What bugs can I feed my fish?

mack606

mack606

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Feb 15, 2004
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Hello,
I have a emerald cichlid who really enjoys eating insects. They naturally live in rivers and eat insects off the surface of the water. I was wondering what sort of insects are healthy for him and are not a threat. I try to get grass hoppers and crickets but I was wondering about easier to find insects such as wood bugs and ants. Also in my wheel barrow, which collects rain water, are about 1 cm long swimming worms with tail fins. Is it safe to feed my fish these insects?
 
those worms might be mosquito larvae. are they black?
then yes, those are ok to feed your fish. i actually feed my fish mosquito larvae. i have a bucket outside that collects rain water from our gutters. and it's full of larvae this time of year. i just scoop them out with a net.
 
i'm not so sure about ants. the ants we have in florida are usually the red ants which bite.
i have fed my betta a black housefly once. it was kind of on accident though. i was cleaning the tank and a fly was buzzing around. i took off the hood of the tank to change the water and the fly flew in and landed in the tank. My betta, Thai, swam up to the top of the water and grabbed the fly. I put the hood back on the tank to see what Thai would do with it. he just sorta picked at the fly for a awhile. and eventually it was gone.
 
I once had a big black ant anccidentally get into my tank and it was hanging off the lip of one of my balas. I thought it would eventually fall off or eat it, but I ended up having to stick the net in and it rubbed off that way, but it was stuck somehow :(
 
Holly9937 said:
I once had a big black ant anccidentally get into my tank and it was hanging off the lip of one of my balas. I thought it would eventually fall off or eat it, but I ended up having to stick the net in and it rubbed off that way, but it was stuck somehow :(
Click to expand...

Might the ant have been latched on by its mandibles?
 
Something very easy to find and healthy for fish is earthworms. Whole or in pieces, fish love them and they're really nutritious.
I'd stay away from ants and other insects that could sting or bite. Some also have an unpleasant taste (ladybugs, for instance, secrete a substance that tastes terrible to animals, I doubt fish would eat them).
 
Aren't worms really dirty? They have a mucus covering which does bad things to most insects (saw a grasshopper die because we put him in a cage with a worm for show and tell).

Would melee worms work?
 
PurpleSmurf said:
Aren't worms really dirty? They have a mucus covering which does bad things to most insects (saw a grasshopper die because we put him in a cage with a worm for show and tell).

Would melee worms work?
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Not necessarily - I would question the presumption that it was specifically mucus secretions (fundamentally "inert", as regards most genera, in and of itself [though noxious defensive fluid, depending on species, could theoretically have been released]) that led to that grasshopper's demise. Of more concern to the aquarist would be intestinal contents - it would be advisable to purge any wild-caught worms (the practice of collecting which might, in many cases, be injudicious due to the potential for possibly fatal transmission of pesticides, fertilizing agents, and the like through ingested tissue) in aquarium water (they should not drown if kept uncrowded).

Standard mealworms (larvae of the beetle Tenebrio molitor) should be acceptable, especially immediately after a molt, if cut into sections (aquarists have sporadically reported large fish to have suffered injury (either intestinal compaction or scratching of internal tissue) upon consuming whole, live mealworms (allegedly capable of chewing through innards if gulped down whole).
 
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