Blood Worms...

[hitman12131976]

I just bought some dried blood worms to give to my fish. My questions are:

1. Do I just feed the blood worms only for that feeding? Or blood worms and flake food?

2. Do I use the same rule of thumb with blood worms as with flake food when it comes to feeding? (i.e. 2 minutes of feeding time)

3. If the answer to #1 blood worms only, should I alternate flake and worm every other day or do flake mostly and blood worms once a week?

[Weezer]

Some times one or the other, or a little of both...Sounds delicious...:)

[grannylvsfish]

I do frozen blood worms by them selves
and freeze dried blood worms and flakes the next ,
next I do brine shrimp and flakes.

[hitman12131976]

I have Platys, Mollies, Oto's, and a Wood Shrimp.

From what I've read, the shrimp will eat up the small broken up parts of the flake food. Will it eat the blood worm? (I doubt it) Not sure.

Also, maybe break up some flake food really fine for the shrimp. I'm just concerned that the Mollies may not eat the blood worms.

[Hooked Newbie]

I feed frozen every now and then alone as a treat. I HAD ghost shrimp that liked them to, had being the operative word... They'd move around with the bloodworms hanging out of their mouths as they ate them. Well, the fish decided they liked the idea of bloodworm stuffed shrimp... ;O)

Coming soon to a Red Lobster near you!

[Phil22]

Very funny, Hooked Newbie!

[Dwarf Puffers]

My amanos would eat the bloodworms, and their stomachs would turn red, making the spot behind their head where the stomach is all nice and red :)

[J double R]

i usually feed flake once a day, in the afternoons, and every other day the fish get frozen bloodworms in the evening in addition to the normal flakes daily, about 30 minutes before lights out.

[lancerland]

I feed bloodworms once a week as a treat on Sunday mornings. The first time I bought them, I asked the guy at the LFS how much I should be feeding them, he asked what kinda fish I had, and after I told him, he said one pellet would be perfect. Well I got home, and dropped one pellet in the tank, and all hell broke loose, it quickly became aparant that 1 pellet was way, way to much food for my fish.(see sig for my fish) I ended up having to fish out what was left of the bloodworms with my net. After I got most of them out, I looked in the tank to see if everyone was okay, and my danios were ridiculously fat. I thought they weren't going to make it through the night, but they did, they are the hardiest fish ever.

[J double R]

yeah.. one pellet usually lasts me a few days.. i just drain and drop in a few worms at a time, and when i'm done, i re-freeze and re-thaw as necessary till theyre gone or rotten.

[hitman12131976]

Will freeze dried blood worms stink up a tank? After feeding them this last night, this morning my wife is telling me that the living room smells bad. The only think different is the blood worms. All fish were accounted for this morning, so I know there is no deaths.

I also know that I did a 50% water change two days ago and put pure tap water in only with some AmQuel+ and Water Conditioner. Could the smell be the ammonia being released? Not sure.

[J double R]

bloodworms do have a slight odor.. your wife may just be particularly sensitive to that odor, and since theyre freezedried theyre very light and just opening them introduces a nice cloud of bloodworm powder to the air.

[hitman12131976]

I went home, took a whiff and...nothing. My wife told me that the smell went away. It might have been something outside of the house that came into the house and she sensed it. All parameters were good. All is well.

[Marinemom]

Bloodworms do have a particular smell to them but nothing too awfully bad. as far as the feeding goes, you can mix it up any way you like and the fish will be happy with whatever they get. Just make sure not to overfeed since weather the food is frozen or freeze dried they can still pollute your tank water.

Marinemom

[quadpants]

I cut a frozen cube in half and throw it in two tanks next to each other. Sometimes I forget to wash the hand I carried them in, so I can verify that they smell very bad when I sneeze and smell bloodworm. Yum.

[J double R]

yeah, thats something else.. you will see that on most freeze-dried bloodworm packaging, it will tell you to wash your hands after touching it, and to be very careful when feeding them.. since they are so light and powdery, they get into the air quickly..

and more people than you think actually are VERY allergic to bloodworms.. ie. hives, itching, sneezing, etc.. ive never heard of anyone going into anaphylactic shock from it, but i assume its possible.. so be careful.

[Marinemom]

Oh yes, anaphylactic shock is very possible. In fact that is exactly what happened to me when I fed frozen bloodworms to my cichlids in the past. After feeding them and washing my hands very well with soap and water I must have touched my eyes because my eyes swelled up like portabella mushrooms and sealed completely shut. My throat swelled and I experienced severe breathing problems which landed me in the hospital. After that happened, my husband threw away what was left of the bloodworms and will not allow them back in the house. According to the doctors, if I come in contact with them again and any other time the reaction can be worse with each encounter. That's enough for me. My cichlids no longer get bloodworms and are perfectly happy eating everything else I give them.

Marinemom

[mellowvision]

wow. I didn't know that about the alleric reactions... I should be careful.

personally I think the dried worms smell foul, but not as bad as flake. that stuff really kills me.

[KidInTheHall]

I alternate, one day it's flakes and the other it's bloodworms.

[KidInTheHall]

whoops didn't read the post properly, I use frozen blood worms, I've never tried the freeze dried.

[hitman12131976]

It's the same deal either way (according to the descriptions by the Hikari companty). The dried ones have the same taste, feel, and color as the original ones (I don't know how they determine the same taste, I'd hate to be the guy who tastes them). The only advantage is that the freeze dried ones have more vitamins supplemented in them for the fish. I think...I have to check out the website again.