Live Food

[Kilrkitty08]

Hi Fish Friends, 

    I heard that you can feed Mosquito larva to your fish.  Does anything have to be done to the larva to make them 'clean' before putting them in a tank or can I drain off rain water and put them in?

Also, what live food would you all recommend growing in 'harvest tanks'.  I currently do ramshorn snails in a 5gl for my pea puffers and got some great advice here for starting Brine Shrimp 🐡 Thanks everyone! 

[Colu]

You get micro worm vinegar eel cultures 

[lefty o]

id be careful with mosquito larvae. if the fish dont eat them all, you'll have mosquito problems in your house.🙈

[Kilrkitty08]

That's an excellent point Lefty o lol

[HH Morant]

Fish love mosquito larvae. When I was a kid I remember my father feeding mosquito larvae to angelfish in a 50-gallon tank. The presence of live food excited the fish so much and jump-started their hunting instinct. The wiggling action of the larvae drove the fish crazy. It seemed there was no possibility of the larvae surviving for long. They cannot effectively hide because they have to come to the surface for air. But if your fish are not aggressive feeders, maybe a larvae could survive long enough to bite you.

My father would catch the larvae in a net and put them in a jar of aquarium water. Then he would pour the water into the tank. I don't remember any other measures to sanitize them.

I don't have a source for mosquito larvae, but if I did I would certainly feed them to my fish.

[Kilrkitty08]

Thank You HH Morant!  I guess my source is a kiddie pool I fill up for my dogs every few days.  Whenever I go to clean it out it always has some wigglers. I'll give it a try I have two Angelfish but I may try it with my Pea Puffers first, they are definitely aggressive eaters.

[ARMYVET]

You could also do white worms ....they dont even need a tank....they are raised in Tupperware.