Live food

[PhishPhreek]

Upon close inspection of my new molena culture I discovered a few mosqueto larva.
Good deal - extra rations for my bettas
However upon closer inspection I discovered dragonfly larva - not good, they eat fry.

If you use outdoor containers to culture your live food, be sure to learn to identify both
good and bad criter that make up the local comunity.

Anyone know how to kill dragonfly larva without destroying the daphnia ?

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Live food

I keep my sponge filters in a tub of water out back so they will not dry out and I will always have one ready when I have a new tank of fry.

I took a peek at my tub today and it is full of mosqueto larva.
Yes folks it's that time of year already.
Check your area for items that may hold a little rain water and offer the mosquetos a place to breed.  Eather empty them or add a skeeter eater.

I have a red DoubleTail male betta that is spending the night out tonight.
I expect him to be fat, happy and in prime breeding condition in a few days and my family and neighbors are safe from the evil females (skeeters).
:emtthumbs:

[guppymax]

Re: Live food

I took a napy and I just woke up. Sorry about all those exotic critters in your moina culture. Maybe you need a magic sword or you could wait for the dragons to fly off. I guess we need to go on a safari and catch some of those plecostomus humongus and some more exotic critters.

max

[guppymax]

Re: Live food

I am beginning to wake up. If you poured them through a net and a BBS net would the daphnia end up in the BBS net and the dragonfly larvae end up in the net?

max

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Live food

sounds like a good plan to me
Thanks

[charliefoxtrot]

Re: Live food

I've never messed with live food.  I don't keep anything big enough to feed culls to and it's just one of those things that's on my to-do list to learn that I have yet to mess with.

But...

The other day one of those long-legged mosquitos or whatever they are was hoppin' around my 30 gallon so I opend the top a little bit just to see and naturally the thing flew into the space between the top and the water to get a drink.  My angels got real interested all of a sudden and the koi angel started nipping at it trying to get it.  I don't think he ever did but would have eventually.

I like to diversify the diet a bit and while the dwarf puffers get bloodworms and the odd snail, there's only two of 'em so the leftover bloodworms get spread around the remaing 6 tanks.  I'm also feeding flakes, pellets, and algae tablets to the other tanks.

So I put forth the question to y'all live food raising folks.  How hard would it be to set up a means of harvesting mosquitos and/or mosquito larvae to feed to the bettas and/or the community tanks?  Other than the dwarf puffers, all of my fish are community type, omnivorous, "ordinary" fish.  Are there fish that you shouldn't feed mosquito larvae to?

[guppymax]

Re: Live food

Culturing the mosquito larvae is easy just provide some stagnant water outside with a little grass clippings or hay or not and they will come. As long as you harvest all of them you will prevent those eggs from being layed and hatching out somewhere else. If you don't harvest them you will be real popular with your neighbors. lol Most of the literature recommends not feeding too many but I can't remember why. I know the Melanochromis auratus are not supposed to get any live foods. If you feed too many to some fish that will not eat them then they hatch out in the tank. If your tanks are not in the house that may not be too bad. Otherwise you may be part of the food chain. Adult guppies of some strains eat them and others do not. Angel fish love them. They are filter feeders so they could be enriched.

max

[charliefoxtrot]

Re: Live food

unfortunately all my tanks are in the house and all but one are in my bedroom.  I sleep in a hammock and have all this tropical/outdoor looking decor but I don't want that authentic an experience.  :)

[guppymax]

Re: Live food

Have you tried grindle worms? They are very popular but I nearly always give up to the maggots. I had a one inch hole stuffed with quilt batting to keep them out but the baby knats went in there anyway.

Micro worms are small with the same problems.

Phish Phreek buys black worms.

I had tubifex and microfex worms but I woory about disease and I never got enough of them.

Daphnia magna pulex and moina are possibilities. I have had a lot of moina but all the daphnia go bloom and bust. They like rain water or sofened water. I bought and killed off pulex and magna with tap water.

I have a new vinegar eel culture but Phish Phreek is the expert.

Earthworms are very good to increase drop size. It gets too hot for all but the red worms and it gets too hot for them too. I buy earthworm flakes from Ken's

I like mosquito larvae.

My favorite is brine shrimp.

max

[ken/mark]

Re: Live food

Phishphreek the opposite of what happened to you above happened to me I set out some buckets for masquito larva but in 2 days instead i got either moina or daphina.no masquito rafts yet.

[guppymax]

Re: Live food

Wow, that is a good thing. Maybe the frogs or the birds let you a gift.

max

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Live food

More than likely you had daphnia in the buckets the last time you used them and the last survivors layed eggs before they dried out.......

Just remember to check for the bad bugs before you release them with your fry.  

I now have 5 spawn tanks with more daphnia in them than fry.   But I'm expecting a population reversal in the next few weeks.  

[ken/mark]

Re: Live food

Three questions whats a population reversal? What is the best way to harvest the culture and how do you tel moina from daphina?

[ken/mark]

Re: Live food

Three questions whats a population reversal? What is the best way to harvest the culture and how do you tel moina from daphina?

[guppymax]

Re: Live food

Daphnia magna are the big daphnia and they are mosquito larvae size. Daphnia pulex are a little smaller and perhaps more prolific. Moina might be daphnia. You might start a big argument here. Some people including myself have called them daphnia. They are at least closely related to daphnia. The adult moina are smaller than the head of a straight pin.

I harvest with a net. The mesh size depends on the daphnia ( or moina lol )

I am pretty sure he means the little bettas are going to start eating them faster than they reproduce and the number of daphnia in the fry tanks will approach zero.

max