Food for dwarfs

[MikeR]

All:

What feed feeding regimen is best for dwarfs such as M. ramirezi and P. pulcer/taeniatus?

Mike

 

[fishgeek]

http://www.apistogramma.com/cms/articles/dwarf_cichlid_husbandry/dwarf_cichlid_nutrition/

this article on the main site should answer most of your question

andrew

 

[MikeR]

Andrew:

Thanks for the direction to that article. Do you have a favorite source for the frozen cyclops, daphnia, and perhaps live cultures of the daphnia?

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[fishgeek]

i just use frozen from the lfs, they seem reliable and have never experienced any of the horror stories of any particular brand/type of frozen foods, think these typ of concerns may just start from defrosting of packages then refreezing

also started my daphnia by buying a portion of live food at lfs , then just put them in a plastic container on a windosill with algae growing from light, now have an old bathtub outside that as weather warms up will be swarming with daphnia

could runa search on ths site for daphnia as i know not long back we had a discussion on culturing these and ther live foods

andrew

 

[MikeR]

Andrew:

I'll conduct the search on daphnia as you suggest. It could be interesting in and of itself.

The article suggested frozen cyclops as well. I've never seen that. I'll check the internet about it, but do you have a source?

Mike

 

[Neil]

MikeR,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Frozen daphnia should be easily obtained through your LFS. This is an excellent feed for Dwarf Cichlids of most sizes, from very young to adult. Live is, obviously, a better choice in general, but more work. You should be able to find cultures of several varieties on Aquabid or The Bug Farm. Both are listed under Resources on the main page Links section.

I am not sure about frozen Cyclops presently. I have an email into Bio-Aquatics about it now, as I am interested also. I will let you know what i find out.

Neil

 

[MikeR]

Neil:

Thanks for the welcome <G>.

My LFS is rather sparse as regards anything but the basics. I may have to try L.A. for the frozen daphnia.

I want to raise the live daphnia, something I did back in the dim, dark past of my fishkeeping days. It wasn't too difficult. I would use the frozen as a fall-back. I have a rather large atrium I can use to house the daphnia, and should be able to keep them going even in Winter.

I'd appreciate any help on the frozen cyclops. That sounds like a useful food.

What is your experience with the vinegar eels and grindal worms?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[aquabillpers]

Hello,

I have both species. I feed them daphnia, mosquito larvae, and Grindal worms, as well as flake food.

From what I read, live food is more nutritious than frozen food. Plus, raising it adds a new dimension to the hobby.

To answer Mike's question, in my opinion vinegar eels are the easiest of live foods to raise. My cultures last at least 3 years with no attention at all. The eels (actually a nematode related to microworms) are an alternative to baby brine shrimp for feeding fry. Grindal worms are easy to raise and nutritious. They start to die when the temperature gets into the high 70's though, a problem for me here in SE PA.

Bill

 

[MikeR]

Bill:

I appreciate the response. I was tempted to get the grindal worms until you mentioned that they start dying at temperatures in the high 70's. I don't know how hot it gets in SE PA, but outside temps here can reach 110. I suppose I could do as I had intended with the daphnia, and raise the worms in a buried barrel or other container.

Mike

 

[cootwarm]

Hi Mike,

Temp isn't really a problem. I keep my white worms & grindal worms in a cooler with a frozen 20 oz bottle of water. I use 2 water bottles which I rotate each day. Every morning I put the frozen bottle in the cooler and the thawed bottle in the freezer. It works great.

Michael

 

[MikeR]

Michael:

Thanks for the suggestion! That method would work very well even outside if I put the container in a mound of dirt. I want to keep most of the operations out near the tanks and this would work much better than a refrigerator.

Mike

 

[crimsonrain]

im assuming dwarfs dont eat veggies right?

 

[aquabillpers]

Hi,

After reading Cootwarm's reply, I'm going to change my comment a bit.

Using bottles of frozen water might work with Grindal worms. I wasn't able to raise white worms, even when using two bottles a day, but they are more high temperature sensitve. Grindal worms are more forgiving.

If you decide to go that route be very sure to keep other life forms out of the grindal worm culture. These prosper when the temperature warms. My white worm culture became infected with a small fly with swept back wings whose larva outcompeted the white worms and contributed to their demise, I think. Even though there has been no white worm culture in the basement where I had kept it for nine months, there are still a few of the flies around. They now use my indoor daphnia cultures for reproduction! Their larva are black and a centimeter in length, and live at the top of the water, although they dive like mosquito lara when frightened. Fish love them, BTW.

Good luck!

Bill

 

[MikeR]

Bill:

Thanks for the heads-up about that fly. I'm sure that some unwanted creatures will inhabit the daphnia cultures since you can't cover them. I don't mind the flies too much unless they bite <G>.

On something of the same topic, have you ever seen fairy shrimp? When I first started fishkeeping, I would find them in post-rain daphnia ponds. The creature looks like a brine shimp on steroids (the shrimp gets to about 3/4" long), and behaves like the brine shrimp. I've not seen anything about cultures of such a shrimp. I hope to find some pristine areas to look for them if it ever rains again.

Mike

 

[aquabillpers]

According to Masters' classic "Encyclopedia of Live Foods", fairy shrimp are an excellent fish food. The problem with them is that they are annuals who lay eggs in the late winter in temporary pools and die when the pools dry up in th e summer. When the pools refill in the autumn, the eggs hatch and the adults live through the winter and early spring, when the cycle repeats.

According to Masters, they require cold water.

They don't sound like a good food to culture.

Bill

 

[MikeR]

Bill:

The vernal pools are where I used to find them, but they weren't too cold. From my research, there are several species, including some in Canada.

But I also learned that they are endangered in much of the U.S., especially here in California (I think everything is endangered here, except for humans <G>).

I wonder if I couldn't create a vernal pool in my back yard?
Just for kicks, if nothing else.

Mike

 

[Neil]

aquabillpers,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Good information!


MikeR,

Frozen cyclops, as far as I can tell, are primarily sold under the blanket of the Cyclop-eese line. A google search will yield info. You can get powdered, flake or frozen from distributers that carry this line. Never tried them, but I am going to because cyclops is an extremely good food for our fish. Live cultures are also a possibility, but I don't know much about those either.

Neil

 

[MikeR]

Neil:

I'll do that. I already found a place that sells frozen mosquito larvae.

Mike

 

[MikeR]

Neil:

I forgot to mention that I thought that live cyclops could be hazardous to fish. I seem to remember that they would harm very small fry. Is this so?

Mike

 

[petroby]

G'day All, I know this isn't much help asa I live in that large island called Australia, but I find my Apistogramma thrive on live food only. I feed very little dry foods to my fish, as I find they tend to pollute the tanks more than live food.
My dwarfs get live brine shrimp, washed in fresh water, and live black worms, a type of tubifex. I know you guys are going to throw your hands up saying tubifex are deadly to dwarfs, as they carry bacteria. I agree the red tubifex are very unclean critters as they inhabit the bottom of creeks and sewerage farms in very polluted conditions but the black worm resides at the water surface so is much healthier and a very nutritious food. The fish grow exceptionally on these worms.
Well here in Victoria we have a supplier who actually breeds these great little critters. If you keep them clean there is no problem, I have been using them for 10 years now and my fish thrive on them.
When I can find live daphnia I feed them too although their food value is low it is another type of live food, just ensure you don't feed any water boatmen or back swimmers. These carry a parasitic worm which will infect your fish so be carefull.