Live Foods

Brine Shrimp

The hatching of brine shrimp eggs is a pretty common method of feeding small fry after they've hatched. The cost of good eggs is one of the few negatives I've run across. There are a lot of places on the internet that go into great detail on hatching the eggs, but the easiest method I've found is using a plastic gallon milk carton with the bottom cut out. The eggs shells collect in the handle (for the most part), so the shrimp come out relatively clean. Rinse and feed.

Microworms/Walterworms

Microworms are another of my favorite live foods. I use a large shoe box with a instant potato media. The worms climb the sides of the container, and can be rinsed into a container of water. The worms are then ready for feeding. I add live yeast each time I harvest, and the culture is viable for several months. The picture is of a smaller culture than the shoe box I use for greater quantities.

Walter worms are very similar to Microworms, but appear to be somewhat smaller under a microscope. Culturing is identical, and the appearance of the culture is identical, but under magnification, you can notice a slight difference. This may be important if you are feeding fry that do better on smaller starter foods.

Grindal Worms

Grindal worms are one of my favorite live foods. I like them better than white worms because they tolerate the heat a little better, and can be raised at room temperature. I've started using a product called Eco Earth which is a cage substrate for lizards and such. I believe it's made out of shredded coconuts. I like it better than peat moss, because it doesn't seem to have quite the effect on the pH of the culture. I put this substrate into a plastic Tupperware type of container after adding enough water so it clumps as you squeeze it. I then form slight depressions in the substrate where I place small pieces of Plexiglas. The culture is inoculated with a starter culture of Grindal worms between the pieces of Plexiglas, and a small amount of dry baby food is sprinkled over the area of the inoculation. It may take several weeks before there are enough worms to start harvesting. Also watch that the culture doesn't get too dry. When you are ready to harvest, place a small dusting of food on top of the Plexiglas pieces. In a day or two the worms should have crawled onto the top of pieces of Plexiglas. Lift the Plexiglas from the culture and swish in a container of water. The worms should come off, and any uneaten food should remain on the Plexiglas. I usually rinse the Plexiglas and return it to the culture, at which time I again sprinkle food over the top. The harvested worms can be rinsed several times in the water, and are then ready to feed.

White worms

I haven't had good success with white worms at this point. I suspect that's because I haven't maintained a temperature that's low enough. From everything I've heard and read, they shouldn't be kept above 60-65 degrees F.

Vinegar Eels

Vinegar eels are extremely easy to culture. I use a quart to half gallon container with no aeration and a 50/50 mix of water and apple vinegar. The apples are cut up and put into the liquid, and then the starter culture of vinegar eels is added. The apples float for several days, and unless you look really close you won't see much indication of a viable culture for 2-4 weeks. After the culture is obviously thriving, you can harvest and feed to your fry. Unfortunately, harvesting is not as easy as culturing. I use the green scrubbing pads cut into strips, which I dip in the culture overnight. When I'm ready to feed, I pull the scrubber strips out and let them drain for several minutes. I then swish the strip in the feeding tank and the eels are ready to eat. If you are using hard, alkaline water, the pH shouldn't be affected too much, but it is something to keep an eye on. I've heard of people using multiple layers of coffee filters and rinsing before feeding.

Fruit Flies

There are at least two species of fruit flies commonly available to the hobbyist. Drosophila melanogaster is a smaller species much used in genetics classes and research. Cultures usually get started quicker, but don't last as long (typically around 4 weeks). Drosophila hydei is bigger and takes longer for the culture to start producing flies. The trade off is that the cultures usually do last longer. It is advisable to use a strain that is unable to fly for obvious reasons. I have found that I have better results with both types when using a commercial media. No matter what I do, the media I've prepared myself has a tendency to "mold up" pretty easily. It's just not worth the hassle for me. There are no-cook medias out there that do very well - probably some sort of instant potato base with mold inhibitors.

Daphnia magna

I really like daphnia as a live food, but culturing them reliably can be difficult. Providing a suitable food seems to be the problem. Daphnia are filter feeders and need their food to be suspended in the water. Green water is ideal for food, but also is difficult to culture for food. I got the culture from a friend of mine who left them alone in an outdoor barrel. The culture would come and go, but did survive. I've used a mixture of various baby foods with mixed success. It can be kept in the refrigerator for several days, and must be fed sparingly as the daphnia clear the water of the floating food. Water quality is also critical. Daphnia are extremely sensitive to contaminates in their water.

Earthworms

I'm maintaining earthworms right now in a commercial worm farm. They seem to be doing pretty well, but I don't have a lot of fish who specifically need this type of food. I may try to use them to condition some plecos in outdoor ponds this summer. Who knows what might happen.