What live food??

Jeff B. · Post by **Jeff B.** » 24 Aug 2004, 12:53

HI ppl!
I want to breed my cory's but i am having some troubles...
I wan't to get some live foods, but there are none in my LFS, and e-shop is out of the question...
Before i go in some ridiculus live food hunting, i would like to know what is the best live food for cory condition...???
I only can get tubifex, and conecting to some ppl in my country i will maybe get som Enhitreya worms...
Can some plz tell me what is Earthworm and Blackworm?!?!
Uf...thanx
Regards

Post by **Silurus** » 24 Aug 2004, 13:04

Earthworms are the worms you find crawling around in the soil (e.g. Lumbricus terrestris). They are usually too large for corys unless you chop them up.
Blackworms (Lumbriculus variegatus) are a smaller relative.

Jeff B. · Post by **Jeff B.** » 24 Aug 2004, 13:43

Thanx Silurus...
is it possible to find them(Blackworms) in our own backyard with some method(like for example microworms with potato...)???
On some web page i have found that blackworms are tubifex, and on PC i have read that blackworms are the best food for cory's... ???
regards

Post by **Silurus** » 24 Aug 2004, 14:10

You need to go look for a body of water to find blackworms. They are aquatic oligochaetes (like tubifex).

zac08 · Post by **zac08** » 01 Sep 2004, 13:01

Could you get your hands on any brine shrimp?? Eggs or live ones?? They are a welcomed food for cories

Jeff B. · Post by **Jeff B.** » 01 Sep 2004, 22:59

ZAC08, are you thinking on artemia salina??
Yes, I have eggs at home, but i produce live artemia only for fry... do you suggest that feed my cory's with artemia eggs or with live ones??

Post by **medaka** » 01 Sep 2004, 23:34

i feed my adult corys twice a week on newly hatched brine shrimp . they love it,, also
the adults love de-capsulated brine shrimp eggs

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 04 Sep 2004, 16:02

Does your LFS carry any freeze-dried? My cories bred on a combo of different freeze-dried(tubifex,blood worms,daphnia), reconstituted with distilled water. I also changed the water frequently. I lowered the temperature by 5 degrees F.(I'm sorry-I'm bad with conversions to C) Now they won't stop breeding! The fry look quite robust.

I got brave and switched to frozen last month. They love the tubifex and blood worms. The daphnia is hard to find around here. For some reason, my cories avoid brine shrimp in all forms. I'll get brave and learn to deal with the live. I love my cories with a passion, but I don't know how you guys deal with the live food!

Jeff B. · Post by **Jeff B.** » 04 Sep 2004, 16:27

Well i will try to get some frozen bloodworms...i used to have them, but stupid me, i left it out of the frig on night...

i didn't want to take any risks, so i throw i all in garbage...
i am most interested in blackworms... tubifex i can found in one local creek, but blackworm is mystery to me...
Now i have enhytreya worms(whiteworms??)... but my culture is still small, and i know that these worms are full of fat, so i must be carefull with those...

worton[pl] · Post by **worton[pl]** » 04 Sep 2004, 18:25

ehum stupid question aren't blackworms a larval form of mosquito? :]

Dave Rinaldo · Post by **Dave Rinaldo** » 04 Sep 2004, 18:47

worton[pl] wrote:ehum stupid question aren't blackworms a larval form of mosquito? :]

No, they are not. This link may be of help. http://aquaticfoods.com/worms.html

worton[pl] · Post by **worton[pl]** » 04 Sep 2004, 19:38

uhm :] they are not :), thanks for a link Dave. Jeff, very easy and cheap live fish food are this larvas of mosquitos. They are also black and as big as bloodworms :]. And everything you need to get them is a small keg or even better a bowl puted out to garden. I was in Croatia ones and I remember that you have pretty warm september so mosquitos are still alive :) if it's rainning you don't have to fill your bowl with water if not you should becouse mosquitos breed in water :). Then you need a bit of patient :). You can feed your fish with live larva or freez them :). I personally freez them and I have a lot of food in winter :) for free. And one important thing all frozen food that I buy stink a bit and this prepared by me smells pleasantly :)

zac08 · Post by **zac08** » 04 Sep 2004, 19:39

Jeff B. wrote:ZAC08, are you thinking on artemia salina??
Yes, I have eggs at home, but i produce live artemia only for fry... do you suggest that feed my cory's with artemia eggs or with live ones??

I guess they have been answered...

Both works for cories.... Just be careful of the shells, esp for juvenile fishes

fishnut2 · Post by **fishnut2** » 06 Sep 2004, 18:04

I've been buying black worms from the link Dave provided, for several years now. Aquatic Foods has excellent worms, and they've always arrived in great shape!
I used to collect tubifex worms years ago. They come from slow, stagnant water, and are reddish in color. They bury thier heads in the mud...and wiggle thier tails above the mud, in order to get oxygen.
While black worms are collected in a similar fashion...they come from cleaner,fast flowing streams. They are black in color, and MUCH safer for your fish. I would never feed live tubifex, even though I can still collect it for free. However; I would feel safe feeding frozen or freeze-dried tubifex...as the processing will kill any unwanted bacteria/diseases.
Rich

Jeff B. · Post by **Jeff B.** » 06 Sep 2004, 18:59

Rich, did you ever found in nature live blackworms???
I too can collect tubifex, but since everybody is screaming DANGER DANGER, i am now full of panic about bacteria/diseases...
I would love to buy those worms thru internet, butt CRO is far away and we are like only country that dosen't provide PayPal!

kind regards
Vedran

fishnut2 · Post by **fishnut2** » 07 Sep 2004, 01:33

Hi Vedran,
I've never seen any naturally occuring black worms, but I've heard several stories about them. The tubifex I've seen were plentiful. I would collect about 8 quarts of tubifex in about 1-1/2 hours. Several people I know have raised black worms in thier fish rooms. They use trout chow,macaroni,day old bread, sweet potatoes, and other foods. I've never been able to raise any...as I go through them too quickly. I use about 10 pounds per month.
Rich