Bugs

what kind of fish do you have?

when i was little, i fed my 8 inch koi a housefly
the koi was dead the next day.

I would think crickets would be ok to feed, depending on the type of fish you have. Not sure about the silverfish, but I would definitely avoid feeding spiders to them. I posted a thread a while back about feeding ants to my halfbeaks. The general consensus was that it would be fine.......but I tried it and found out my fish won't eat them. The subject of spiders also came up, and everyone was in agreement that feeding spiders would be a bad idea. Some species are toxic, and others have tiny little hairs that can irritate a predator's digestive system. It's a natural defense to keep from being eaten.

If you are just looking for a cheap live food source, you can buy live food cultures and raise your own. I started with a small culture of flightless fruit flies, and now have a constant supply with multiple cultures going.

http://www.livefoodcultures.com is a good online source for live foods.

I've fed a couple spiders to my rainbowfish and no problems.

I'd be careful with insects, spiders, and other bugs found around your house. Many people get sprayed for bugs now and again to control the pests. Some bugs will pick up the pesticides and may not die but still carry it in or on their body. This could then be placed in your tank or into your fish. Just seems like a risky idea. However, Aqualung brings up a good point with getting live cultures and raising them on your own. This ensures your various live feeders are pesticide and disease free. My buddy breeds lizards and moinitors and rasies all kinds of bugs to feed the young. Roaches are his monitors' favorites and my oscars too when I used to have them.

I feed my African Butterfly live crickets from the pet store. Once, a larger angle gulped down a smaller one. Later he spit out antenna, legs and other undigestibles.

I was cautioned about feeding the ones around the house. I checked that live cultures site and will take advantage of it when I have room. I also kept feeder guppies but gave the ten gallon to my sons fish. I am down to one fish that eats guppies.

Also, you can breed you own mosquitos, just takes a bucket of water. Just make sure you harvest them before they become a nuisance.

i have these little red worms that kind of look like small inch worms breeding in my tadpole pool. i had been wondering what they were and if i could feed them to any of my fish. anyone know?

They are most likely gnat larvae. They call them bloodworms here in TN but, I'm not sure if they are the same as the ones you buy or not. You should be able to feed them to your fish if they come from a clean unpolluted water source. Just be careful not to introduce any parasites into your tank.
hth
chris

I would caution everyone to check with their local government prior to encouraging mosquitos--with West Nile just firing up for the season, breeding mosquitos is a risky idea, and may violate local regulations on the matter.

now that i think about it-they do look lie the frozen blood worms! i bet they are disease free but i doubt ill risk it. thanks!
+jac+