Live Food

[Rey82]

I recently purchased some live food cultures which includes grindal worms, vinegar eels, red worms, microworms, walter worms, wingless fruit flies, and also bought daphnia from a different individual. Are these good foods so my apistos can start breeding. Only feed my apistos frozen live food at the moment. Also what would be a good plant food to feed them to balance their omnivorous appetites. Any advice would help.

 

[retro_gk]

Grindal worms, microworms, fruit flies and daphnia are all excellent foods for adult/sub-adult fish. The others are great for fry. This is pretty much what i feed my fish.

Red worms will need to be chopped up for most apistos.

For a vegetable component, get a good spirulina flake.

 

[con-man-dan]

I have not found the vinegar eels to be a great choice for cichlids in general. I have 2 cultures going, and the only thing that every now and then touches them is some of my livebearers, in the tank the eunotus came out of. I found live blood worms to be a great treat. Even with their larger size, the fish gobbled them up with joy. I only know of one place to get them, and its a bit of a drive for you....but if you could hit the shop on the way back to Lone Tree, it would be worth the effort. The shops off I-70 and Brighton BLVD.

Also, I've tried several types of plant based foods....they dont seem to touch it. I had SOME luck with a bulk flake thats krill and spirulina, but it was iffy at best. I can let you know where I got that, as well, if you're interested in giving it a shot

BTW - the viejita are doing great! :wink:

 

[Rey82]

I have not found the vinegar eels to be a great choice for cichlids in general. I have 2 cultures going, and the only thing that every now and then touches them is some of my livebearers, in the tank the eunotus came out of. I found live blood worms to be a great treat. Even with their larger size, the fish gobbled them up with joy. I only know of one place to get them, and its a bit of a drive for you....but if you could hit the shop on the way back to Lone Tree, it would be worth the effort. The shops off I-70 and Brighton BLVD.

Also, I've tried several types of plant based foods....they dont seem to touch it. I had SOME luck with a bulk flake thats krill and spirulina, but it was iffy at best. I can let you know where I got that, as well, if you're interested in giving it a shot

BTW - the viejita are doing great! :wink:

Thanks Dan for the advice....the eunotus are doing good as well except that they hide alot even though I have some hornwort at the moment to give them some security. I am going to increase their tank size in a few days once I get my convicts and kribs to new homes. Want to stick with mostly apistos and rams for the moment. I also bought a small amount of almond leaves and try to keep the ph down. I know of another store in the area that sells bloodworms but they stink up my apartment. I have been doing 25% water changes to my apisto tanks.

 

[tjudy]

The Daphnia are one of my favorites. They are especially good if you have to be gome for a few days. You can overfeed them and they will live until the fish find them. I have some fry tanks with afew adults pumping about that the fry (betta fry in this case) cannot eat. I am sure the Daphnia release offspring that the bettas can eat, so it is like having a live food culture in the tank with the fish.

 

[Mike Wise]

OK guys, where are you getting the live bloodworms in Denver? I assume that the I-70/Brighton Blvd shop is Killer Mikes. Where's the other??

 

[Rey82]

I got some at Neptunes about five months ago in Highlands Ranch off of C-470 and University...close to the Target.

 

[Mike Wise]

I got some at Neptunes about five months ago in Highlands Ranch off of C-470 and University...close to the Target.

Thanks for the info!

 

[retro_gk]

For those interested, here is a method for culturing bloodworms:

There are many species of midges and not all lend themselves to captive culture. Some require large amounts of space for swarming activities that are just not feasible for most hobbyist to provide. Chances are good that the larvae you buy in your local LFS will be amenable to culture, though and they are much easier to culture than most would lead you to believe.

1- Culture tank: I use 5, 10, 15, and 20 gallon tanks with fine mesh screen tops. Add an inch of sand (I use silica sand from construction department of home improvement stores as I find play sand is not as clean). Add 3-4 inches of water that is dechlorinated (I use DI water corrected to moderate gH). Lightly aerate. Light, at least general room light, should be available and the daily cycle should ideally include a period of darkness (I use a 16light/8dark cycle). Note that some species will NOT lay eggs if the light remains on. Water will need to be partially changed once a week to prevent fouling due to the heavy feeding needs.

2- Food: 20g Tetramin Flake, 20g Rabbit chow, 1 liter water. Add to blender to create an infusion. Feed approximate 20 ml per day initially. You can tell if the larvae are eating all the food if the water is clear the next day. As the water begins to clear more rapidly you can increase the feeding amount as the growing larvae will consume more food.

3- Cycle: it will take approximately 1.5 weeks for larvae of the size available in most LFS to mature. The adults will emerge, mate, lay eggs, and die in a 36 hour period (most die within 24 hours). The egg cases will be suspended in the water column and will hatch in approximate 2 days at room temperature. These larvae will be visible within 4-6 days after hatching, but may take longer depending on temperature and species. Completion of larval development can take anywhere from 1-3 weeks depending on species. An egg mass can contain several hundred eggs so very little time is needed to have a strong culture running.

4- Feeding: A brine shrimp net works fine if you need small larvae or a regular net if you need larger larvae only. Simply crack the lid open slightly, dip the net into the sand, and extract. Swish net into a container of water to extract the larvae and sand. Easy to separate at that point if you need a specific size or want to remove the sand.

I have had no problems with disease, none of my fish or insects reject this food, and it is quite healthy as the chironomids are as healthy as the flake and rabbit food that you use to feed them.

Note that if any of the adult midges escape while you are working with the tank they will head towards light or water. Simply place a bowl of water out and chances are good they will lay their eggs in it by morning and the adults will likely be dead by then as well. The chironomid midges do not bite- they don’t feed at all as adults.

It’s also worth noting that some people have allergic reactions to chironomids, and can be quite sensitive. It has been reported that people who have reactions to them even respond to handling freeze dried chironomids so if you have handled and/or fed chironomids to your animals before with no reaction…I would think you would be safe culturing them. Just follow basic hygiene: wash well after handling and if you begin itching or sneezing was with soap before scratching or rubbing your eyes.

Frome here: http://aquaworld.netfirms.com/phpBB2/index.php