Food for dwarfs

[Neil]

petroby,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

I think that most of us will agree that it is not feeding live foods(especially tubiflex/blackworms) that would make us throw our hands up, it is feeding unsafe live foods. That can alsways be a question when you are dealing with live. But, there is no better condiition method for Dwarf Cichlids, if you can maintain quality. Sounds like you have licked that problem.
I use all of the critters that you have mentioned, only in there frozen form. This, too, is a good way to make sure you are getting the advantages of live foods, while still insuring safety from parasites. I also think it important to feed a variety of foods to give our fish the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals they need. We don't just want to fill them up and get them breeding. We also want to make sure that they are healthy and will breed for us for as long as possible. In this respect, it is helpful to find some alternatives to live foods (although a variety would probably do the trick). I use OSI Marine Flake. My fish seem to eat it reasonable well and it have many of the things that might be somewhat lacking from the rest of their diet. There is no one feeding methodology that is necessarily perfect, especially when you are dealing with different types of fish. But a variety of foods can come close to meeting the needs of all Dwarf Cichlids. I use about 5 different types a week in the hope that I am accomplishing this.

Neil

 

[MikeR]

Neil:

I keep hearing that black worms are hazardous for fish, but I never saw this in 30+ years of fishkeeping. I've also heard that they will die in the gravel, but I used to feed extra so that some stayed in the gravel amoungst the plant roots. I would frequently find them again when I pulled plants out. Am I imagining things?

Mike

 

[farm41]

Mike, I have found the same thing, those worms will live for months in the gravel. I think there are probably more success stories with blackworms than problems, you only hear about the problems though. It is all relative though, if the worms don't come from a reliable source, could be problems with them. I have been using them weekly for 2 years, no disease or parasite in my tanks for that time either.

 

[crimsonrain]

Fishgeek,
What happens when freezing and then thawing and refreezing frozen foods? I feed my fish frozen bloodworms, I let the pacage sit for a few minutes before plopping the food in there is this bad? is my food now contaminated?
Crimsonrain

 

[fishgeek]

thawing and refreezing any food is not a good idea as far as public health is concerned
most foods (processed-not fresh) will have a minimium number of pathogens or spores associated with them
by allowing the food to warm this pathogens can increase in numbers , freezing will not always kill them, though will arrest their multiplication

if the food is thawed for long enough you can get numbers of pathogns to a level where they will cause disease

just push out the ice cube you want t use and allow only that one to thaw

andrew

 

[MikeR]

Matt:

Thanks for the reassurance. One of my reasons for adding extra black worms was to keep the gravel fresh. The worms also ate leftover flake foods, which I took to be a benefit.

Mike

 

[farm41]

I have noticed that too, in my bb tanks, any flakes left over quickly disappeared when I drop a clump of blackworms in.

 

[MikeR]

Matt:

It would seem that black worms have an undeserved bad rap.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a "bb" tank?

Mike

 

[farm41]

bare bottom

I am sure they're are some instances where the blackworms were carriers of disease or parasites.

I am just as sure that their have been bad batches of frozen food at some time or another.

 

[MikeR]

Matt:

I'm sure that the same could be said about some of our fish, but that doesn't seem to stop anyone. And that goes for those folks who feel that quarantine tanks are not worth having.

Mike

 

[farm41]

totally agree 8)

 

[Ray McCaleb]

I've been feeding live blackworms for several years, to both my discus and my Apistos. Wouldn't change. I learned some do's and don'ts early on by personal experience:

Do get your worms from one reputable reliable source.
Do refrigerate...mine stay at 55 degrees F.
Do rinse with clean fresh cool water daily (I use a large flat bottomed Tupperware container and swish like panning for gold, pour off all the water you can before storing; I also use the commercially available "worm keepers".
Do keep in refrigerator for up to 6 weeks.
Do allow your worms to purge their gut before feeding to fish.; I hold my worms 3-5 days before they are fed to the fish.
Do watch the remarkable growth and condition of your fish.

Don't feed your worms...after 3-4 weeks the worms will have slendered down, but should still be alive and ready to feed to your fish.
Don't keep any of the worms if more than 5% are DOA. I believe the remaining live worms ingest enough of their dead brothers to become ticking time bombs. I do know this...if the surviving live worms are fed immediately to your fish, they will kill. Use the smell test...the worms should have an earthy, "worm" smell...not the stench of decay.
Don't be tempted to try unknown worms from any source, especially on prized fish. Use a quarantine tank with "test fish" the first worm shipment or two.
Don't try to salvage worms that have been in transit more than overnight. Two day worms are a disaster. You get what you pay for, use overnight.
Don't feed blackworms to fish you intend to sell or pass on to someone who doesn't have blackworms. Once eating blackworms it is difficult to get Apistos, and near impossible to get discus, to eat anything else. If you acquire fish that have been eating balckworms and refuse to eat what you have, try frozen blooworms, some will switch.
Don't pass on "old wives tales", about worms or anything else. Experiment, test, document, share.

I hope this might help someone...I wish I had this type of info available to me when I started using worms. This is not to say that all the above is true for all, these are just my own observations. If you are looking for a good worm source, e-mail me OFF LIST; I don't sell worms and have NO affiliation with anyone whoe does, other than being a satisfied customer.

Ray

 

[cootwarm]

Hmmm. I think I'll give them a try after all. I heard (read) bad things about them, so when a guy at a LFS told me they carried them, I pretty much let it go in one ear and out the other. I'll have to pick some up and give them a try. Everything I've read about blackworms recently, indicates the opposite. Sounds like they're exceptionally healthy when handled properly.

Michael

 

[MikeR]

Another warning about the black worms is that sometimes you'll find leaches in the batch. You can detect they be a distinctive, difficult to describe odor, and you can find them if after the worms have been in their container for a time, you tilt the container from side to side. The leaches will stick to the container. They are a grey color and about 1/4"-1/2" long. They are harmless to fish, but will eat the worms. That activity tinges the water red as well.

Finding leaches doesn't mean that the source is bad, but thought you should know.

Mike