# Bloodworms and Brine Shrimp



## Charrisse (Feb 17, 2008)

So I started supplementing my fishes diet with BW and BF. I bought frozen "Fish Gum Drops" from Pet Smart - They also had freeze dried.

What do you all suggest as the best? How much should I feed them? I have 8 adults and 9 juvies. (yes, happily living together!) They attack and maul those little frozen balls in 30 seconds LOL I only give them one of each once a day.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

What type of fish do you have and what are you feeding them now as a staple diet?


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I strongly advocate using a high quality pellet as their base diet...

But that being said I've raised fish on frozen foods for several months with no signs of ill effect... I've not done it for more than several months so I cannot vouch for longer uses as a sole diet...

For most of us, we use frozen foods as a "healthy snack" for our fish, which is fine. 17 fish sharing two cubes of frozen food per day is fine...

I personally use Hikari brand frozen foods, but from what I understand San Francisco Bay Frozen Foods are just as good. I'm sure there are other quality brands out there, but I stopped searching around once I found Hikariâ€™s 1 lb flats at Dr Foster & Smiths for pretty cheap.

Many people also make their own frozen food concoctions. It is cheaper this way, but I personally don't go through enough to make this worth my time.


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## Charrisse (Feb 17, 2008)

Im using Zebra Stampede pellet food from Bluegrass Cichlidsas thier staple diet, and just "treating them" once a day with the frozen BW and BS.

Anyone else use this food? They do seem to like it. Though they like flake ALOT better than pellet.

I have primarily mbunas. One or two peacocks.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

For those species of cichlids I would say no to the bloodworms as they have been known to cause digestion problems for most mbuna. This is why I requested to know which species you had. I used to feed bloodworms but have discontinued since this discovery.

The brine shrimp are ok, I am guessing your fish are not big, but there will be a point where the fish are going to be big and the teeny tiny bs will no longer sustain them. You could try krill, this is an excellent food for any fish and can help color up fish as well.

As for their staple, I don't know what any of those brands are but if the ingredients are high quality then it is fine.

Try to gradually get them to switch to pellets:
1.) Less messy than flake.
2.) More potent so a better value.
3.) Hold more nutritional value once placed in water.
4.) Cichlids can be impatient and will gulp in a lot of air trying to eat flakes at the surface thus causing floating poop which is very unsightly.

Just some ideas, others will offer some beneficial insight I am sure.


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## Denny (Sep 27, 2008)

From my exprience bloodworms often cause digestion problems. I wouldn't reccomentd using them. Found furanace to be a good treatmewnt for bloat and digestive problems. It has worked out very well in the past as a cure. It has one drawback: you have to use it in a separate cure tank because it turns water yellow-green. Read up on it. I have 65 cichlids in a 90 community tank and feed them only 2 times a day with a high quality med. size pellet food. Once a week I treat them to live grass shrimp and once a week I treat them with dryed grass shrimp chopped up very fine. The shrimp I have found seems to help delevope their color and provides them with natural wild instinct food gahtering skills. Brine shrimp are ok if they are fresh, from a good source, and fed in small amounts only so that any uneaten does not foul you tank when the cichlids are small. As your fish grow they will need more than brine shrimp to fill their diet. Enjoy!


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