Live Food

[small_ranchu]

I have seen a few of us feeding live food to our goldies. Culturing own live food is one option which I am trying now.

Also I can buy live bloodworm or brine shrimp from LFS or PetLand. Is it recommend to use them? If so, is there anything should I do before feeding my ranchus?

Thank you ..

[bigbettadan]

Really, live bloodworm(red mosquito Larvae)? That is awesome.........

Dan

[suphi]

Live bloodworms = the very best food for ranchu. Consider yourself lucky if you can do that! I've read that some people would dip them in potassium permanganate prior to feeding, but I dunno what others would do.

[bigbettadan]

I used to dip blackworm(which I no longer feed) for bettas, but I have never gotten live bloodworm before! I have to settle for our native mosquito larvae as far as live food goes......

Dan

[small_ranchu]

Really, live bloodworm(red mosquito Larvae)? That is awesome.........

Dan

Actually I am saying the info base on this post.
http://goldfishkeepers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5147&postcount=90

I just came back from LFS and only saw live BS. I will go to Petland tomorrow.

How about white worm? Is it good for gf?

[devins23]

Hi Fred - Petland carries live bloodworms, live brine shrimp and live blackworms (NOT for goldfish though). A couple of years ago I use to feed live bloodworms and brine shrimp - and my fishes grew quickly. Now I don't because I heard they can transport unwanted parasites and bacteria, but I didn't have any problems before. Now I feed only frozen from Drs Foster and Smith.I'm trying to research if there's a way to quarantine the live worms before feeding just to be safe - so far I'm still looking.

[small_ranchu]

I am thinking to culture blackworm or whiteworm... White worm is pretty easy to culture though (according to my reading lol).

[Sabine]

If you can find a source of daphnia - they are fairly easy to cultivate.
I hope my culture survived the winter.
They can also be cultivated indoors.

[small_ranchu]

Daphnia is one option which requires green water or algae. I want to go for blackworm or white worm. :)

[Sabine]

You can feed daphnia with yeast. No green water necessary, though they thrive in it and clear it. I kept them last summer in a plastic tub in the garden, and had a good culture going (including mosquito larvae).

[small_ranchu]

Thanks Sabine, I just learn about yeast thingy.

Is daphnia good for 3.5" size ranchu? :) Thanks.

[devins23]

Just make sure ur goldfish get to the daphnia before your filter does.

Make sure u don't feed half dying blackworms or ur water will get cloudy in an instant.

[King_oF_Ranchu]

Thanks Sabine, I just learn about yeast thingy.

Is daphnia good for 3.5" size ranchu? :) Thanks.

I would not recommend it! Bloodworm is best for fish over 2"

[fish don't sweat]

Does anyone feed maggots ?

I was thinking maggots would be easy to grow at this time of the year, just hang a deer leg or lump of meat over the water and let the flies do the rest.

[small_ranchu]

I would not recommend it! Bloodworm is best for fish over 2"

Why not? Daphnia is too small? or it doesn't have nutrition value?

[bigbettadan]

Daphina is fine for fry, but bloodworms are the better food source for that size fish............

Dan

[small_ranchu]

I have to culture live worm indoor. So I don't want maggots since I don't want to smell my place. I don't want mosquitoes flying around in my room either.
So I can go with Daphina, White worm or black worm. So which one is good for gf? Thanks all.

[suphi]

Daphnia is real tiny (dust-like), I can barely feed my 2-inch TVR with that now. Daphnia is really good for baby fish up to 2 months, then the fish become too big for it. You won't be able to feed them enough with daphnia. Go with worms (no idea which is better between black and white).

[bekko]

For large juveniles and adults you can grow earthworms. There is plenty of information about how to do it. Less smell than white worms.

-steve

[small_ranchu]

I though earthworm is too big for them to eat. Do I need to cut them before feeding?

[mikeno]

Check out Perionyx excavatus (http://www.happydranch.com/138.html).

I breed Grindals on ceramic gravel without any bad smell. Will add pics later.

[mikeno]

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt304/mikenophotos/IMG_08641.jpg http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt304/mikenophotos/IMG_08631.jpg http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt304/mikenophotos/IMG_08661.jpg

[mikeno]

The culture being absolutely clean, I guess they are what they are eating:

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt304/mikenophotos/IMG_08671.jpg http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt304/mikenophotos/IMG_08701.jpg

[Jed]

Fred,

A friend of mine used to culture white worms and fed them to her birds and goldfish. Her goldfish really love them, and she never had a problem.

[Virginia ranchu]

I raise daphnia to feed to growing fry, but I think it would be very hard to raise enough of any live food to really benefit my adult goldfish. I buy the large flats of Hikari frozen bloodworms from Foster&Smith. I stock up on these to save on shipping charges. Of course it helps to have an extra freezer.

[Sonny]

I raise daphnia to feed to growing fry, but I think it would be very hard to raise enough of any live food to really benefit my adult goldfish. I buy the large flats of Hikari frozen bloodworms from Foster&Smith. I stock up on these to save on shipping charges. Of course it helps to have an extra freezer.

One time I had a large stock of frozen fish foods in the freezer in my garage. The GFI tripped at some point and I didn't realize it. A few days later I thought an animal had died in my garage until I realized what happened. :(

[small_ranchu]

Mikael,
How do you do that? Can you explain please? Thanks.

Jed,
It's a good news for me. Thanks.

[eros]

Why not? Daphnia is too small? or it doesn't have nutrition value?

Fred,

There's 2 types of daphnia: Daphnia Moina and the larger, Daphnia Magna. You can buy starter cultures from aquabid.com as well as other worm cultures.

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?foodl&&&&&&&pb=150

If I remember correctly, grindal worms are bigger than whiteworms or microworms. I used to keep various cultures back in my betta breeding days.

-ross

[bekko]

One square foot of earthworm culture can produce enough worms to support four goldfish. If you add some fresh vegetable it should be nearly a complete diet.

-steve

[bekko]

.... and the second best live food, interms of space utilization, is maosuito larvae. You can also polyculture mosquito larvae, bloodworms and daphnia in the same vessel.

-steve

[mikeno]

Grindals are bigger then microworms. I bought mine from http://www.sodermalmsakvarieaffar.se/index3.htm . The shop owner showed me a two years old culture that was totally clean and free from bad smell. I breed my worms according to his method.

I use a plastic food box. In the lid there is a 5cm hole covered by a fine mesh for ventilation and to stop fruit flies and other intruders. The mesh is cut out from a reusable coffee filter. The box is filled about half with terracotta (?) gravel and the food and worms is covered with a small piece of glass. The culture is used for goldfish feeding once a day and afterwards fed with gruel (?) for human babies, sprayed with water and stored in darkness. To feed goldies just dip the small piece of glass with worms in the aquarium. That’s it.

[mikroll]

I have a UV bug lamp hung over the outside pond and as the mosquitos get electrocuted the bar-b-qued parts drop down the pond

[small_ranchu]

One square foot of earthworm culture can produce enough worms to support four goldfish. If you add some fresh vegetable it should be nearly a complete diet.

-steve

Steve,
Do I need to cut into pieces before I feed them?

[bekko]

It depends on how large the worms are Fred. The fish will slurp down the ones which are two to four inches long and as thick as a piece of spaghetti. If they do not eat them right away it's OK because the worm will stay alive on the bottom of the tank and will not foul the water.

The big ones as large as a pencil have to be cut up. It is easier to freeze them first so all the good stuff does not gush out when you cut them. Don't feed more than the fish will eat in a few minutes.

It you are buying worms then you will probably only get big ones. If you grow your own, you can keep some large ones to make egg capsules and feed the small ones to the fish.

http://www.raingarden.us/earthworm.JPG

-steve

[small_ranchu]

Thanks Steve.
ok, I found a place to buy starter kit for earthworm. Do you think shoe box is good enough to culture EW?

[bekko]

That should be big enough.

Growing earthworms is very popular again. It comes in thirty-year cycles. In each cycle there are people who get hooked into schemes to do it as a business and lose their investment. It works well enough to feed your fish but not well enough to make your fortune.

-steve

[fish don't sweat]

It's easier to feed strips of meat than worms. That's what I do and have never looked back.

[William Tricker Inc.]

mosquito larva, bloodworms and daphnia are 3 things I use often, if anyone would like a constant supply, Tricker's offers standing order Daphnia every week or 2 weeks for 15% off retail pricing, and you can cancel anytime:exact:

also has anyone tried duckweed to as a goldfish treat?

[Ranchumaniax]

Do you have live bloodworm available for purchase? If yes, how much will it be for 1lbs. I think i would love to order 7lbs a week.

Paul

[small_ranchu]

Do you have live bloodworm available for purchase? If yes, how much will it be for 1lbs. I think i would love to order 7lbs a week.

Paul

Live bloodworm. :exact:

[Ranchu Rancher]

I have to thirty gal tanks with green water in them. I am keeping them green with Urea. I am looking to start a culture of monia and magna. Will the daphina tolerate the use of urea ? I am using 55w compact floresancent lights.

Gregg

[Ichthius]

Hi Gregg

I can send you a moina and pulex for the cost of shipping. Not sure they are pure either way but they are a good mix as the moina like the heat and the pulex like the cool (but they each do both extremes).

All my cultures are outside right now so theirs likely to be a few ostracods or copepods but with a little work they are easy to clean up with an eye dropper.

Make sure you keep your green water buffered so you don't get huge pH swings. The urea will make things acidic and the photosynthesis will make the basic. This can be hard on the bugs. I like to use a box filter of florida crushed coral by caribsea (it's actually mined aragonite and is the best buffer).

[Ranchu Rancher]

David: Thanks! Sent you a PM.

Gregg

[Cincy Ranchu]

Daphnia is one option which requires green water or algae. I want to go for blackworm or white worm. :)

I have had a culture in the backyard for over a decade, indoors I have had some success using APR ( artifical plankton rotifer) from Aquatic Ecosystem. A can lasts for ever, if you keep it in the freezer, it is what I feed my goldfish first.

All live food cultures work for a while, I have had best luck with micro- worms, and a shebox contraption called an inverted railroad. Shoot I publishe dthat in the GFSA about a decade ago.
Fred, one thing all live food cultures have in common, sooner or later they all stink..... frozen is easy, dried is easier but costly