fry to adults will go nuts when you feed them any type of live food. Live food is great to condition your fish and it isn’t messy like a few foods that can be feed like flake and pellets. If you over feed on these foods they always sit on the bottom which can mess up your tank. Live food can live up to 2 hours in aquarium water sometimes longer. Only feed in small amounts at a time until food is consumed.
Microworms – They are called a nematode the first part Nema means thread so you could also refer to them as threadworms. Nematodes are a minute, colourless, unsegmented, smooth cylindrical worm. They are no bigger then a sixteenth of an inch in length. Females are bigger then the males.
Microworms are live bearing and in most cultures they are mainly female.
The worms shed there skin several times before becoming sexually mature.
Microworms are as good as newly hatched brine shrimp. Even some smaller adult fish will eat them. These guys are highly nutritious for fry and one of the easiest cultures to start.
I use a large Tupperware dish drill a lot of holes into the lid for aeration if you don’t the culture will die very quickly. I add about 5 cm of rolled oats into the container covering the bottom. I add water to make the mixture wet. I pack the oats down and remove any excess water from the oats. You want the mixture damp and firm but not saturated. I then add a spoonful of the culture and let it sit in a cool place. After about 3 days the worms will start climbing up the side of the container in a white mass.
Run your finger around the side of the container collecting the worms then feed to your fry. Be careful not to get any oats on your finger this is the last thing you want in you nice clean tank. After about 4-6 weeks as the culture is dropping in numbers start another culture using your old mix.
Then the process starts again. Sometimes the culture can stink you have been warned.
You can get you cultures from other hobbyists or some shops.
Vinegar eels – their scientific name is Tubatrix aceti. They are a little worm that lives in vinegar. They congregate at the upper surface of the vinegar. They can tolerate a wide range of temperatures preferring it around 24-32 degrees. They can also tolerate very acidic water to very alkaline water. All you have to do is obtain a large jar, bottle add half apple cider vinegar half tank water and a few pieces of apple minus the skin. Add you culture within a week there will be millions on them swarming at the surface of the water. I keep my culture in the dark when the water starts to smell badly start a new culture up using some of the old culture to start it again. This is the best small fry food available besides baby brine shrimp in my opinion. I sometimes try watching the fry eat this I cant see the worms but the fry can they will go off when feed this live food.
Brine Shrimp – Scientific name is Artemia sp. When the brine shrimp have hatched they are known as Artemia nauplii. In the wild they are found in natural salt lakes in the United States around Utah, California and New Mexico. They are found all over the world but most are supplied from USA and Canada. In Australia they are shipped over from the USA in egg form to supply wholesalers and aquarium shops. The correct terminology for brine shrimp eggs is really brine shrimp cysts. However everyone calls them eggs.
The price on brine shrimp eggs can sometimes be quite expensive due to bad seasons in the lakes.
Adult brine shrimp are approximately one half of an inch in length the females are slightly bigger then the males. They are slender, pale red in colour and sometimes greenish looking. They have two eyes when adult which project from each side of their small heads. Newly hatched brine shrimp only have one eye later in development the second eye develops. Brine shrimp have eleven pairs of feet fringed with long hair on them. When they swim these beat the water in rapid succession giving this creature movement. The young brine shrimp are very active and are hard to see when just hatched. The eggs are a light brown in colour when you open up your tin or packet. I make a hatchery with a plastic coke bottle with the bottom removed. I drill a hole into the lid and place an airline joiner which is siliconed to stop leaks. Add your airline with an air control valve in the airline. You can adjust your water aeration using this. Slowly bubble the water.
Tip: Don’t have a strong bubbling current as they don’t survive very well.
The water I use is straight sea water you can make it up by adding rock salt to your water until the salinity is between 1.010 -1.020. The temperature should be around 25c.When you have placed some eggs into your water they will start hatching within 24-48 hours. The egg shells will float to the top when the brine shrimp hatches. When the baby brine shrimp hatch they are a bright red / orange colour. To feed to fry turn off your air supply let the brine shrimp settle to the bottom of the lid. Using the airline from the bottom of you lid, drain over a fine mesh into an empty container for easy collection of water. After collection add the water collected back to the brine shrimp hatchery. There you have it perfect fry food.
Now to raise brine shrimp to adults you can feed them infusoria, or dried yeast. Larger fish love them also.
Daphnia – sometimes referred to as ‘ditch fleas’ they are a bit bigger than a flea and have a similar compressed shape of a flea. They have two long, branched swimming arms which constantly move to prevent the animal from sinking to the bottom of the pond, lake, dam in which these guys live. This would happen if daphnia don’t have small currents to keep the afloat as they don’t have an air bladder making them heavier then water. They are members of the plankton group. There are a few different types of daphnia size being the differences. As stated previously daphnia is found in pond, dams, lakes they live in places where there is organic decomposition.
Daphnia like the water temperature between 10-18 C and don’t mind the water being slightly alkaline.
Daphnia are best found in spring just under the surface of the water.
Daphnia like clean water. I have never cultured them however all you need is a drum either horse, cow manure, grass clipping or banana peels into water. This starts the organic break down of materials in the water which the proper bacteria may develop and continue to be present in sufficiently large numbers over a long period of time. After this has been established you locate a nice clean dam and observe to see if there is daphnia present.
I have been around a far few dams in Sydney and most dams I have found daphnia in them. You bring some home place into your drum about 2-4 weeks you should start to see an increase in daphnia. I have been told to feed them with dried yeast. I always just collect them and feed straight to my fish. They love them. I use a fine fishnet and slowly move it above the leaf matter in the pond or dam to gain the best results. You can also catch another type of water flea called Cyclops when searching for daphnia.
Cyclops – so named because it has a single median eye located in the middle of its forehead. They can be identified with the naked eye. Cyclops has a forked tail, four pairs of swimming legs, and a pair of antennae that are sense organs and can be used for movement. They move quiet quickly something like a water hopper. They eat algae, bacteria, protozoa. These are also very good for young fry. They are quiet transparent again can be found mainly during the months May to November can be located all year round if you are willing to put in the extra yards.
Mosquitoes – These guys are a little harder to obtain then daphnia, brineshrimp but during Spring, Summer and Autumn I place a drum at the side of my house add yeast or curdled milk and sit and wait. After a few weeks the mozzies lay their eggs they look like little rafts on top of the water, they hatch and you get pupae these can be feed to your fish at this stage or when they become wrigglers which is the larger stage. The wrigglers have straight bodies hang head down from the surface of the water and are about quarter of an inch or slightly bigger. They feed of the decaying matter in the water. You can also find mosquitoes at the beach where there are rock pools of fresh stagnant water. If there are a lot of mozzie wrigglers I usually scope them out of my drum, drain the water then place them into a zip freezer bag and freeze them for another day. Remember that if you don’t harvest at this stage you could be invaded with live mosquitoes.
The wrigglers also dive quickly when they see you coming so sneak up with your net in hand and scope them up. My fish go crazy when I feed them mozzie wrigglers.
Glass shrimp – I also go out to the Nepean river and collect these for my larger fish. They are just a miniature version of a prawn except freshwater and you can see straight through them. They grow between 1-3 cm. I usually take a fish net and look in the weeds in the water after about 30 minutes my mate and I have a bucket each to feed our fish. Once they are home place them straight into the tank and watch the fish go crazy chasing them. These are also good as if the fish don’t get them the first time they will live in your tank for a long time until eaten.
There are so many different types of live foods which could be sitting just outside your house or just down the road. This is my experience on a few I use all the time and I enjoy collecting it also. I believe the fish grow quicker and look better. If you feed live foods every couple of weeks it breaks up the fish’s diet and they are not getting the same thing like flake or pellet week in week out. Live food I believe is why I’m spawning some of these harder to breed fish that I have. Give it ago your fish will love you for it.
Until next time
All the best
Brett

live foods

Sun, 18 Jun 2006 05:41:44 +0000

What is the best and easiest live foods to raise to feed fry.

I will be expanding my fry production considerable over the next 6 months and looking to find out what people feed there fry. I am looking to do live foods if there is any that are easy, cost effective and not tim consuming.

Cheers for any help, Paul.

What to feed fry?

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 03:06:35 +0000

My multies have finally started breeding and I was wondering what to feed the babies? I am feeding the parents NLS 1mm sinking cichlid pellets. The tank is 2.5ft high so I can't hand feed them. Will they eat the NLS? I also have some sera flora I crush up.

Bruce

Does fish food go off?

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 04:53:03 +0000

With the great price available for the big tub of NLS at the moment, I'm thinking about picking one up.

My concern is that I won't have the tank for a few more weeks, won't have fish for a few more after that and then they (the fish) aren't going to be that big for a while - ie. the food will be sitting around for some time.

Does fish food go off or lose nutritional value over time, or does it last pretty well so long as it's stored properly?

Cheer

Jon

Allergic to Frozen Bloodworms

Sat, 08 Oct 2005 04:31:47 +0000

Whenever I use my fingers to take out the frozen bloodworms cubes to feed the fish, after about 10-15 minutes or so, even after washing my fingers with soap and water, I get this REALLY itchy sensation all through the fingers which came into or close contact with the bloodworms.

Why is this? what is the ingredient that causes this irritating symptom that has forced me to wear a rubber glove each time I take out the frozen bloodworms?

On the other hand, handling frozen brineshrimp cubes have no side effects.

Anyone else experience the same problems?

Feeding Fish when you go away?

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 13:38:53 +0000

I am going to be away for 6 days. How do others feed their fish without the assistance from another person ?

Regards

Michael

Microworms

Wed, 22 Jun 2005 00:08:02 +0000

Info on Micro Worms

Author: Arj

Hi,

I recently got a culture and have never kept them before. Apart from my fry loving the micro worms I'm not a big fan of keeping these worms!

I have searched the net and all the info is regarding maintaining a culture. I would like to know any repercussions on human health! hahahahahha How long do you think these worms can live in the aquarium water and in the filters? Can the eggs get through pores in our skin? hahaha Listen to me, I sound all paranoid because I use my finger to scrape the worms and put it into the tank. So any info that will put my mind at ease is GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks.

Arj.

Replies »

Author: lokopraning

i got this useful

info

if you feel disgusted touching it, use a wet paddle pop stick

i sometimes dip the lid into the tank water as they've already crawled on the lid anyway.. my wife hates them

hth

Author: junek

i used to keep them and scrape the off with my finger - as far as i know, none are living in my body at present

they are just worms - they cant hurt u!!!

think of the benifits your fry will be enjoying!!!

jamie

Author: Adam Maskew

The worms aren't parasitic in any way or form so you don't have to worry about them. The cultures can contain many micro organisms however and they can lead to problems. If you follow the general rules of their culture you should never have a problem from these guys though.

As a further note you should use a paddle pop stick to scrap them off the culter sides as the oils etc on your finger can cause the culture big problems.

I've used them for years with no problems. They are easy to culture and nutritious for the fish.

Adam

Author: YeW2001

Arj -

Use your finger to transfer the worms (this way you are in contact with their nematodesk goodness)... then - and here's the tricky bit LOL!

Wash your hands!

hehe

. As someone else said the worms aren't parasitic in anyway shape or form (unless you're an oat)

HTH -

Author: Arj

Did you say a big Oat or Oaf? hahaha

Thanks for the reassurances!

Arj.

Blackworms

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 23:46:35 +0000

Blackworms

Author: Beagly

G'day Megan

I was going to email you privately but then I decided that some others may also be interested. So...

Can you tell me a bit about the Blackworms?

In particular;

What living conditions they require?

What food they require?

What temp?

How you harvest them?

And of course anything else that you may think is relevant!

(Hopefully the FAQ guy will be watching and this info will not be needed again!)

Thanks in advance

Beagly...

Replies »

Author: meagansbettas

Hey,

OKay... basically I am soon to set up an actually blackworm farm/harvester which is guarranteed to produce about a fist full of worms daily. I have seen this in operation, and attended (and gave speech at) our clubs' live food day, and a gentleman who breeds cories was there, and they had setup this ripper which saves a lotta $$$. Okay to your questions!

I currently have blackworms breeding like rabbits in my bns tank. I fed them maybe 15 live blackworms a while ago... and now have a heap. Basically I have pea gravel (regular aquarium gravel) in a thin layer (one piece thick), I also have a 700l/hr internal with spray bar on this tank (it is a 90L tank)! And that is it!! LMAO... basically the worms feed on what the bns don't eat. They finish the remainder of their algae discs, and when I have fry, the worms eat up the bits of zuchini and pumpkin. I find that while the worm population is increasing (from 3-100 ish) teh water will be a bit cloudy, then overnight it clears.. they are cleaning the substrate, and even eat all the bits of bns poop. This tank is a bns breeding tank, it has 1M and 2F bristlies, and their fry.

To harvest from the floor of the tank, I use a turkey baster, fill with water and inject at the gravel, causes the gravel to make a large crater, and the worms fly around the tank, suck them up! Easy done... or you can scoop up the gravel and put into a container and pick them out.

With the harvester it is a modified version of this. there is 1 halved drum with a thin layer of gravel in each half, they are placed above 2 drums that have had the tops removed. One side houses the water pump, the other is the collection area.

You rig up the water pump (1000l/hr or more) to a T joint at the top of the halved drums, the water flows through (and you have made like a riser at the opposite end), and over the gravel (like 5-10cm water over the gravel) down the riser into the collection drum, the overflow from the collection drum flows into the drum housing the pump. (will be easier with photos).

You feed the worms a vegetable diet, your vege scraps, fish food, or even chook food (which works VERY well). Basically the worms eat the food, and basically reproduce overnight (babies are bright pink), the worms at night go come out of the gravel into the water for food and are lightly washed down the riser with the current (which is providing essential aeration). Once they are down the riser into the bottom collection drum, they start to curl together into a ball, easy to pull out and harvest, and you don't want, you just add back into the trays to reproduce.

The only thing is, daily or every second day you need to change the water (as we all know about blackworms). basically clean the pump, and drain the 2 base drums, refil and you are away (best garden fertilizer too).

Hmmn, I think that is everything... oh, blackworms once breeding either in harvester or in a tank are pink, not black.. they go black from lack of oxygen!! The best way to keep blackworms from your LFS is in a bucket with an airstone!

TEMPERATURE: Keep them out of direct sunlight, but tank temp is fine.. I find they reproduce fastest in 24-28C water.

Hope this helps,. and I'll post pics once I have the harvester finished!

Meagan

Feeding Fry 2

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 23:19:44 +0000

Good fry food?

Author: bennieboy

Hey all,

I have some Malawi fry and was wondering what would be the best food for them?

They have been on thier own for two weeks now and im feedin them that fry forumla which i dont like becasue it is so messy and some micro worms but the weather isnt helping the worms grow as quick as i like.

I tried crushing up flakes but they stuck togtehr and ended up as little balls?

would brine shrimp or anythign like that be good for them?

thanks

benny

Replies »

Author: mbuna1

try crushing up cichlid pellets

Author: meesterclarence

Hi. You only want to feed brine as a treat. Not good for a staple diet, As mentioned, try crushing pellet's, and continue trying to crush flakes in your fingers, then sprinkle on the water. Good luck.

Paul

Author: Cichlid Boy

Baby brine shrimp (either live or frozen) is a good first food. You can also buy Wardley's Liquid Fry Food.

Vitakraft also make a powdered fry food which my fish seem to love.

Then there is Sera who make a pre-powdered flake mix.

For larger fry there is a (tiny) pellet called 'Grow' by New Life Spectrum which is excellent.

Or, as mentioned, you can crush your own flake or pellets. I have found the best way to do this is put the food in a clip-lock bag and go over it many times with a rolling pin. This is the cheapest option but not the most convenient/safest, as you always end up with pieces too big for your fish to swallow - I have had to remove a chunk of pellet from a baby's mouth with a toothpick after it had been lodged in there for 48 hours. You would have thought the food would soften and disintegrate, but it didn't.

Author: Leonie23

Hello

We put Hikari Cichlid Gold Pellets into an old pepper grinder for our fry, works well. However, just remember which is the fish food and which is the pepper come Sunday morning breaky - yep you guessed it, it happened in our household

Leonie

Author: The Cichlid Man

Hey Benny,

On all of my fry i use the wardley weekend feeder blocks as a daily source of food the fry love it, i have Lionheads at the moment and they are going through it very quickly. Also i use the Wardley liquid fry food that Travis suggested or some aqualife vegetable sticks (Only a couple) and i will give them frozen baby brine shrimp twice a week.

But i must say the weekend feeders work very well just to get them going in the beginning. Ever since i have started using them my success rate on fry staying alive is awesome because they can pick at it all day long.

Hope all goes well.

Regards,

Ben

Author: Mazimbwe

OK, what I have found is the bets way to crush flake(never tried with pellets but don;t see why it wouldn't be just as good) is. Put you flake food in the freezer, go to some big retail mob and buy a "Mortar & Pestl". By the time you get home the flake food should be frozen enough to get started. Try a small amount at first and get your technique down pat...and the smaller your fry the more you grind. Once you are happy with the general consitency put it into a container and gently shake it from side to side, the bigger bits will rise to the top. Put them back into the Mortar and put the small stuff in a packet for later.

Hope that helps

Mosquito larvae

Sat, 28 May 2005 01:44:16 +0000

On culturing mosquito larvae

Author: YeW2001

Hi Guys -

Summer is almost here so I thought I'd post some info on how to use mosquito larvae as fish food.

Obviously you cannot easily culture adult mosquitos - but you can encourage them to lay their eggs in water in your backyard.

While this doesn't necessarily sound like a great option - 99% of the eggs laid will hatch into fish food for you

- so in a way you are limiting their breeding elsewhere.

Here's what I do - get a 80-100 tub (from discount stores). Fill with tap water - add some grassclippings (about a handful in a stocking) and some yeasts.

The water will go "stagnant" more quickly - and the smell (it isn't bad) attracts the mozzies! In a few weeks you'll have lots of mosquitos in your tub(s) - which you can feed to your fishes.

I have also introduced Daphnia to my tubs and they breed quite happily in there (Thanks Craig for the starter!).

HTH -

Replies »

Author: YeW2001

Forgot to add - harvest them regularly (eat them before they eat you!). You'll know you are harvesting them enough if you don't get any "tumblers" the pupal form of the mosquito.

Interestingly, I also get many bloodworms - colonising the sides of my tubs in their little mud tube-homes

Author: 23Skidoo

Do you use the blood worms? I've found them in my mossie farm too, but how do you remove the mud-casing, i'm not too keen to give that to my fish?

Author: YeW2001

Skidoo -

When they are swimming about (early morning - nighttime) I also net them and feed them to my fish. I doubt one or two mud homes will hurt your fish (don't add many of them though

Author: 23Skidoo

Yeah, we had an issue with one farm we had going, don't know why but form a 20L bucket i got almost half a net full of blood worms in thier little mud homes. And i didn't want to add all the mud to my tanks, i swooshed them about in water to try and wash off the mud, but it wasn't worth it in the end, lost too many worms.

Author: thekrib

80to 100 liters is way way more then you need, you will get thousands (at least if its like here in California). the best way to get them is to get a 5 gallon bucket, and put a rotten banana in it, there will be tons in days. just make SURE the banan is rotten, if it isnt then it will turn the water into the smelliest thing youve ever seen.

also the "rafts" which are the mosquito larvae eggs are IMO one of the easiest and best choices for fish fry. you can just get the rafts (look like little black things) that float on the surface, and put them in ur fry tanks and they will hatch in with the fry, and not all at once, providing a long lasting source of food. you can raise even new born neon tetras on these.

Author: CThompson

It's good to know that you still have the daphnia Yew, there are some amongst us who have taken several bites of the cherry, and still come back for more (hi Craig). I think that something should also be said for the placement of the container the wrigglers/daphnia are being cultured in. Daphnia feed on green water, not sure about wrigglers but I expect they do also. That means you want the container to receive some sunlight, but not too much as the container will overheat in our hot Summer days.

And speaking of heat, I personally use 100 and 200 litre barrels to raise my daphnia and wrigglers in. I believe they hold an advantage in that on those really hot Summer days, smaller containers may overheat, but with 100 & 200 litre barrels, the daphnia can go deeper and select their temperature by their depth. Wrigglers on the other hand must come to the surface to breath, and I have on numerous occasions seen cooked wrigglers floating dead on the surface. No great lose as these are soon replace, but to lose daphnia, you will have to go to the effort and source them again.

I use a green net which has courser holes in it to collect the wrigglers and daphnia, this will in effect, collect wrigglers and daphnia above a certain size, below this size they will pass through the net, to grow larger, and to be caught later. I always rinse this food with the tap before I feed the fish, and I do so by placing the net and all inside a white fine net, that has really small holes (like pantihose), which lets nothing through, and you'll be surprised how much will be caught in this white net after being washed through the green net.

I also feed my containers yeast, just sprinkle some on the surface, and either swirl it in, or just let it sink in its own time as I do now. You could also pre-mix the yeast in a separate container and pour this mixture in. Personally, I have found that this doesn't seem to work as well (for me anyway) as I get little clumps that don't dissolve, and float to the surface in little brown clumps at a later date. I will usually add more yeast when the water become clear.

I have always been concerned about the extra mozzies I will be producing from this (I use 4 200 litre barrels and 3 100 litre ones), but I figure that the mosquitos are going to be out there anyway, breeding in any open body of water, and growing to adult hood. I'm sure I don't get every one that are laid in my barrels, but taking out dessert spoon amounts of wrigglers at a time, which would otherwise be laid elsewhere, but in this case are fed to my fish, has to have an impact. So though some will grow to become mozzies, I believe I remove a greater number than I actually produce.

Craig

Author: dodol

Hi Guys,

Just a quick question, isn't the whole idea running a risk of parasites? Especially mosquitos, you never know who/what they bite

Author: 23Skidoo

Yes we don't know. But it isn't passed onto the mosquitoes young.

Author: hungsta

some disease do get passed on to the young (female youngs, but not sure about male?).....but not sure if it is fish-related diseases!

Author: Perspicax

If you do not want the mosquitos that hatched to get out of your barrel then you can put a mosquito net over it. The mosquitos will still come to your barrel to lay their eggs, but any larvae that hatched won't be able to get out.

Author: YeW2001

I think the risk of parasites are relatively low.

I've fed them to most of my fish over the years without problem.

Author: cbrian2

Hi YeW2001,

just wanted to know where i could get those daphnia starting culture. tried my lfs but they only have the frozen daphnia...

thanks

Author: YeW2001

Brian -

You're most welcome to get a starter from me at some point. Email me and we'll work something out.

Cheers -

Author: SciBlue

For daphnia just line your tank with old wooden fence pailings and fill with water, Add a little grass clippings and some sheep manure the daphnia will slowly start to appear and will then breed on the old wooden pailings. This is slow but ive seen it done many a time, and while waiting for the daphnia just use the mosquito larve.

Author: eedward

is there any fish that wouldn't eat mozzie larvae?

Author: Perspicax

I haven't given live food to my fishes for quite a long time the reason is, because when I used to have tropicals and gave them live food (what they loved) after they refused or reluctantly ate the dry foods, flake, pellets, etc. Anyone else had that problem?

Author: Link 2 Hell

Like all things that are liked to the extreme od addiction, moderation needs to be use

I feel that in some cases a shot of live food will stimulate some fish to breed

L2H

Author: aymenz

hey yew

just a quick question.....

does these mosquitos... lay their eggs also in a swimming pool if it's not used for a long time ????

and they also float on the surface of the pool ????

they are very small and in a big number ........

because my cuz said that they become mosquitos after a while .... is that true.....????

and if yes can i feed them to my severums, jacks and texas ?

also to babies ????

thx in adv

c ya

cucumber

Sun, 24 Apr 2005 12:12:03 +0000

My fish eat cucumber /smile.gif" border="0" style="vertical-align:middle" alt="smile.gif">

Author: 00Phanny00

Hey guys,

Yeah yesterday i put in some cucumber to see if my BN eat it.

So far i havent seen the BN eat it but the hongi eat it like crazy!!! The fronts also eat it aswell, is it good for them?

cheers

Richard

Replies »

Author: wui39

Looks like i've got a new food source for my fish

Wui-Kiat

Author: hoges

All my fish love cucumber, especially if I microwave it for 10 secs and its goes a bit softer!!! The also like peas if you put them in hot water for a bit (to soften them) and then pop the centres out of the skin!!! They go mad about peas

I originally did it for my pleccos but then everyone went for them!!!

Author: Benny85

just wondering, how much cucumber do u feed ur tanks then in a daily basis, one whole one would be too much i would think?

Author: 00Phanny00

Hey,

Ill have to try them peas, sounds tasty!

I feed them half one half cut into two each night and place them in each side of the tank.

cheers

Richard

Author: BlackOscar

Hi,

Well today i went over to woolworths to buy zuchini for my BN, i've cooked it for about 30 seconds and it didnt seem to go soft that much!?! Well, then i threw it in the tank for my BN to eat buy all my other fish came and eat it.. do BN really eat zuchini? and how do i make it soft?

Are cucumbers the samE?

Thanks

Author: eedward

I usually:

slice my zuchinni

boil it for a few minutes

then empty it all into the sink

run cold water over the lot

store it in air tight container in the fridge.

My 4 BN fry seem to go through a slice a day

Author: Mudtea

I tried cucumber before, and I guess I sliced it too thin and it just stayed floting on the top.

Afraid that it will polute the water, I took it out after 5 mins, and I never tried cucmber again.

I now give my BN fry frozen pumpkin. I sliced the pumpkin and then put them in the freezer - that way it will sink to the bottom. I rinsed them with hot water before I put them in the tank. (I learned this from the guy I bought my BN fry from.)

The annoying thing is that my electric yellow and gombi fry will come and nibble on the pumpkin as well, and they are very hostile towards my bn babies.

Mudtea

Parramatta

Author: fiona ls

If you want your bns to get the vegies and not the others, you need to feed the vegies at bedtime. You could do a daytime feed

and

a night time feed. For catfish it's best if the vegies sink, not so important for the other fish.

Author: Mudtea

Thankx Fiona. I will try it tonite. The piece of pumpkin I gave them this morning is still there.

My bn's get scared easily by the yellow and gombi. They swim away immediately (and at a very fast speed) as soon as the yellow/gombi approach.

Hopefully this will improve if I give them the vege at nite. :-)

MudTea

Parramatta

Author: fiona ls

They may also take a night or 3 to get used to the idea of finding in a particular place, but if you make a routine, they will start expecting it to be there.

Author: Mudtea

Do I need to wait until the other fish are asleep? The fish normally stay awake/active as long as the light is still on.

So should I give them the vege after I turn the light off?

Author: fiona ls

I find that if I especially want the bns to get the food I have to wait until the room light goes off because the others have no trouble finding and eating it otherwise. Especially if they know it's coming!

Author: 00Phanny00

Hey Mudtea,

When i feed my fish cucumber i slice it in half place it on a small or thin rock and put a rubber band on it, that way it stays on the floor without being freezed or anything.

cheers

Richard

Author: fiona ls

you can also use a long stainless steel fork or skewer to keep it on the bottom (the longer it is, the drier your arm stays).

Author: Mudtea

Thankx Richard & Fiona for ur suggestions.

I read a post (not long ago) abt someone putting too much zuchini in the fry tank, and it poluted the water so much that all the fry died. After reading that post, I have been very paranoid in terms of leaving fresh vege in the tank.

Do you find that cucumber polute the water quickly? I use pumpkin instead be'coz it doesn't seem to disintegrate that quickly.

Author: fiona ls

Depends on how much you put in. If it's going mushy, or staying in there too long, you are putting in pieces that are too big!

Author: 00Phanny00

Hey Mudtea,

My cucumber slices have never gone like that and they havent polluted the watrer because my fish eat it too fast!

My friends tank however, he left it in for a day and the cucumber grew this furry like thing ontop which was prob the cucumber turning bad, when he took it out all the stuff went everywhere. I wonder why it happended

cheers

Richard

Author: spraypakstu

Hi all to keep your hands dry when feeding cucumber or zuchini poke a hole in the bottom of the slice and use a rubber band to attach the slice to a smallish rock tie a thin piece of fishing line to the rubber band and lower it in

Result = DRY hands and you can use it over and over again

Stuart

Author: 00Phanny00

But i like gettn my hands wet! /tongue.gif" border="0" style="vertical-align:middle" alt="tongue.gif">

Richard

Author: ussjxs

Hello

This fish thing is all new. I have some electric blues,Salousi,eureka reds and Hongis.Can they eat vegies as I would like to feed them some thing other than the pellets I got from the fish shop

Any ideas would be great

James

Author: Beagly

G'day James

Yes

your fish will like most of the veggies mentioned.

As they get used to it you will find they actively anticipate its arrival.

PS. Why not add some catfish to your tank, like Bristlies etc?

Author: wysiwyg

Hi,

I've found that many of my fish enjoy pumpkin, any squash, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, silverbeet, chard, spinach, peas and carrot (all slightly blanched). In fact my clown loaches exhibit wonderful colour probably due to the carotene contained in some of these vegies.

wysiwyg

"have you had your seven veg today?"

vinegar eels

Sat, 23 Apr 2005 01:41:27 +0000

vinegar eels

Author: adnansiv

do you need to put anythinng else in the cider vinegar apart from a piace of apple.I set my up 1 week ago still no luck.

adnansiv

Replies »

Author: 00Phanny00

Hey,

Well for me they seem to colonate pretty fast and within a week you should have about 5 times as much as in the starter culture you got, unless the starter culture was too small they may not have enoguh to multiply but im sure thats not why.

Yeah all you need is Apple cidar vinegar and a slice of apple, if it doesnt work then try aerating the bottle.

hth

cheers

Richard

Author: yowie05

hi

we put 50% apple cider vinegar 50% water and a piece of apple or pure apple juice from supermarket and they produce loads for us. at moment we have 3 cultures going.make sure they are kept in dark place as sunlight kills them

iain

Author: aymenz

is this suitable for baby fish ?

thx in adv

Author: 00Phanny00

Hey Aymenz,

Yeah Vinegar Eels can be fed to any of your fry but just have to make sure you dont put too muhc vinegar into the fry tank as vinegar is poisionous to fish in large amounts, just put in say 5mls and if wont effect the fish since the water will break it down.

cheers

Richard

Author: Mudtea

Is vinegar, tank water, 1 piece of apple all I need to start the vinegar eel?

Do I need a starting culture?

Thankx.

Cheers,

MudTea

Author: 00Phanny00

Hey,

No tank water just the following

* Apple cider vinegar

* slice of apple and/or 100% apple juice

* Starter Culture

Author: Mudtea

Richard -

Thankx for the info.

I went to the monthly meeting last week, and at the show/tell table, they told us to use 1 part tank water and 1 part apple cider vinegar, and 1 piece of apple.

So I guess I didn't pay enough attention, and missed out the bit on the starting culture.

BTW, can anybody offer me some vinegar eel starting culture? It will be ideal if u live in the western suburbs.

Mudtea

Parramatta

mudtea@hotmail.com

Author: thekrib

to keep my 2 cultures going (i dont have any fry to feed them to at the moment) i have been putting more than just a slice of apple, and i think i used too much, the bottles have a whole bunch of junk in the bottom, how do i clean them without whiping out the culture?

also, what is the best way to harvest them in small quantities?

by small i mean enough to feed about 30 fry?

could i just harvest a whole bunch and put them in sense they live for a week in FW?

thanks in advance

-phil

Author: 00Phanny00

Hey Krib,

The gunk at the bottom i dont think you need to worry much about because it doesnt really effect them.

When i harvest for my fry in small amounts i use those 5ML syringes and such them out, works great!

hth

cheers

Richard

Feeding Greens

Thu, 21 Apr 2005 01:29:58 +0000

What greens do you feed ?

Author: ezat

Just a question,

I had a piece of lettuce. Washed it well and put it in the tank. The oscar, barcoo grunter and others especially texas cichlid loved it.

What other greens do people use?

I heard zuchini is a good one.

Thanks.

Ezat

Replies »

Author: 00 MooRRii 00

Only ones i ever use are zuccini and peas.

Author: citypainter

I feed my fish all sorts from Lettuce and cucumber, zuchini, peas, steamed broccoli. Also prawns, egg yolk, cheese so long as it dosn't linger in the tank too long I think it's ok.

Author: fiona ls

Lettuce, peas, beans, zucchini, cucumber, broccoli, pumpkin (OK it's not green), cabbage family greens (i.e. cabbage and broccoli leaves and so on), hmm, maybe others I'm not thinking about. Oh yes, silver beet. Just go a bit easy on silver beet/spinach because of the oxalic acid content, which may be toxic in large quantities. Although David has frozen spinach as one of his ingredients in his home made recipe. Perhaps the oxalic acid is modified by freezing/cooking? Dunno. Don't want to risk it. Oxalic acid is what makes rhubarb leaves poisonous.

Probably most of the vegies you would eat would be OK so long as they like it and they don't pollute the water. Make sure there are no contaminants on/in what you feed them, fish are little and may be more susceptible to them than we big people.

Crushing Pellets

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 21:39:41 +0000

crushing pellets

Author: burundi 6 bar

Some months ago a wise [old]man suggested a tool that i thought was a little weird for feeding fish.

But the other day finally i was given one of these tools for my own use,it works a treat also.

Well done AGAIN Mark[cichlids_au],who would of thought a pepper grinder had a use in a fish room.But it sure works fine

little mess and no time wasted crushing pellets for fry no-more

No more pellets flying all over the place ,good stuff Mark.

be sure you dont mix pellet grinder with pepper grinder though

Cheers

Darryl

Replies »

Author: BlakeyBoyR

thats an excellent idea !

Author: hyperdive

I've been using the grinder for many years. I've also found that getting a lump of spirulina flakes, putting them in a fish bag and rolling them around in the palm of your hand crushes them into powder perfectly. You then add the powdered flake to the pepper grinder along with the pellets. I still crush my big orca pellets between two bits of perspex and add them to the grinder.

So I guess the grinder doesn't do too much grinding but it's perfect for sprinkling the fry food out without the fear of getting water in the container.

Author: Cichlids au

Imix NSWCS pellets, spirulina flakes and tetra bits and give them that as a blended mix. works its way through the grinder just fine.

Cheers Darryl, I'm glad your pleased

Author: MagicaDiSpell

What a great idea. I used to use mortar and pestle for a while. RSI stopped me eventually.

Author: Baz

I'm also a fan of the grinder. I find it the best way to feed fry.

Author: Beagly

G'day

I have used pepper grinders before, but now I use an old electric coffee grinder.

I make up about 200 grams of food and when the fry need feeding I just take out a small scoop.

CYA Beagly...

Feeding

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 23:46:34 +0000

Feeding Going on a holiday?!

Author: Pommie Dave

I'm after some advice on feeding fish whilst away from home on a holiday. I'll be away for 2 weeks in a couple of months time YIPPEEEEEE... sorry... and I was concerned about what things I should remember to do in order to keep all my fish alive and well.

The pleasure of the feeding job goes to a mate who incidentally isn't a fish person... so yup it looks like my fish are all doomed already! Anyway I'm trusting him to feed them every 2-3 days with a good dose of food.

Do you think feeding them only once every 3 days is ok?

What type of food would be the best considering the length of time between feeds?

Is there anything else that I should remember to do to ensure I return to see happy smiley fishies??

Just for your information I have 6 tanks with mostly Malawi's and a few Tangies mixed in.

Appreciate any input guys.

Dave

Replies »

Author: Auscanuckafishy

Are they all adults or are there fry mixed in there as well?

If they are all adults, I would probably get him to feed them after a week, and then again half way through the next week, that should see them through no problems i'd say.

Fry are another matter, and would need feeding more often.

Mark

Author: SamJW

Becareful he doesn't overfeed them each time. I would suggest pre-preparing portions for him to feed your fish just in case (I know that's being very paedantic, however I'd rather see you fish alive).

Enjoy your holiday.

Cheers

Sam.

Author: Pommie Dave

Cheers Mark.

Most tanks I have are homes to adults and juveniles but I've also got a couple of tanks brimming with a mixture of fry ie lionheads, hongi's, saulosi, brichardi's and calvus. I suppose I'd be best to off load these before hand = Less stress to take away.

Also what do you think of the idea to condition the fish so they only get one meal every second day maybe a week before I go... just to get them prepared for the 2 week starve. Or is that going to make them more under nourished for the 2 weeks?

Can you suggest a food to give them if they were feed only once a week? To the adults and juves the is.

Author: Auscanuckafishy

Actually I find you can train their metabolism to work on a specific feeding regime. It may be good for them otherwise they may pass the food straight through the systems without getting a lot out of it, only to find they are gunna be starved for a bit

When I had fish in my 8ft (which is at my parents house) they weren't too confident in feeding them. So i just said, well don't, and I came up every couple of days to feed them. Eventually they were down to feeds every 3-4 days without showing any real ill-effects. They did gradually become thinner over this time, so I wouldn't do it for too long, my guys went along like this for about 4 months, without too much hassle.

. Now they're back on daily feeds, and they threw on the pounds real quick, I expect their metabolisms to adjust and they should start passing the food more quickly soon, and not storing so much of it

They shouldn't need anything special, just as long as it is a decent quality food, perhaps mix a few foods together just to make sure they're not lacking anything. Just remember when you get home they'll wanna jump outta the tank for your feeding attentions. Alas after 4 months (once my parents were confident to do it, just not every day) my fish forgot who i was

Mark

Author: Pommie Dave

That's great... I've finally stopped sweating about the feeding issue with your advise Mark, you're a bloody champ.

Thanks also Sam.

Have a great Chrissy all!!

Author: meesterclarence

Greetings. If you ever have to leave, and can't find someone to help you, then automatic fish feeders are a great thing. You can program them to feed your fish, up to 3 times a day, for up to 2 weeks! Just a thought, fyi. Have fun on vacation.

Meester Clarence

Author: burundi 6 bar

you dont want to feed them enough for 2-3 days at once .this will be a recipe for desaster,feed same amounts of food as if feeding each day.unless you dont care if you loose the fish,this is what is likely to happen.

best of luck

cheers

darryl

Author: richardvo73

Hi Dave,

I'd go the automatic fishfeeder, or if you don't want ot (or can't) spend the money go and buy some cheap pill boxes from a $2 shop.

Then tell your friend - "One compartment per feed" If he gets that wrong then I'd be finding a new freind!

I went away for two weeks and my freind looked after my fish just nicely under those instructions....

However I did get home to find the garage door open (blown open by wind - wife didn't close before we left) and man that was nerve wracking!

HTH

Richard

Author: danceswithdingoes

Yes, what Richard said, biggest problem with the 'inexperienced' is overfeeding, ensure each portion is measured and seperated.

Author: YeW2001

Dave -

If they are malawis you can always go out and buy 2-3 bunches of elodea and throw that in the tank... there is probably a weeks worth of greens there

This works particularly well for the more vegetarian species - and won't foul your tank.

Author: Lucifer

Yew is right. use the plants

Im going to be gone for a week and i just bought some plant for my fishes to eat.

Ive done it before and it worked so im doing it again

have fun everyone who is going on hoildays cause i will

Brine Shrimp

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 23:10:32 +0000

Brine Shrimp Help

Author: Ian

i managed to hatch a heap of them, probably about 80% or so in a soft drink bottle.

only problem is getting them out

i tried pouring the water over a cloth but i ended up with a heap of unhatched eggs over the spot i poured it on. i couldnt see any brine on the cloth though. they were probably there somewhere, just way too hard to spot.

my question is.... is there any way i can get the shrimp out without either adding salt water to the tank or letting any unhatched eggs into the tank?

Replies »

Author: Anita ozfish

Hi Ian,

Is your bottle upside down?

It should be. Screw on the cap, get an airline fitting (the type that goes into pipe) and put through cap. Attach the airline to that and control the air flow with a valve.

All the water, eggs and salt are added via a hole at the top (bottom) of the bottle. When you want to strain the shrimp, turn off the air TOTALLY. Let it all settle for a few minutes - live shrimp will sink and the eggs will float. Then pull the airline off the bottletop and strain through a hankie into an old jar and 'voila'........newly hatched brine shrimp.

Author: DLDingo

I use the bottles up the right way with no probs.

Put the bottle somewhere dim, shine a torch or lamp on one side only. The shrimp will swim over to the light after about 10 mins. Use a piece of rigid pipe/tube (like in UGfilters the bit attatched to the air stone) join the rigid tubing to regular tubing and suck out the Bshrimp and spit them onto a container with a cloth strainer tied on with a rubber band.

Shine the torch below where the egg cases float and the Bsphrimp can be sucked out without eggcases. They will always swim to the light so this way you get every last one of them.

Have a long roll of tube so you dont swallow any.

This works with any clear container not just coke bottles.

Dianna

Author: danceswithdingoes

Use a small torch about half way down and the instars will gather there, just syphon them up with a turkey baster or similar onto a fine cloth that you could use to rinse them in aged fresh-water.

Author: tiger

whats wrong with a bit of salted water going in your tank ???

aged water plus brine shrimp .......whats the problem??

i havegrown and fed newly hatched brine shrimp.(with a little bit of solution )to goldfish .....koi.....cichlids ...on many occasions.......never a problem

Kevin

Feeding Fry

Sat, 16 Apr 2005 05:32:44 +0000

When to start feeding fry ?

Author: Cichlid Boy

Hi all,

I have a batch of E-yellow fry which have just started swimming around upright by themselves. Do I wait until the egg-yolk has reduced on their bellies before I start giving them food ?

Thanks,

Travis.

Replies »

Author: MountainMark

as long as they have the egg yolk then they have enough food. So i would say don't feed them til it is gone. As a matter of fact i think i can remember reading somewhere that they won't eat until the yolk is gone (but someone may want to correct me if i'm wrong about that).

Author: hyperdive

Once they are swimming off the bottom consistently (not needing the bottom to support their bellies) you can add some finely crushed flake or baby brine shrimp. If they pick at it, keep feeding them small amounts regularly.

Author: Cichlid Boy

Thanks guys.

Author: chorrylan

I've seen fry at that stage who will chase (sort-of) and eat baby brine shrimp but can't imagine that they need to.

I usually have fry at that size in a strainer over a larger fry tub/net so if I'm feeding the larger ones will let the brine shrimp float down past the baby fry.

This gives 'em a reason to swim around a bit while they try to catch the brineshrimp so I consider it a good thing even if they don't need the extra nutrition. (a bit like cichlid_au's racing lanes in his growout tank)

I definately wouldn't do it if I didn't have something bigger in the tank to clean up the brineshrimp though.

Laurie

Feeding

Sat, 16 Apr 2005 05:11:38 +0000

Overeating (not over feeding)

« Prev Page | Next Page »

Author: McMoridin

Hi all,

My Aulonocara Heuseri just eats to much. I definetly don't overfeed my fish. If I only put a small ammount of food in he eats all of it real fast and if I put more food in so the others might have a chance to get some he gets to eat even more of it. He's really starting to get too fat. Has anyone got any ideas except separating them when I feed them because that would be too stressful to isolate him 3 times a day.

Thanks

Josh

Replies »

Author: Cichlids au

Hey Josh

You?re over feeding them. Cut it back to 1 feed per day, 6 days per week.

Feed them enough for them to eat it ALL in 10 minutes. There will be so much food in the tank at the first hit that the guts won't be able to eat it all and the others will get some.

Also by reducing the amounts of feedings per day the more shy fish will become more eager

Author: Nik19

Hi Josh

I've noiced something similar with mine, i usually feed him some fresh vegies , and what i do is put a few small pieces in the tank first( which will sink) he usually goes for those first, and as he swims after the vegies bits i put some pellets and more vegies in for my e. yellow and maleri gold, which gives them a chance to eat it lol

Hope this helps

Nik

Author: McMoridin

I will try your method cichlids_au but I'm quite sure that I dont overfeed them. I might be new to this forum but I'm not new to cichlid keeping. Your saying feed them once a day what they can eat in ten mins, I feed my fish 3 times a day what they can each eat in about 10 seconds since they really woof into it. I feed them a variety of peas, hikari biogold colour enhacing pelets, OSI vivid colour flakes, OSI spirulina pelets, wardley spirulina flakes and wardley premium pelets and once every 1 or 2 weeks I give them some prawns.

Thanks

Josh

Author: BengaBoy

if the strategy isnt working change it......

and yours isnt working

i agree with cichlids_au

your way of a 10seconds feed time doesnt give the other fish a chance

feed them once a day what they can eat, in say x minutes (experiment with x).

there will be so much food in the tank at once everyone will get a go. I do this with my Tropheus and the 1cm fry get plenty to eating even competing with the adults.

Author: McMoridin

Fair enough,

I'll give it a go , but there is still WAY more people who believe it is better to feed fish smaller ammounts more times a day tham people who like to feed their fish once a day. As some people say - we (humans) wouldn't want to eat one big meal a day, it's less healthy, so why should our fish.

Thanks again anyway

Josh

Author: Cichlids au

Fish in the Lake would be lucky to get 1 feed per day and that wouldn't be a very good one.

The fish we keep are all over fed, that?s why people have such a problem identifying them with pictures from the wild.

I have 30 species breed to date, several of which are new in the country. You have a problem with a greedy-guts of a fish. It's your choice.

Author: McMoridin

I am going to try your method!!!!

Sorry but i can't help but disagree with your analogy of the eating patterns of cichlids in the lake - Fish in the lake graze all day long, its just that they don't get much food and thats why they tend to eat a lot even when they're full and is another reason why its "probably" better to feed more small feedings rather than one large feeding, because its closer to what their natural eating pattern would be like in the wild. Now of course I realise that this wont work in my little situation and also realise that your method would be good for me to try at the moment so I am going to experiment with feeding one large meal a day.

Thanks again

Josh

Author: Auscanuckafishy

I still like to feed my fish as many times during the day as I can, but when there is a greedy guts in a tank, dumping a whole lot in at once works because they can all grab some before the greedy one does. My big tanks only get one feed, but the smaller ones get a few, it depends on who's in the tank, and how chubby they like to get. I don't let them eat for ten minutes (unless it's vegies) but it's up to personal preference.

Another thing that works well is to feed smaller sized foods, flakes are nearly always shared around because they're a bugger to get a hold of for the fish and they just spread out everywhere. Also if you feed 20 tiny pellets, as opposed to 5 big ones, then that gives the other fish a chance to grab something while the greedy one is trying to woof them all down. If you just put the 5 bigguns in, he might get them all in his gob before the others have a chance.

You have to balance it though, i've found that the smaller sized food you feed, the fatter your small fish get, and the skinnier your big fish get, so it's a bit of a balancing act, and of course bigger pellets and such are impossible for small fish to eat. Also some big fish ignore small foods.

HTH

Mark

Author: SouthCoastGold

Ta man

As I said, I will give it a go.

Thanks

Author: plecosam26

Hi,

I agree feeding your fish once a day what they will eat in ten minutes has to be worse than feeding 3 times but in ten seconds. I feed my fish one feed which they can eat in around 30 seconds in the morning and then they might get a small feed another once or twice the same day.

Regards,

Sam.

Author: cichomaniac

I used to feed 2-3 times a day and found it was a lot easier to over feed and foul up the water , one feed a day keeps the tank looking a lot cleaner and as Cichlids Au said , the shy fish soon learn that they have to come out to eat or miss out .

Luke

Author: SouthCoastGold

I find that if i do 1 big feeding, more food goes to the bottom because the fish don't get time to eat it. When I feed them less on the other hand, less food piles up on the bottom because they actually get to eat it before it reaches the bottom. My fish seem to be snobs in that they don't eat the food after it's on the bottom, only when its floating in the water.

Josh

Author: raycam01

Hey Guy's,

Would totally agree with Mark on this one, I feed my fish once in the morning and thats it, the fish in the lake do graze all day as it was put, but they dont get the high protein kick thats in the food we feed em, have alook at the backs of the little tins u feed em,,,,,,,, Go back to 1 good feed a day, it makes your fish more active when it is feeding time, they soon learn to come out of the nooks and crannies, in search of the meal, rather than knowing its going to be dumped in 3-4 times a day. I often have people say to me is that all your going to feed em. There funny little buggers

they will look at ya with them big eyes, wanting alittle more and you'll do it, DONT lolol

Author: hungsta

hey,

how bout if your fish is afraid to go to the surface and eat?

Any comments!!

Author: Cichlids au

run the food down a plastic tube, so they can't get it till it comes out the end near the substrate.

Author: SouthCoastGold

Now that sounds like something I can try.

Thanks

Author: Dawson

Its not much related, but I've just stumbled onto a great way of feeding my (slow) clown loaches in my Malawi tank.

What I do is float a little plastic baby-holder (the ones you'd buy in a basic pet shop) in the top corner, and then just pour in the defrosted blood worms. They soon settle on the bottom of the feeder, and the clowns come up to the underside of the feeder, turn upside down, and procede to suck the worms through the small slits in the bottom.

No other fish in the tank have figured out how to do this, and its better for my clowns because rather than just the one or two big ones getting a feed out of the pipe, all the loaches get a decent feed.

Just a thought.

Cheers

Dawson

Author: hyperdive

Yeah just make sure you don't keep those loaches in the same tank as your fry. I lost a large number of eureka red fry because the loaches figured out they could suck them through the grid while the fry slept.

how many times can i feed blood worms

Tue, 12 Apr 2005 04:45:09 +0000

how many times can i feed blood worms in a week

Author: akaomar

hi

i was wondering how many times can i feed blood worms to my gombes and bristlenose. I feed them twice a week, can I increase that or is it bad for them for their health and digestive system ?????????

and some one told me that blood worms cause diseases like hole in the head etc ,,,,,,is this true !!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks Omar

Replies »

Author: Anita ozfish

I recommend it only once a week Omar, not more.

I have certainly never heard of it being responsible for hole in the head. In my opinion, that is a stress related problem - not food.

electral@bigpond.com

web

Sydney, Australia.

Author: YeW2001

I'm with Anita - once or twice a week maximum. Julies are micropredators - so they can definately eat bloodworms (which are arthropod larvae) I'd feed them a staple frozen DIY or pelleted food also.

Also I agree with Anita re: HITH disease. It is almost certainly stress related - anyway it is relatively rare in africans.

-- YeW | ICQ: 259452

Author: airfish

Correct me if i am wrong here people but i think hole in the head is caused by a Protazoa Hexamita. I agree blood worm is fine to feed to most fish. My wife feeds it to her oscars every day and there fine and healthy.

Nigel

Guildford N.S.W.

Author: THERMOFISH

Yeh, ive got americans and i feed them bloodworms every second day. Ive never had a problem and they love it.

Author: YeW2001

Hi Nigel -

I agree that HITH is caused by the protozoan you mention - however - I think if you tested the water of most tanks you'd fine Hexamita present... I think it is an opportunistic pathogen only infected stressed fish

-- YeW | ICQ: 259452

Author: akaomar

thanks for the reply guy's and gril's

omar

goin on holiday

Sat, 09 Apr 2005 08:50:45 +0000

goin on holiday

Author: oF1o

thanks for info. all info found thats needed

Replies »

Author: o BaZ o

Hi Ryan

Your fish should be fine being fed once a day, in fact they could probably miss a feed every now and then (even the small ones) if this makes things easier.

As you have said, it will also reduce pollution in the tank, allowing the fish a better chance of survival

I'd leave the 6ft until you come home if you want to play it safe, otherwise you're running the risk of something going wrong in a new tank while you are not there.

With your filters, I'd clean them all now to give them time to become fully stable again before you go, and do a water change the day before you go.

Where are you going? Somewhere nice?

baz@bigfoot.com.au

ICQ: 930008

Woodford NSW

Author: oF1o

thankyou very much for the info.

thanks

ryan

Author: oF1o

But wat do u think about 17 4-5cm(mainly 4cm) maingano in a 4ft for this time without a cleaned tank.

my 6ft will be a display when i get back and so i will be using some males for that.

Author: phatoscarlover

I think you shouldnt post on a public forum that you wont be at your house for a month.

Cheers Andy

Author: oF1o

im only person goin.

Author: o BaZ o

It's hard to say about the maingano without actually seeing it, but it sounds ok. I personally would prefer it a little less stocked, but I'm sure others would get away with it

baz@bigfoot.com.au

ICQ: 930008

Woodford NSW

meal worms

Sat, 09 Apr 2005 08:45:55 +0000

meal worms??

Author: aquaclear

Does anyone have an idea on how long these critters take to pupate into beetles? I've had them in the right conditions now for about a month and nothing thus far....any input will be helpful!

Replies »

Author: SciBlue

Gday aquaclear. Temperamental little things you can play with these guys minds by changing the heat conditions that they are in. If you can put them in a warm dry place like on top of your hot water system (if its inside) this will make them think its summer and they go nuts but they seem to to pupa stage when they feel like it. Just dont let them get too warm!!!

Author: Barra

you might want to throw like a little bit of potato off-cuts in there, they seem to like those and that seems to induce the whole transformation thing.

does anyone out there know how healthy meals worms are for fish?

Author: aquaclear

Barra, I know they are high in protein and should be given to Africans only on occasions. But Oscars are another story. I think they like the high protein meal more often...I make my own veggie food once a month and thought of growing the meal worms as well, geez they are stubborn!

thanks all the same...

Author: slotha

Put in slices of potato for them to eat and newspaper for them to lay their eggs on. Mine go crazy

Tim

The problem with political jokes, is that we elect them.

Natural! foods for colour enhancing?

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 04:43:13 +0000

Natural!! foods for colour enhancing?

Author: nissky

What food naturally bring out the colour of fish?

For example i think spirulina has carotene which helps bring out yellows (like electric yellows).

What natural foods bring out other colours, eg blue, green, red.

Im thinking of feeding my fish slightly different diets dependding on there colours....

Replies »

Author: 00 MooRRii 00

i was always under the impression that feeding alot of carotene to yellows makes them turn an orangey colour? another good source of it is frozen krill.

Author: lilhungsta

Hey nissky hows it going? still breed lithobates? or have you got new fish

Author: nissky

nah sold the litho colony before i went on holidays, but i kept

30 fry and they are colouring nicely now

i just got the common ones yellows/blues/eureka reds

what about you?

Author: Auscanuckafishy

I posted some ideas on colour a while back on someones caudopunctatus post but I'll give a brief overview of what I was thinking.

Blues and greens on cichlids are produced by the structural elements within the scale that bend the light in different ways. These colours usually show their best when there is a good amount of melanin being expressed in the skin below the scale. This is usually why breeding males look far more stunning then their palish counterparts. The only way to increase the structural colour is through encouraging the fish to produce more of it itself as it's not a pigment. Unfortunately the only way to do that it seems is to use hormones, or substances that produce a similar reaction to hormones. I don't know of a way to increase melanin, as it is a pigment produced in cells known as melanocytes, which are distributed through the body originating in the neural crest. Unlike carotene they don't start out as their final colour, and rely on enzymes to change them into their final form.

Oranges, yellows and reds are predominantly caused by carotenoid pigment, which is easily enhanced by the addition of beta carotene containing foods in the diet. Carrots, pumpkin and spirolina all contain beta carotenes, as does shrimp and especially Colour Bits by tetra

I'm not sure what causes white colouration but it is certainly enhanced by the addition of hormones and similar substances. But we don't like that kind of stuff so it seems the easiest colours to enhance would be those produced by caratenoid pigments, lest we get in trouble from out peers

Good genes also go a long way to producing good colour

Mark

Author: lilhungsta

wish i knew that earlier, i been trying to enhance my e.blue colours but its not working now i know why. Thanks Mark.

Nissky so do you have any large e.yellows for sale?

Author: searsfish

Daphnia is a good one (for reds)but youd probably want to culture it yourself .To reduce the chance of giving your fish worms etc .Pretty easy to culture to.

Best food to feed small discus

Thu, 07 Apr 2005 12:54:44 +0000

Best food to feed small discus

Author: masterry

hey i have some discus which range from 4-7cm and i was wondering what the best food is to feed them for colour and good growth.

Ryan

Replies »

Author: fishboi2000

i would say main diet of tetra bits, with the occasional feeding of live black worms and alot of water changes. this should see your discus growing happily and healthy!

goodluck

Author: masterry

hey thanks

Does anyone else have another opinion on other foods

Author: d8cky

i'd say vary their food with combination of pellets, flakes, bloodworms, brineshrimp, blackworms, mysis and beefheart. imagine you eat same food everyday

Author: yevrah

Yes.. Beefheart.. Nothing better for growing out small discus. Other frozen fish dinners high in protein are good for variety - especially the brine shrimp. Dried foods, well, I'd stick to the Hikari range of high protein cichlid staple, and yes, tetra bit's are good too.

I've used blood worms before but only from reliable sources.

Best,

Harvey

Author: masterry

Hey

i tried feeding them some pellets and they wont eat them. They go for them but they dont seem to be able to get them in their mouth and chew them. It's really strange. How can i get them to eat the pellets. at the moment i am feeding bloodworms and they dont seem to be growing much.

Thanks Ryan

Author: Th0mas

Mine goes for Tetra Bits, Sera discus granule, frozen bloodworm (Hikari), live blackworm, etc.

Author: yevrah

I've had this problem before. Use the worms to train them up to pellet food.

This can happen if the discus is raised in a bare bottomed tank and introduced to a decorated tank. They seem to get confused at finding pellet food - although their instincts kick in when fed live food like worms and brine shrimp.

It can also happen if the breeder grew them up on live food or beefheart and they've never encountered dry pellet/flake food.

They should be fine on any food in a few weeks time if you keep at it. My discus were so fussy when i first got them but now will eat whaterver gets thrown in the tank.

Good Luck,

Harvey

Author: masterry

Hey

I have been feeding them bloodworms for about 3 months and i am trying to get them to eat pellet. I have put a few pellets in everymorning and night since tuesday and they wont eat them. They kinda go for them but dont fit them in their mouth even though they are small tetra bits. How long should i go on putting pellets in because soon they will starve to death.

Ryan

Author: Spook79

If you can get hold of the new frozen Posaqua Discus blend

it has beefheart, brineshrimp, bloodworms, vegies, garlic and yes bannana which is a very good vitamin source for them..

plus the garlic helps to keep the parasites and worms at bay

Author: Davo67

Spook79,

Where did you get the Posaqua Discus Blend from and how much was it?

Thanks,

Dave,

Mosman, Sydney.

Author: Spook79

I am in Adelaide

here it is around $4 a pkt depends on how many

will try and find out who carries it in NSW for you

Author: masterry

Thanks heaps guys

but when should i give up feeding them pellets if they just keep refusing, they could possibly starve to death.

Author: danceswithdingoes

Age of Aquariums is advertising a 1mm granulated hi-protein food for $35 a kilo or $15 for 300g, under 1/2 of the price of tetra bits, ask Hyperdive (Andy) if they're any good.

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

Author: masterry

Hey Thanks Everyone for all of the info.

I have tried since last monday to try and feed my discus pellets and they just wont eat them. Today i just decided to give up before they starved to death and went back to the usual feeding of bloodworms.

Does anyone have any good techniques for training these discus onto pellets.

Ryan

Author: lighterrr

Have you try feeding them beefheart?

PlecoFanatics.com

- Online Loricariidae Community

Author: masterry

No i havent tried beefheart. Where would i get some or should i make it off a diy site.

Ryan

Author: yevrah

You can buy beefheart from most pet stores, as well as a variety of other frozen foods.

As to why your discus wont touch pellets even after three months, that implies to me that the pellets might be past theyre use by date.

If you still have trouble try squeezing the juice from a fresh garlic onto the pellets. This is a known fish attractactant with the added benefit of helping to prevent worms and other parasites.

FYI Info on garlic below:

www.geocities.com/shtinky...garlic.htm

Beefheart (and other) recipe's can be found here:

article.dphnet.com/article.shtml

Good Luck,

Harvey

Are bloodworms good

Thu, 07 Apr 2005 12:43:44 +0000

Are bloodworms good for growing up small fish quickly?

Author: Arrafanatic

Hey guys,

I was jsut wondering if feeding fish frozen bloodworms makes them grow quickly. I feed my fish every night on frozen bloodworms and after every feed, they all have bloated stomachs as a result of being 'full', however, their growth rate seems to be slow despite this.. Maybe, they are growing.. and i just haven't noticed it.. Are there better foods available for growing small fish up quickly??

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks for your time

Arrafanatic

Replies »

Author: fiona ls

Bloodworms by themselves don't have sufficient range of nutrients ... also it depends on the species, fish such as mbuna and some others don't do well on a high animal protein diet like that.

Fiona L.S.

Lalor Park, NSW

Author: E4G13M4N

Frozen bloodworm and stale flakes have the same amount of nutrients as shredded newspaper

So wont make anything grow faster or healthier on its own.

Also as suggested not recommended for most malawis ..

^Mark^

Author: hungsta

Quote:stale flakes have the same amount of nutrients as shredded newspaper

hey eagleman,

how long should fish food be kept for then??

regarding pellets and flakes...

@hotmail.com

Punchbowl,Sydney.

Author: ducksta

Hung I was thinking exactly that.

How do I know when my flakes are stale? I sure as hell am not tasting them!!

Check out my site!!

Author: scitzfish

The most important things to remember when feeding any fish but particularly young fish are; small amounts of food often, a varied diets, and really good water quality. I know alot of people swear by beefheart when it comes to growth rate, but as I don't use it on my freshwater fish I can't comment on it. HTH arra.

Author: E4G13M4N

Some brands are stale when they arrive here but of course cant name them

Pellets are usually fine, i havnt come across any i wouldnt use for the right fish..

As long as the flake has some moisture feel to it, soft and not a pile of dry crumbs basically is the easiest way to know

wether its fresh or not..

OSI, HBH, spectrum, nutrifin and tetra would rate as the top 5 ive seen in SA anyway that is just my opinion

We went to a seminar once flakes , bloodworms and of course beefheart were rated as the 3 biggest sellers and the 3 least nutritional value ...

^Mark^

Author: The Cichlid Man

Mark,

Just wondering what food you use for your fish.

Regards,

Ben

Author: E4G13M4N

Wide range of foods really depending on the fish

OSi growth and colour

HBH 8 vegies

OSi spirilina

HBH cichlid attack

HBH sth american pellets

Hikari gold pellets

tetra bits

osi vivid colour flakes sparingly

Frozen/live Brine shrimp

Mozzie larvae

crickets

earth worms

woodies

Spectrum +A pellets

etc etc

Plus a mix of a few brands of flakes etc

Probably missed a few

^Mark^

Author: Arrafanatic

Thanks for all the replies guys. They are all greatly appreciated. I currently have a few small fish that i really want to grow up quickly. They are 2 small tinfoil barbs, a blue shark and 2 Red Bellied Pacus. I thought bloodworms were the way to go, but obviously from your replies there are much better foods available. I might try some pellets like nutrafin or something along those lines, as i really want these fish to grow up quickly so they can be moved to my main tank.

Thanks again guys and keep those ideas and suggestions coming. Cheers

Arrafanatic

Author: hungsta

thanx mark,

I will go feel my flakes now

@hotmail.com

Punchbowl,Sydney.

Author: PHL0703

If you are buying pellets in bulk (some of the foods, such as Hikari, isn't exactly cheap in small quantities), keeping them in the freezer will help slow down the loss of nutritional value; what I do is just decant a bit into a container for everyday feeding, and leave the bulk in the freezer.

I also agree that you should vary their diet; for my tropicals, I use flakes (Nutrafin, a freebie), two types of granules (Hikari and Sera), Hikari algae wafers (which contains quite a lot of fish meal...) and Spirulina tabs, in addition to frozen bloodworms. I'm not in favour of beef heart; don't think that's at all natural in fish diet.

Author: masterry

Hey guys

i feed my discus frozen bloodworms all the time and they dont really seem to be growing well. THe reason i do this is because this is the only thing they will eat. Can anyone give me some recomendations on other foods the would be good for them. I have tried to feed them flake and pellet but they wont take it.

Ryan

Author: Arrafanatic

Gadday Ryan,

how big are your discus??

unfortunately i don't keep discus, so i can't really be of that much help. The only other food i can recommend is some discus granules that tetra or sera make...

hope this helps mate.

Arrafanatic

Author: PHL0703

Quote:i feed my discus frozen bloodworms all the time and they dont really seem to be growing well. THe reason i do this is because this is the only thing they will eat. Can anyone give me some recomendations on other foods the would be good for them. I have tried to feed them flake and pellet but they wont take it.

Starve them a bit, then throw in some pellets; they'll get used to it.

Author: jaz1986

discus can be very quick to die on that particular weaning method. Try mixing in some pre-soaked red pellets with your blood worms, and gradually increase the percentage of pellet untill it is all you are feeding... use the bloodworms as a treat though... they are a great conditioning food for breeding due to their high protein content... but... as mentioned earlier, they do not have the right balance of vitamins.

Feeding: Frozen Food (Mbuna)

Sat, 12 Feb 2005 08:50:18 +0000

I am looking at feeding my mbuna/Haps on a weekly basis with some frozen foods, Just would like to know some opinions on the type that gives best results. Bloodworms,Daphnia,Brineshrimp etc

When i say best results, i mean give fish good colour, breeding increases, growth rates increase, all those sort of things.

All opinions will be greatly appreciated.