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Buying live food from the store??

Wed, 07/28/2010 - 18:37 — FishLuver6088

Ok so here is the problem...I want to feed my BPs live food but i have seen that it is bad to buy feeder fish at the store because they could have a disease and could get my PBs sick. The lady at the pet store said i could also feed ghost shrimp to them but wouldnt it be the same with the disease? What are the chanses of them getting sick from live food(it will be bought at a petsmart(feeder fish)(ghost shripm at a small shop in a small town) I do have a 10 gallon tank and was thinking i could breed ghost shrimp in there but i would have to buy a new filter and new substrate and i didnt think it was worth it if i can buy them really cheep. If i buy feeder fish i will buy a lot of them(like 20-15 at a time and put them in my 10 gallon and feed them to them little bit at a time.

What would be the best feeder fish to use. There are the little goldfish(i heard these had bad fat for other fish?)i think they are commet goldfish. Then there are rosey red minnow. I have also heard of people useing guppies. Or are there other kinds that you guys use? I am also gonna get freeze dried food along with the live so they have a big variety of food.
Thanks for any answers

Comments

Wed, 07/28/2010 - 23:18 — femacle1

what kind of larva ? Im not

what kind of larva ? Im not sure about meal worms. they are easy to breed but they die real fast in the water. and i dont know if the mealworm shells are ok for parrot fish. some ppl feed crickets.

Thu, 07/29/2010 - 00:17 — sumirevbd

I used to feed live mealworms

I used to feed live mealworms to my BP. They do die fast in the water but the BP ate them fast so that wasn't a problem. Mealworms were his favorite food. I'm not sure about the shells though, I didn't realize that they had shells. But I think he digested them fine since his poo looked like regular poo after mealworm feed as opposed to a cricket feed, sometime I actually saw the form of the whole cricket in his poo, like a poo/cricket cocoon.
There's instructions on breeding mealworms all over the internet. I once accidentally kept the mealworms so long that they started turning into beetles.

Thu, 07/29/2010 - 14:11 — Allan6983

kept the mealworms

keep the worms let it turn to beetle so that u can reproduce more worms... save your money.

Wed, 07/28/2010 - 20:40 — femacle1

ok well if you use live food

ok well if you use live food you are taking a chance. if you want too be sure you should breed your own. the only ones that will breed fast are guppies. guppies are also the ones that look the worst when we get them at the shop. i would say go to a shop you know and tell them you want to bread them for your fish and see if they will pick out good ones that are big and healthy. i do this for ppl when they ask me. you only need 2 or 3 males the rest can be bigger females. they will have babys fast but it does take awhile for them to grow. the way to get them to grow fast is a lot of water changes. i breed pet guppies and will do 50% water changes every other day on them when i want them to grow fast. they grow so fast like that that you see thier size change everyday. shrimp eggs are so small that it is very hard to raise them at home. everything i read says that it is so hard its not worth trying. ive been trying with a few kinds but sofar no luck. you can also get live blackworms. fish love them and they are very good for them. if you get good ones and keep them clean i think they are safe. we sell them and they are a big hit with everyone that tries them. good luck.

Wed, 07/28/2010 - 21:49 — FishLuver6088

Thanks

thanks i think i may try to guppies but i saw at the store they had larva can i feed them that? And what about mealworms??

Wed, 07/28/2010 - 18:57 — sumirevbd

I hate to take chances after

I hate to take chances after my bp got sick and I almost lost him. Now I only feed him freeze dried foods like crickets, meal worms, krill and earthworms when I can find them. I also give him frozen foods once in a while.
Not sure if ghost shrimp carries fish disease? But it's possible that they carry parasites. Assuming you can get a disease and parasite free starter stock of ghost shrimps or guppies, I guess you can breed them and use it as disease free food stock for your BPs. I know you can also breed mealworms, I heard that was easy. Maybe someone who has experience would know better, I don't have much experience in breeding live foods.