live foods for tiny fishes.

[clownbaby]

Background info:

I feed my fish 4 or 5 times a week, and they get almost exclusively live foods. If my cultures are low or for whatever other reasons then I will either skip a day or give them freeze dried bloodworms. I culture algae to feed my otos. My black neon tetras will try to eat anything that moves, so I don't worry much about the specifics with what to culture for them. But without realizing it my pygmy cories end up eating less than my other fishes. I feed them sinking pellets but even the smallest ones I can find barely fit in their mouths. so, I culture daphnia for my pygmy cories, as this seems to be the only live food they can eat. Otherwise I will make up repashy gel food. 

The issue with daphnia, however, is they don't sink, but rather swim and move, and then my black neons eat them first. 

So, tl;dr - is there a sinking live food that is small enough to fit in a pygmy cories mouth? I culture pot worms, but this is a slow process and can only harvest some once or twice a month. Sometimes I've given small earthworms, but even the smallest ones seem a tad too big. Any advice?

[Guppysnail]

Grindle worms are my go to for my Pygmy and hastatus (same size as Pygmy) corydora. 

[clownbaby]

On 9/16/2024 at 4:03 PM, Guppysnail said:

Grindle worms are my go to for my Pygmy and hastatus (same size as Pygmy) corydora. 

Yes! I didn't know they were called grindle worms, I've always called them pot worms, but I will research more, thank you!

[Guppysnail]

On 9/16/2024 at 7:38 PM, clownbaby said:

Yes! I didn't know they were called grindle worms, I've always called them pot worms, but I will research more, thank you!

I harvest every 2-3 days. Even a tiny starter is ready in a week to harvest. If whatever you are harvesting takes a month I don’t think they are the same. 

[clownbaby]

On 9/16/2024 at 4:44 PM, Guppysnail said:

I harvest every 2-3 days. Even a tiny starter is ready in a week to harvest. If whatever you are harvesting takes a month I don’t think they are the same. 

I did buy the starter culture from a pet store. That being said the pet store closed down for animal abuse and miscare. Soooo not the most reputable source, now that I think about it. I will take your word for it and buy a new starter from elsewhere 😅😔

[Dallas]

Hi, 

I have small Bichirs that just sit at the bottom. How and what should I feed them that won't just dirty up the water and make me do massive amounts of water changes. 

[Guppysnail]

On 9/16/2024 at 8:46 PM, Dallas said:

Hi, 

I have small Bichirs that just sit at the bottom. How and what should I feed them that won't just dirty up the water and make me do massive amounts of water changes. 

White worms might work. If those are to small red wigglers. 

[Odd Duck]

Here’s my list a made of live foods back when I was researching for keeping pea puffers (ended up with the first one by accident 🤦🏻‍♀️).  Some foods are easily cultured, some cultured with some difficulty, some available to purchase depending on where you live, your local or online access, etc.  Listed by common name in the USA, size, scientific binomial, and how long they typically live in fresh water.  Sorry about font size, it’s a copy / paste from my “Notes” app and it’s difficult to change font size on my iPad.

Live Fish Food Sizes

Worms: Sizes by length x width, (binomial), survival time in freshwater. 

Vinegar eels - 1-2 mm x 0.005 mm (Turbatrix aceti), up to 7 days, possibly more.

Banana worms - 1.5 mm x 0.004 mm (Pangrellus nepenthicola), over 12 hours. 

Walter worms - 1-3 mm x 0.005-0.01 mm (Panagrellus silusioides), over 12 hours. 

Microworms - 2-3 mm x 0.005-0.007 mm (2 sp. - Pangrellus redivivus and Anguillula silusiae), over 12 hours. 

Grindal worms - 10 mm x 0.5 mm (Enchytraeus buchholzi), several days. 

Whiteworms - 2-4 cm x 1 mm (Enchytraeus albidus), several days. 

Blackworms - 2.5-4 cm (up to 10 cm) x 1.5 mm (Lumbriculus variegatus), indefinitely.

Other Live Foods:

Infusoria - 0.005-0.5 mm (multiple different organisms), indefinitely for the overall culture, days for individual organisms.  

Baby brine shrimp - 0.4-0.5 mm x 0.15 mm (Artemis sp. - in US is A. franciscana), 30 minutes or so. 

Adult brine shrimp - 8-20 mm x 4 mm (Artemis sp), 30 minutes or so. 

Fairy shrimp - 6-25 mm (multiple species - like a freshwater brine shrimp), life - 1-8 weeks. 

Daphnia - 0.2-5 mm (multiple species), life span -10-30 days. 

Moina - 0.7-1.4 mm (multiple species), lifespan - 3-6 weeks. 

Scuds/amphipods - 1-8 mm (multiple species, some up to 3 cm), lifespan - up to 1 year depending on species. 

Fruit flies - 1.5-3 mm (multiple species and strains), can walk/float on water and will escape if not eaten or drowned. Live 8-15 days. 

Mosquito larvae - 3-12 mm (multiple species), 4-14 days before becoming adult mosquitos.