MeGustaUnaPez926

Okay, I've gots lots o' questions so here goes:

1. Is there a minimum size that a fish should be before it is fed bloodworms (or any other kind of worm for that matter). I specifiacally mean cories. I have one that is maybe an inch long, and his mouth is so tiny I don't know how he eats. I'm scared that the wroms would choke him.
2.What kind of worms are the best to feed? There are so many kinds. What is best, frozen, freeze dried, live?
3. If you don't feed all the frozen ones at once, will they keep to be fed again?
4. I've read about rinsing off the worms before feeding, what is that all about?
5. How do you feed the worms, I've read about dropping them in with an eyedropper, does that work?
6. How big are the worms exactly?
7. Can you buy them at Petco? I know you should buy feeder fish or regular fish there, but is the food reputable?
8. Are there any varieties that are more expensive or likely to carry disease?
9. Do the worms need to be quarantined before they are fed?
10. How do you drop in a few individual worms? I mean to they come like molded into chunks of worms and you have to break off pieces, or are they all separate?
WHEW!!!
So sorry about the overload of questions but I want to get some sort of worm for my cories as a Christmas present and I want to do it right.

Alasse

1. I don't think there is a minumum size, i've feed them into tanks with fry as well as adults, and the fry have a go at the worms too.
2. Dunno about best but i prefer frozen and live
3. I dont refreeze, i snap off the amount i require and the rest is put back still frozen
4. Rinsing live worms removes waste and removes dead worms
5. I use tweezers with live worms, pick out what i require and drop in
6. Depends on the age of the worm, they certainly are not huge
7. As an Aussie, cant help ya on that one
8. Providing they are from a reputable source, then chance of them being diseases carrying is slim. Though live would be the main cause of concern for this problem.
9. No
10. With tweezers when live, and in pieces broken off chunk if frozen

Your cories will love your present *L*

Lucy

1) I don't think so. My betta girl is tiny so I choose a couple of smaller ones. She sucks them down like spaghetti. My ADF's get the larger ones.

2) With Betta's, freeze dried can cause constipation, so mostly I feed thawed frozen. Freeze dried worms will float unless you soak them in tank water. The thawed frozen ones will sink.

3) Once they thaw, I only keep them in the refrigerator for a couple of days then toss them out.

4) I've never rinsed them, so not sure.

5) They'll sink, but if you have other fish that might eat them first, an eye dropper or turkey baster will work.

6) They're skinny and maybe a 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch? Just a guess..they're not big and fat like earthworms.

7) Yes, I've seen them at Petco. I bought mine at Petsmart. They are Hikari, it's a good brand.

8) Not sure

9) I don't

10) You can shave some off the cube and thaw them in a little bit of tank water, they come apart.



Alasse But she reminded me of something. Some people have allergies to blood worms, so try not to handle them and wash your hands really well if you do.

MeGustaUnaPez926

Thanks so much. If I rinsed out the worms wearing gloves would that protect me from the allergens? Also- what specific type of worms would you recommend? Blood, black tubifex?

griffin

most of these are repeats, but i thought i'd throw in my 2 cents as well :P

1 - not really, as long as it's able to eat the food.
2 - i prefer live, but i'll also use frozen.
3 - they can be fed again if they're kept frozen. usually i only take the part i need out of the freezer, so only a small amount gets melted.
4 - i rinse my live worms on a pretty regular basis (kind of like water changes for fish), but i just melt the frozen ones.
5 - for live ones, you take an eyedropper and suck some worms up and then place those into the tank. for frozen ones, you melt the amount you want to feed and transfer with eyedropper. it allows for really easy feeding of a specific fish or you to squirt the worms where you want them to go. my puffer would actually swim up to the dropper and grab the worms out of it.
6 - it depends on what kind of worms you get, but usually they're really skinny.
7 - you can get frozen ones at petco. i'm not sure if every petco would have live worms. usually for live worms, you have to go to an independent fish store
8 - they should all be fine if kept clean (live). i've heard that tubiflex are more likely to carry stuff, but i have no experience with any problems.
9 - no
10 - i'm assuming you mean frozen worms. you just break off whatever part you want to feed and melt/feed.

gloves would probably protect you from allergens, but i wouldn't worry about it too much. i've touched the worms with bare hands and no issues. also, if you're using tweezers or an eyedropper, there's not really any skin/worm contact. i personally like blood worms because i prefer live worms and they're just about the only kind i can buy live.

glad you wanna do it right hope this helped

Emory

The water will still be an irritant to your skin as the fish do not digest all of the parts of the worm.

me + tank water = need for benadryl and soothing my hands in baking soda and water

Even with water changes and good vacuuming sessions my water/tank still contains bloodworm bits that really irritate my skin. I'm talking drive_me_crazy_scratch_so_hard_I_bleed_and_look_di seased. You can avoid all of that by getting nice long gloves from Drs F and S.

I use frozen cubes. Just thaw one out in a container with a bit of tank water. I use a 1 cc (1 ml) syringe without the needle to draw up the worms. Then I stick the tip of the syringe into the water. The babies all know what this mean and swarm over to the syringe. I depress the plunger just enough to let a worm hang out and ZIP someone comes up and slurps the worm up. Fun for me, work for them. The remainder of the thawed food can be kept covered in the fridge for a couple of days.

MeGustaUnaPez926

Thank you, you've all been very helpful! I don't know if I'd be allergic to them, because my tank water doesn't bother me as of now, but I'll be careful. Does anyone have ideas of how to feed them so that my gouramis don't hog them all, and my cories get a chance? I usually drop the food into the filter stream so that it sinks to the bottom immediately, then I feed the gouramis separately.

Butterfly

Some times feeding at both ends of the tank makes sure everybody gets at least a bite. Placing some on the bottom near the Corys after lights out will help the Corys get a bite or two.
carol

MeGustaUnaPez926

Yeah, I thought about that. After the lights go out my gouramis stop and just watch the cories continue eating, like 'what the heck are you guys doing?' Its pretty cute.

Butterfly

Yeah probably trying to figure out if what they have is good enough to eat
Carol

Slug

1. Shouldn't choke the fish. They nibble at them if they can't take them whole. I say no minimum size as long as they arn't fry and still on "soft" or powdered food.
2. Frozen gets my vote.
3. Try and cut/break them up before you feed. That way you won't have to deal with refreezing. Or buy frozen flat packs, break what you need off and the rest stays frozen.
4. This is more for worms such as blackworms, who are grown in dirt/soil/compost/etc. This goes for any live worms. Frozen you don't rinse.
5. I throw the whole frozen chunk in the tank.
6. Very small, never seen them above half an inch.
7. Yes.
8. Not to my knowledge, though again i recommend frozen...they seem much more fresh. And i only buy Hikari Bio-Pure brand.
9. Live more so then others. But still not really. Frozen, definitely not.
10. Freeze dried are separate, frozen are chunked together. I feed chunks of them so i don't try and separate worms.

Glad you know about the bloodworm allergy. Everyone needs to be aware of it because it can be a problem for some. It doesn't affect me in the least and i am always handling frozen bloodworms, some people arn't so lucky.

Butterfly

I don't have any problems with them either. I do thaw mine in tank water then pour them through a net. If I have fry I'm afraid the worms are too big for I just snip a few with scissors.
Carol

Drew 43920

Where do you get live Bloodworms ?
Drew

fishlover78

those gloves look like a great idea, I'm gonna order them!

Slug

I don't own the long ones, but i always have a box of latex exam gloves on hand. Comes in very hand when you handle coral, bloodworms, fish, etc.

Emory

Yes, the disposable gloves are great to have around the house. I tend to forget I can't reach to the bottom of the tank with them and end up with water inside... and then I break out.