Paul you still in the hobby?I culture white worms in soil and have been doing that about 8 years. Blackworms I feed every day and have been using them about fifty years but only 46 years in my reef. I don't raise them because they reproduce to slow so I buy them every 2 weeks or so.
I hatch brine shrimp every day for my pipefishes, mandarins, queen anthias and a few others. I don't know when I started that but it must have been 20 years ago.
I also collect amphipods by the thousands in a bay in the Long Island Sound and dump them in. They breed and live under all my rock.
It takes about 5 or 10 minutes a day to hatch the shrimp and separate the white worms from the soil. The blackworms I just suck up with a baster looking thing that I make and target feed them. I would never just put any food in my tank without a baster.
Because of this food (including clams) all of my paired fish are spawning including the pipefish, bangai cardinals, clown gobies, mixed cardinals, mandarins, fireclowns, watchman gobies and ruby red dragonettes
Here are some of the pipefish eating new born brine shrimp.
Here are some amphipods I collect. (video)
Here are some of them eating live blackworms. All of these fish are spawning except the copperband.(I would love that but that aint happening) The copperband was very small here, he is much larger now and needs more than worms. (Video)
I also use this feeder every day filled with new born shrimp mainly for the mandarins and other dragonettes but the pipefish feed from it also. The mandarins have been spawning for many years.
I believe live food is needed every day. (video)
Live Food Discussion Thread
- Thread starter leahfiish
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His reed just had it's 47th bday I believe... Or it could have been 74th I can't remember lol
Coming from the freshwater side of things I’ve kept cultures of microworms, white worms, daphnia, hatched and fed baby brine and fed black worms. Plus had a brackish puffer tank which I raised snails for and also gathered and fed coquina clams, sand fleas, fiddler crabs, in addition to any left over live shrimp I had from fishing. I would feed some live and freeze the rest, which the green spots ate with gusto.
I’m in the planning stages of a reef tank and hopefully shortly filling up with a FOWLR for a saltwater puffer, trigger, and angels. I should still be able to use most of the above with the salt water species. I see quite a few people feed white worms. Curious if microworms would be worthwhile for species like mandarins and gobies.
I’m in the planning stages of a reef tank and hopefully shortly filling up with a FOWLR for a saltwater puffer, trigger, and angels. I should still be able to use most of the above with the salt water species. I see quite a few people feed white worms. Curious if microworms would be worthwhile for species like mandarins and gobies.
jramy123
Active Member
Found this thread looking for advice of pods and phyto as I am new to the concepts. My question is could I do this in my cycled tank if I'm not planning on adding anything for 5 months at least? Does phyto and pods need waste fish if not in this bottle setup? My plan is a mandarin but not till tank has been up running for at least 5 to 6 months and I'm wanting to dump pods in. I read hear phyto is a great food for them so wanted to provide what they need to grow and swarm my 20g. Or should I just buy algaebarn phytomagic and exopods every few months to see tank.. And will mandarins eat cyclopeeze from the can?Thanks in advance for advise.
Pods need food. phyto, film alage, regular algae, some will eat meaty foods (fish waste). Once seeded they should multiply if they are fed. You can seed the tank anytime after the ammonia cycle.
Mandrins will eat what they like. Mostly pods. Other foods are an exception to the rule.
revenant
Active Member
I have seen my pod population is still very healthy even months after my last batch of 100 pods into the tank.. I have increased feeding of frozen to four cubes a day now as the fish have grown and I space them out by three hours-ish each. I also have nori in the tank every day for the tang/foxface. When I wipe my glass within a couple hours I see pods settling back on the glass... I guess I'm doing something right to keep them fed lol. I had tons of them this morning on the glass.. My sixline wrasse seems pretty ok with this. hah!
Gogol_frag
Active Member
I am big on live food and feed all of the above except for black/white worm. Personally my fish behave like junkies (can't have enough of the live food). My only requirements from my live food is that they should be simple to cultivate sustainably. All of the below meet that criteria with Brine Shrimp, closely followed by Daphnia being the easiest to grow.
The zoos are either fed ... RG Complete (ReefNutrition), or a mixture of Spirulina powder and Selcon, or a mixture of Sprulina powder, yeast and rice flour. The phytos are fed F/2 fertilizer and light.
Phytoplanktons:
- Nannochloropsis Oculata
- Isochrysis Galbana
- Tetraselmis Suecica
- Tisbe Copepods
- Tigger Copepods
- Brine Shrimp
- L-Rotifers
- Daphnia Magna (freshwater)
On a related topic: For anyone living in Columbia Station , Ohio (or nearby) ... you have the rare pleasure of being able to get Moina Salina (a type of saltwater Daphnia) from these guys: https://www.aquatictech.com/index.html
If it is anything as easy as raising freshwater Daphnia, Moina Salina will likely be a super-food similar to Brine Shrimp.
Gogol_frag
Active Member
Paul B, like many others i have been quite inspired by your reefing methods and am heavy on the live feed. I grow 5 zoos, 3 phytos, 1 Macro Algae (Ulva Lactuca), and soon blackworms - thanks to your guidance.I culture white worms in soil and have been doing that about 8 years. Blackworms I feed every day and have been using them about fifty years but only 46 years in my reef. I don't raise them because they reproduce to slow so I buy them every 2 weeks or so.
I hatch brine shrimp every day for my pipefishes, mandarins, queen anthias and a few others. I don't know when I started that but it must have been 20 years ago.
I also collect amphipods by the thousands in a bay in the Long Island Sound and dump them in. They breed and live under all my rock.
It takes about 5 or 10 minutes a day to hatch the shrimp and separate the white worms from the soil. The blackworms I just suck up with a baster looking thing that I make and target feed them. I would never just put any food in my tank without a baster.
Because of this food (including clams) all of my paired fish are spawning including the pipefish, bangai cardinals, clown gobies, mixed cardinals, mandarins, fireclowns, watchman gobies and ruby red dragonettes
Here are some of the pipefish eating new born brine shrimp.
Here are some amphipods I collect. (video)
Here are some of them eating live blackworms. All of these fish are spawning except the copperband.(I would love that but that aint happening) The copperband was very small here, he is much larger now and needs more than worms. (Video)
I also use this feeder every day filled with new born shrimp mainly for the mandarins and other dragonettes but the pipefish feed from it also. The mandarins have been spawning for many years.
I believe live food is needed every day. (video)
To that end, I have an amphipod question for you, and will be grateful if you indulge. Background: I am unable to decide between go and no-go on ordering amphipods from IndoPacificReefFarms, because I am worried about the amphipods' aggression. So here goes:
Q: Being decently sized crustaceans what are the reef inhabitants that amphipods bother/devour? - I am guessing that they will eat Tisbe and Tigger Copepods and any ornamental macroalgae. But what about starfish, corals, clams etc.? In your experience, have amphipods bothered sessile/sedentary invertibrates in the tank - like injured them, stolen their food etc.
Paul B
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Gogol_frag, this is a five gallon bucket of amphipods that I collected under rocks. I dumped in the entire bucket in my tank. No problems yet.
I would do that every week if I could still collect them. I have never found them to hurt anything and some of these were big.
I would do that every week if I could still collect them. I have never found them to hurt anything and some of these were big.
Gogol_frag
Active Member
Thank you for the assurance Paul B! Truly appreciate it. Those big-guys look tastyGogol_frag, this is a five gallon bucket of amphipods that I collected under rocks. I dumped in the entire bucket in my tank. No problems yet.
I would do that every week if I could still collect them. I have never found them to hurt anything and some of these were big.
A final, related question: In your quest for high-quality live food, have you ever tried Moina Salina?
I have found a seller in Ohio, who will not ship. Still debating whether Moina Salina is worth the trek from Dallas to Ohio, and back.
Paul B
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I have never heard of Moina Salina. Sounds like something I would put on pasta. What is it?
The best food for you to raise is whiteworms. Blackworms are great but whiteworms are free (once you buy a culture for about $15.00) They grow like crazy in dirt like hundreds a day. Very easy to culture in a plastic box
The best food for you to raise is whiteworms. Blackworms are great but whiteworms are free (once you buy a culture for about $15.00) They grow like crazy in dirt like hundreds a day. Very easy to culture in a plastic box
Gogol_frag
Active Member
Hahaha, your intuition on Pasta topping is uncanny, since they are a popular fish-food in Europe
, but unfortunately tough to find state-side. Moina Salina is saltwater Daphnia. I wouldn't know if you ever invested time on Daphnia, but they are large sized (500-6,000 microns) fresh-water crustaceans (water fleas) that can be gutloaded with spirulina, yeast and rice-flour, and and self-propagate like insane. I have 1,000,000+ of these creatures (within a month), having started with two capsules full of cysts that I got from Amazon for $11. The only trouble is that they are fresh-water so have to be used in small-batches of multiple feeds. My fish go nuts for Daphnia. Moina Salina is the marine version of these creatures, but very few vendors in carry them in US.
I started on Blackworms yesterday. Being freshwater, I am culturing the BlackWorms in my 6 Gallon "Daphnia-tank" to keep life efficient. I will start on white-worms next, having read your prior commentary on white-worms and their longevity in marine conditions.
You are the best Paul B. Take care, good Sir!
Paul B
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I spent much of my youth collecting daphnia. (Then I noticed girls) I never heard of salt water daphnia. Sounds cool.
The advantage of whiteworms is that they live for 5 days in salt water and blackworms live about 5 seconds. You can throw whiteworms in your tank behind rocks and the fish such as mandarins can hunt for them almost a week.
I feed them about 3 times a week. Sometimes when I feed my tank, my copperband won't eat. He knows that after I feed the normal frozen stuff, I often feed the worms so he waits. In a day or so he forgets and starts eating.
Then I give him worms and he goes nuts again.
The advantage of whiteworms is that they live for 5 days in salt water and blackworms live about 5 seconds. You can throw whiteworms in your tank behind rocks and the fish such as mandarins can hunt for them almost a week.
I feed them about 3 times a week. Sometimes when I feed my tank, my copperband won't eat. He knows that after I feed the normal frozen stuff, I often feed the worms so he waits. In a day or so he forgets and starts eating.
Then I give him worms and he goes nuts again.
Gogol_frag
Active Member
Sounds awesome Paul B. That is the precise reason Imanna grow WhiteWorms - all the while praying that my wife doesn't divorce me for themI spent much of my youth collecting daphnia. (Then I noticed girls) I never heard of salt water daphnia. Sounds cool.
The advantage of whiteworms is that they live for 5 days in salt water and blackworms live about 5 seconds. You can throw whiteworms in your tank behind rocks and the fish such as mandarins can hunt for them almost a week.
I feed them about 3 times a week. Sometimes when I feed my tank, my copperband won't eat. He knows that after I feed the normal frozen stuff, I often feed the worms so he waits. In a day or so he forgets and starts eating.
Then I give him worms and he goes nuts again.
. I live in Dallas, TX where it does get quite warm. But my house stays around 70 deg F, and I don't have to run a chiller for my tank either. Would you say that the ambient conditions are OK for culturing white-worms?I'll keep you posted Paul B, if I get my paws on the Moina Salina. Sourcing them seems difficult, since it's a road less taken.
Last edited:
Lukeluke
Active Member
Pro-cheapskate white worm tip: Might work out at room temp for you since your house is kept cooler than mine (74, also in TX), but I didn't see good results until I got them in a cooler environment. I just got a big cheap styrofoam cooler and 4 ice packs. Use two of them and swap in the morning and before I got too bed. Keeps them cooler and seems to help them reproduce faster.Sounds awesome Paul B. That is the precise reason Imanna grow WhiteWorms - all the while praying that my wife doesn't divorce me for them
I'll keep you posted Paul B, if I get my paws on the Moina Salina. Sourcing them seems difficult, since it's a road less taken.
Gogol_frag
Active Member
Ohhh this is a bomb of an idea. Thank you so much Lukeluke!! Total sorts me out.
Gogol_frag
Active Member
Where in TX are you Lukeluke? I know Meelev (from Meelev's Reef) is also in the DFW area.
My favorite LFS in the locality is Dallas North Aquarium.
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