live foods

dr.tran · 10-18-2012, 10:48 PM

I have kept all kinds of live food cultures. Monia, daphnia, grindal worms, white worms, micro/banana/walter worms, vinegar fruit flies, infusoria, tubifex, blackworms and plant worms. Oh and springtails but that was an accident.

In the end it all depends on what your goal is and what fishes you keep. Tubifex worms hands down for me in terms of nutrition. Nothing makes a fish grow and breed faster than tubifex worms. Horrible to culture them though. Microworms are so easy and they keep your fry alive. But they don't really have much nutrion at all. I love daphnia/monia but nutrition all depends on what you feed your daphnia. Relatively good staple food though.

If time and space is a concern along with not being able to be consistante enough to maintain a culture, use golden pearls. Really its not bad at all. Even for fry raising. As long as its fresh, it will do the job.

If you are looking for live food cultures, let me know which ones and I can prepare one but otherwise I don't normally keep cultures large enough to sell anymore.

Qckwzrd · 10-19-2012, 12:47 AM

I find the grindal and white worms easy and low maintenance. Tubifex I like but they are dirty! Only food I've never cultured are the springtails. Heard they are good for fry and adults. Surface dwelling fish love them also.

homemadepopcorn · 10-19-2012, 12:51 AM

dr. tran, the moina I bought from you are doing well... looking for a balanced diet though... The cultures are green from them sitting in the sun, but yeast is the staple diet.

aokashi · 10-19-2012, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homemadepopcorn

The daphnia moina cultures are not hard to keep. Depending on the container you are keeping them in, you may be doing a lot or very little maintenance.

I keep 2 2g cultures going, each of them must have ~400 individuals in them. I'd probably ask 10 for 75-100 with replacement guarantee for 2 weeks.

okies! whereabout are you located? I think I'll share a portion with meowkitty

homemadepopcorn · 10-19-2012, 01:10 AM

dr. tran, the moina I bought from you are doing well... looking for a balanced diet though... The cultures are green from them sitting in the sun, but yeast is the staple diet.

chibikaie · 10-19-2012, 01:20 AM

Hey, does anyone have suggestions for good live food cultures for larger fishes? I was going to get scuds, but my goldfish went and got bigger. She's nearly four inches already, and she might think they're too small to bother with. Would marmorkrebs be a good idea, or do they reproduce too quickly? I've only got one fish and I would not be feeding her live food every day.

Monster Fish · 10-19-2012, 02:00 AM

Marmorkrebs don't breed that fast IME. They berried every month or two when I had them. If you're not going to feed live every day, you can start with one marmokreb. Just be careful since once you have berries, unless you cull the young, you're eventually going to have too many to count.

dr.tran · 10-19-2012, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homemadepopcorn

dr. tran, the moina I bought from you are doing well... looking for a balanced diet though... The cultures are green from them sitting in the sun, but yeast is the staple diet.

Good job. I told you they were hardy and easy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chibikaie

Hey, does anyone have suggestions for good live food cultures for larger fishes? I was going to get scuds, but my goldfish went and got bigger. She's nearly four inches already, and she might think they're too small to bother with. Would marmorkrebs be a good idea, or do they reproduce too quickly? I've only got one fish and I would not be feeding her live food every day.

White worms are great but for gold fishes, red wigglers. Great for compost making and fish feeding.

Monster Fish · 10-19-2012, 02:25 AM

Anyone have any experience with Daphnia magna?

aokashi · 10-19-2012, 02:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monster Fish

Anyone have any experience with Daphnia magna?

i wanted to order some online.. $17 for 800... but theres no way i can keep that many... will need to split with like 5 ppl

Monster Fish · 10-19-2012, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aokashi

i wanted to order some online.. $17 for 800... but theres no way i can keep that many... will need to split with like 5 ppl

Oh word, how much do you need? I can split the difference and use the rest to start a colony.

dr.tran · 10-19-2012, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monster Fish

Anyone have any experience with Daphnia magna?

Yeah. They are nice for the bigger fish but not as hardy as monia. Very senstive to ammonia and chlorine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aokashi

i wanted to order some online.. $17 for 800... but theres no way i can keep that many... will need to split with like 5 ppl

I will split with you. I will at least take half. In fact I was just about to order.

Monster Fish · 10-19-2012, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dr.tran

Yeah. They are nice for the bigger fish but not as hardy as monia. Very senstive to ammonia and chlorine.

For how big of a fish? Harlequin rasbora big or full-grown angel big?

dr.tran · 10-19-2012, 02:50 AM

Angel. I never had Harlequin

aokashi · 10-19-2012, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monster Fish

Oh word, how much do you need? I can split the difference and use the rest to start a colony.

like 100...

Meowkitty wants some too...

I'm sure people at the meet will want some. Just not sure whether I can keep them alive until then in 1 gallon of water? lol. or I can dump the rest with you and you figure it out

10-18-2012, 10:48 PM	#16
dr.tran Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (76/98%) Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 2,170	I have kept all kinds of live food cultures. Monia, daphnia, grindal worms, white worms, micro/banana/walter worms, vinegar fruit flies, infusoria, tubifex, blackworms and plant worms. Oh and springtails but that was an accident. In the end it all depends on what your goal is and what fishes you keep. Tubifex worms hands down for me in terms of nutrition. Nothing makes a fish grow and breed faster than tubifex worms. Horrible to culture them though. Microworms are so easy and they keep your fry alive. But they don't really have much nutrion at all. I love daphnia/monia but nutrition all depends on what you feed your daphnia. Relatively good staple food though. If time and space is a concern along with not being able to be consistante enough to maintain a culture, use golden pearls. Really its not bad at all. Even for fry raising. As long as its fresh, it will do the job. If you are looking for live food cultures, let me know which ones and I can prepare one but otherwise I don't normally keep cultures large enough to sell anymore. __________________ I'm not a doctor in real life but I play one on this forum My 29 gal tank blackworms culture methods

10-19-2012, 12:47 AM	#17
Qckwzrd Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (2/100%) Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brooklyn, New York Posts: 274	I find the grindal and white worms easy and low maintenance. Tubifex I like but they are dirty! Only food I've never cultured are the springtails. Heard they are good for fry and adults. Surface dwelling fish love them also. __________________ The grass isn't always greener in the other tank.

10-19-2012, 02:00 AM	#22
Monster Fish Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (24/100%) Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 1,838	Marmorkrebs don't breed that fast IME. They berried every month or two when I had them. If you're not going to feed live every day, you can start with one marmokreb. Just be careful since once you have berries, unless you cull the young, you're eventually going to have too many to count. __________________ 5.5 gallon grass tank\|5.5 gallon Rili tank RAOK Club #77\|*The Fraternity of Dirt #112*

10-19-2012, 02:25 AM	#24
Monster Fish Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (24/100%) Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 1,838	Anyone have any experience with Daphnia magna? __________________ 5.5 gallon grass tank\|5.5 gallon Rili tank RAOK Club #77\|*The Fraternity of Dirt #112*

10-19-2012, 02:50 AM	#29
dr.tran Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (76/98%) Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 2,170	Angel. I never had Harlequin __________________ I'm not a doctor in real life but I play one on this forum My 29 gal tank blackworms culture methods

10-19-2012, 12:51 AM	#18
homemadepopcorn Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (16/100%) Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: New York City, NY Posts: 350	dr. tran, the moina I bought from you are doing well... looking for a balanced diet though... The cultures are green from them sitting in the sun, but yeast is the staple diet.

10-19-2012, 01:10 AM	#20
homemadepopcorn Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (16/100%) Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: New York City, NY Posts: 350	dr. tran, the moina I bought from you are doing well... looking for a balanced diet though... The cultures are green from them sitting in the sun, but yeast is the staple diet.

10-19-2012, 01:20 AM	#21
chibikaie Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Connecticut Posts: 509	Hey, does anyone have suggestions for good live food cultures for larger fishes? I was going to get scuds, but my goldfish went and got bigger. She's nearly four inches already, and she might think they're too small to bother with. Would marmorkrebs be a good idea, or do they reproduce too quickly? I've only got one fish and I would not be feeding her live food every day.

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