jolliolli Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 I bought some frozen mosquito larvae today to feed to my discus as an alternative to bloodworms. They really seemed to love them so i was wondering if the nutritional content of these would be higher than frozen bloodworms. Should i feed these only as treat or can i feed them more regularly? Also i live next to a reserve which has pools with mosquito larvae, i was thinking about catching a hole lot, however i'm not sure how safe this would be with parasites, bacteria etc? One thought i had was to freeze ice cubes full of mosquito larvae, would this take care of the risk of bacteria/parasites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 Mosquito larvae would be very detrimental to feed live to your discus. Tell me where these ponds are and I will catch the larvae so someone else doesn't make the same mistake. It is of course quite safe to feed to killies. Your discus will love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted October 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 lol , i was wondering if i should do anything to them apart from a good wash? just in case theres any sort of contamination in the waterl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 If there are no fish in there it will be quite safe. The fish should eat all the live stuff in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted October 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 went out to the reserve today but wasn't too keen on the look of the water, looked liked there had been some sort of oil contamination. Came home and was weeding the garden when i noticed i had a bucket full of water next to the house over winter. Had a look in and scooped out probably a hundred larvae or so. the discus loved them! i've never seen my red melon so excited about food. Should i keep them as a treat or can they be a regular food? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 I have caught mossie larvae from water that appeared to have an oil film on it. I just used paper towel to lift the oil off the surface then fed the larvae to the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted October 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 ahh good to know caryl, i take it you've never had any problems with disease etc through feeding them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 None at all. I have fed a number of fish on live larvae but I don't have discus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron-Betta Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 I catch mozzie larvae from rain barrels at a friends house and feed my clarets and fighters with them, never had any problems though. I usually only feed them to them once a fortnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 Coating ponded water with a light film of oil is used to control mossie breeding so if they are still alive they will be OK. It stops them getting their breathing tubes out of the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted October 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 ok thanks guys , looks like theyll be eating larvae this summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 The puddles I got my larvae from had an oily coating but were just puddles in the middle of a road leading to the river . I figured it was car oil. Usually though I breed my own in containers in the back yard. Another live food is those annoying gnats that fly around in large groups at dusk. Get out with a butterfly net (I think they have 'em in the $2 Shop) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted October 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 those midges :evil: i hate walking through the reerve and getting a mouthful of midges! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 How to not fill your tank with miscellaneous crud while feeding live food: I have a really fine cup-shaped wire strainer thing for a small coffee whatsit (great description, huh? Not a coffee person) seen them at The Warehouse. Whenever I get live food I tip them into the strainer, then rinse to get the mucky water out, then tip into the tank. If there are a lot of 'floaties' I submerge it in another container of water to let the floaties float away keeping my bugs at the bottom. If there are lots of 'sinkies' I hang the strainer in the tank and let the bugs swim out leaving the sinkies behinds. Doesn't pay to do this in advance. I murdered thousands of daphnia a few weeks ago Do it right before you add them to the tank and be gentle. Have the strainer in a container of water so they aren't all shoved against the wire when you rinse them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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