How to feed Blood Worms?

I bought some frozen blood worms. They are in little cubes. My question is, how do I feed them to my fish? There are no instructions on the packet.

Thanks so much,
Leora

 

It depends on how many fish you have and what kind. If you have a whole tank of carnivores (a large sized tank) who feed at the top then I have heard that you can just press one cube of them to the glass at the top edge of the water, but if the number of fish you have eating them is smaller, you don't want to give them more than they will eat in one meal. It will foul your water.

You have to be careful with live or frozen foods as sometimes the freezing process does not kill all the bacteria in the food and can cause you problems down the line. That is why some of the aquarium keepers recommend the freeze-dried bloodworms as the only form to use. There are however some who say they have used the frozen type with no problem. The choice is yours. Just be careful not to overfeed. If you see that they are not eating anymore after a couple of minutes, remove the rest as they will leave them to make your water dirty and smelly as well as unsafe eventually.

Welcome to Fishlore. This a great site with a lot of people and they are very willing to help. It has been a great help to me to be here and I have met some of the finest people I have ever met online and off. It is my hope you will have as pleasant an experience as mine. If you haven't yet, I invite you to browse the many topics and posts. There is a real wealth of experience and knowledge from a lot of people in there as well as a lot of really beautiful pictures.


Rose

 

I cut however as many cubes of bloodworms as I'm going to feed and drop the whole wrapped cube in a small bowl of water. when its thawed open the cube into a net then rinse the BW with dechlorinated water, blot with a towel and feed a few at a time to my fish. I like hand feeding them so I can make sure they are eating all of them. Some say dropping in the frozen cube can hurt the fishes mouth, I really don't know since I haven't tried it. I agree there should be instructions on the package. Hope that helps
Carol

 

Dear Chickadee and Butterfly,

Thanks so much for your help. This site is the greatest. I will try the thaw, rinse and hand feel method. By the way, I got my wisdom teeth out today. I did a water change before I left (just in case). Maybe the fishies will have solid food before I do!

Thanks again for the welcome. This forum has been so helpful. I am sure that my tank, fishies and I are all the better for it!

Leora

 

We're so glad your here!! Take it easy after having those teeth out. I hear it's difficult.
Carol

 

Oh ouch, I remember having mine out and it was no fun. I hope you are feeling better. How are the fishies enjoying the worms?

Rose

 

My teeth are feeling better. Thanks for asking. I got the stitches out today.

The fish LOVED the bloodworms...BUT, I do have a question. The day after I fed the bloodworms, I lost my first fish (a Von Rio Flame Tetra). He had always been the lightest color of the three tetras, but seemed healthy. The day before the bloodworms, I did a water change and (unfortunately) changed the filter for the first time. All the other fish seem fine. Upon further reading, here, I will not be changing the filter again anytime soon. Do you think either the bloodworms or the filter change could have been responsible?

One thing I was wondering was whether feeding the bloodworms could make the other fish more aggressive. I do have two golden longfin danios who like to chase the other fish. I noticed one of them being aggressive toward the poor little fish who died, but it was after the little guy was clearly fading. Any thoughts?

Leora

 

The fading color was a definite sign something was wrong. When you changed teh filter it may have caused a mini-cycle and just finished your little fishie off. when you change your filter if you will save a piece of the old filter and leave it in with the new it will prevent this happening.
The Bloodworms will make them more aggressive, just that each and every fish wants ALL the BW for himself :0 The Danios were probably picking on the one that died because it was sick. Hope that Helps
Carol

 

That does help. So, bloodworms are still a go and I will be more careful with the next filter change.

Thanks for all your help,
Leora

 

I'm planning on feeding my fish frozen bloodworms. My betta didn't eat them before but he's tried a few new things and I'd like to offer them. How do I go about feeding him and the tetras bloodworms?

 

break off a SMALL chunk, stick it a cup of water until it breaks up then dump it in the tank.

 

If the come in a frozen sheet then break off a small portion and thaw in dechlorinated water the drain through a net. then feed a few at a time.
If they come frozen in cubes then cut off however many cubes you want to thaw and place in a dish with warm water. After thawing dump in a net and rinse with dechlorinated water. then feed a few at a time.
Since most fish fish will eat all of them you will feed them it's up to you to feed them a few and stop Because they are so high in protein some times feeding too many bloodworms will result in constipation. Have fun the tetras especially will go wild.
Ccarol

 

I feed my angels with frozen bloodworms only two times a week (sometimes only once a week); once or twice with frozen brine shrimp; and 2 - 3 kinds of flakes for the rest of the week.

The way I feed is this (an example):

Monday - bloodworms
Tuesday - 1 kind of flakes
Wednesday - another kind of flakes
Thursday - brine shrimp
Friday - flakes
Saturday - flakes
Sunday - bloodworms

Then again flakes on Mon. and Tues., brine shrimp on Wed. etc ...

The reason I don't want to feed them with bloodworms and brine shrimp every single day is that - as Carol has said - they're high in protein and too much of them wouldn't be good for fish. Besides, the more high protein food you give to your fish, the more and/or larger water changes you'll have to perform because high protein foods increase nitrate faster.

 

Isabella, my angels won't eat bloodworms, I think it's because they don't recognize them as food because there so small, do you feed yours to your adults or juvees? Do your adult angels eat brine shrimp?

 

Oh yes ATM my angles love frozen and freez dried foods. Try holding some of the Bloodworms in your finger tips and wiggle them in the water so they look like their moving. I bet your angels will go crazy
Carol

 

My betta doesn't like them and the tetras rarely look past the surface for food, they seem too busy competing up there. I'll try the wriggling thing but I wonder if there is a way to get them to float...he responds best to food floating ahead of him. I didn't think of using the net with them though I have to admit, maybe that will help.

 

Don't give them too many bloodworms or "Why can't I poop?"

 

I believe he is talking about frozen bloodworms, not the freeze-dried, so the constipation problem isn't a big issue. The problem is Rusty is a very picky eater. Am I right? Frozen bloodworms do not float at all and both types of fish are top feeders. I think that Carol has a good idea and you could try to get him to handfeed. I know that it may be a little bit hard to do but if you want him to get used to it maybe even try a plastic spoon to slowly let go of them in the water the way peas are let go sometimes. I use my fingertip for the "pea" thing but a lot of folks do not like to put their fingers into the water so they use a plastic spoon. If you do the "pea" thing try doing it the same way. I do not remember if Rusty will eat peas or not.

Rose

 

Oh, I thought all bloodworms did the consitipation problem. I got my response from a different topic.
I would try serving anyway you can think of that is reasonable.

 

My angels see the bloodworms when I drop them in they just don't eat them, they turn away when they see them floating down while my rasboras and guppy go crazy for them, though I shall try the idea maaybe it will work.

 

Yeah I'll try that..Rusty reacts just as the angels do, as though it isn't even food. The tetras don't seem to want anything that isn't right on the surface though if they notice stuff floating they will sometimes charge at it.

 

Sigh. He just won't eat the bloody things. He acts startled when they come in and I have ended up 3 times retrieving most of them. He spat the second one he ever ate out.

 

HI everyone. I defronsted a cube of bw's and some of them were brown,,, I did not nuke them. Is this normal? I didn't feed it to my fishies,,, too scared of possible disaster. So, how can you tell if the worms are still good? I have kept them in the freezer and they are about a month+ old. Thanks

 

What brand is that? We use HikarI brand ones and they're always red.

 

What brand is that? We use HikarI brand ones and they're always red.

FROZEN BLOODWORMS San Francisco Bay Brand RED MOSQUITO LARVAE FOR ALL FRESWATER FISH

And even frozen, they don't smell very good. I can't find any HikarI brand bloodworms

 

FROZEN BLOODWORMS San Francisco Bay Brand RED MOSQUITO LARVAE FOR ALL FRESWATER FISH

And even frozen, they don't smell very good. I can't find any HikarI brand bloodworms

That's what we feed our fish. It's always red even after awhile. I dunno if being brown means if there is something wrong with them or not. Doesn't sound good tho.:-\

 

I would say that them being brown, and not smelling so good, both indicate that they have been thawed at some point....They are probably OK if they were frozen when you bought them, and you kept them frozen. I have had this happen to me in the past as it is 1 1/2 hr home from the LFS.... I've never had a problem, but it is just your call.....something to remember to look for at the store next time you buy....

 

I think that with my recent run of bad luck, I will just trash them. I don't want to take any chance of hurting the fish. I thawed two more cubes and they were just as bad.
The smell is horrible. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

 

Sounds like the right call. Hope the next box of them is much better.

 

the same happened to me with some frozen brine shrimp. The had gotten defrosted on the way home I refroze them, but they didn't look right after that.

 

It happened to me about 8 months ago I lost 4 angles over it, over 2 weeks traced it down to the bloodworm's they were bad went to the shop I got them from they blamed the transport company they were not frozen when they got them ,don't go to that shop any more they should of never sold them to start with if they were thawed out.throw them away its not worth it.

 

Hmm... what were your angels symtoms?

 

Hmm... what were your angels symtoms?

They were swimming very slow and just stay in the corner of the tank they looked fine on the outside but just not happy, but they still come up for food then go back in the corner, I had 7 they were all doing the same thing, when the 4 died I stopped the bloodworm's the 3 left recovered still got them.

 

I purchased 2 reticulating hillstream loaches (yesterday), who I was told only eat bloodworms. I bought the frozen bloodworms and fed it to them yesterday. The cubes seem small but I didn't realize how much one cube contained. I know all the fish will eat it, but I personally think still it is too much for the fish (I currently have 18 fish in total). I thawed a cube in container with tank water this morning and only put in a little this morning, I left the rest in the container and put it in the fridge.

My question for all you fish guru's is: how long will the bloodworms last in a container of fish water in the fridge? If I don't use it right away, should I discard it??

Thanks,
Scorpio

 

about 3-4 days I trust mine then throw them out...or I use too..now I buy the bloodworms that come in a flat package and just break off what I need ...then I don't have waste

those things are expensive!

 

I would not keep any leftover bloodworms hanging around. After I feed, I discard any leftovers.

Hillstream loaches do not eat just bloodworms. They are quite the algae eaters and have some specialized needs in the aquarium.

Here's a good article on their care:

 

I like the flat packs too, break off what's needed and no more.

 

Well', I'd rather waste the extra bloodworms than kill my fish. I'll look for the flat pack, as soon as I run out. Thanks for the advice everyone!

Barbrella: Thanks for the link to the article I'm printing out at the moment!

Scorpio

 

I store bloodworms in the fridge for up to about 5 days after thawing them, but toss them if they start to smell bad.

 

I would say three days and make sure its lid is sealed I feed my oscar blood worms on ocasion but he takes the whole cube these days lol