Freezing Tubifex

[raymond82]

Because of all the stories I've read about Tubifex I don't feed it to my fish, although the size would make it perfect for feeding a little bit older fry. If I would freeze the Tubifex and then feed it frozen, would it still be dangerous?

 

[wethumbs]

It all depends on your definition of freezing the Tubifex. If you mean simply putting the worm in your residentual freezer compartment at home, it would be a definitely and resounding NO.

 

[raymond82]

That's a clear enough answer!

I guess with residential freezer you mean a -20 degrees C? And if I freeze them for a longer period?

My LFS claims that the Tubifex is clean and fine for use, what should I make of that?

 

[gerald]

Depends on the source. If they are pond-raised specifically for fish food (not as a by-product of fish farm waste ponds or from wastewater treatment plants) then they may be OK. In USA I get blackworms (Lumbriculus, similar to Tubifex but larger and they don't clump into tight balls) that are raised in fish-free ponds using pelleted fish food. They should be free of any obligate fish parasites and pollutants. Opportunistic bacteria (not obligate fish pathogens) can occur anywhere of course.

 

[raymond82]

I'll ask in the LFS, why they claim the Tubifex is safe and how they can be sure.

I've fed blackworms to my fish once but later on someone in a fish shop told me that they're not suitable for Apistogramma because of small hooks they have, is that something to worry about? I understand you can also grow your own blackworms, maybe that's an interesting thing to try once.

 

[Mike Wise]

I think the person confused blackworms with bloodworms. Blackworms (a true worm) don't have hooked mouth parts; blood worms (insect larvae) have hooked mouth parts that some claim damage some intestinal tract of some fish. Aquatic worms are only relatively safe if they are produced away from any fish pathogens.

 

[raymond82]

If I remember correctly, the worms I bought were Lumbriculus variegatus, Californian blackworm. They are not commonly available but if I run into them again I'll check.

Does that mean that red mosquito larvae are actually dangerous for Apistogramma? I don't feed red mosquito very often, mainly because I thought they are too fatty but no one in any shop ever warned me about them.

 

[Mike Wise]

Some people claim live bloodworms can attach their mouth parts into the fish if not killed when eaten. Others claim that some frozen bloodworms are collected in areas with a high heavy metal content. I don't know how true either claim really is.

 

[raymond82]

I see. I don't feed bloodworms very often but whenever I do I don't notice too many problems. I usually only feed them when they are very small (the size varies all the time in the shop). The frozen ones I have are really big and I don't really like feeding them. I do sometimes feed the smaller ones that I freeze myself.

 

[bbetta]

I feed my apisto's with frozen bloodworms once a week and they love it!No problems so far.

 

[raymond82]

I agree they like it and I always thought they're also good food to condition fish. The frozen bloodworms that I have are really big though so I don't feed them but I used to feed live ones and ones that I froze myself quite often without any problems.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
We've had a couple of threads about Blood-worms (Non-biting midge larvae - Chironomidae), I think they are safe when they are live from relatively clean sources, but not every-one agrees:
<http://apistogramma.com/forum/index.php?threads/i-think-bloodworms-are-the-culprit.4768/>,<http://apistogramma.com/forum/index.php?threads/feeding-my-new-critters.12274/> & <http://apistogramma.com/forum/index.php?threads/fish-not-eating.12665/#post-69451>

cheers Darrel

 

[raymond82]

Reading through the posts I guess the bottom line is to use the bloodworms moderately. I used to use them more often (once a week at most) but never had any problems either. I'm looking into increasing my Grindal culture yield but I'll keep using live bloodworms from time to time.

 

[tajaba]

I feed Hikari Frozen blood worm to my apisto s everyday since they literally won't eat any other food I've offered them. I am relatively new to this hobby but will this pose a problem to them in the future? Live food is relatively hard to come by where I live, I can at most muster some brine shrimps every now and then.

They don't seem to like any of the cichlid pellets or any sinking brand food I have given at all (Sakura, Hikari, etc)

 

[Mike Wise]

Most apistos don't really care for dry foods. Your (and others) statement that live food is relatively hard to come by always confuses me. Hatching brine shrimp eggs is not only easy, but for me more economical than buying most frozen and prepared foods.

 

[Loriculus]

Mike,

NHBS are more economical .... hmmm ... does that not highly depend on the quality of eggs you are buying ? I mean if you want to have good quality with high rates of fatty acids, excellent hatching rate etc and stick to the know brands this is absolutely not cheap. Of course if we take eggs from unknown Chinese source, are not bothered with a poor hatch rate and have sufficient time and means to boost NHBS, then it might work.

As a former semi professional breeder of marine fish I learned that quality of brine eggs is not to be taken light. Ofcourse marine fry is a bit more demanding on size of NHBS and quality.

 

[tajaba]

I can't even find brine shrimp eggs up in this place

 

[Mike Wise]

Well, I just bought 2, 1# cans of brine shrimp eggs from Brineshimp Direct. It cost me $85 and should last me most of the year. The eggs are harvested from Utah (Great Salt Lake) and I never had a problem with them qualitywise.

 

[wethumbs]

Brine shrimp cysts are harvested all over the world. In US, they are mainly from Salt Lake Utah and San Francisco CA.

 

[tajaba]

I'm in Bangkok, I will go to the fish place again to see if they have any, usually they only sell them in bags and I didn't have a good experience with them (made my fish catch disease)