Live Foods

    Culturing is very easy, so you should always use starter cultures to begin larger mother 
culture. Culturing your own foods will allow you to save money in the long run and provide 
your fish with foods that are common in nature. 

    The key to using high protein live foods is not to over feed your fish on any one food 
and a vegetable flake food is recommended as part of your feeding regime. Veggie food 
for your fish will help to avoid constipation from the feeding of live foods. We feed a 
spirulina flake food every 3rd feeding. Just remember, when it comes to fish foods, 
VARIETY is key to happy fish. 


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    Infusoria- Infusoria are microscopic creatures who live primarily in green water. They 
are and excellent first food for very tiny newborn fry. 

    We made our first batch of infusoria by placing a piece of wilted lettuce in a gallon jar 
with aged tank water, which was placed in direct sunlight. You can use a starter culture 
or Jungle brand Little Fry Formula to get you started. Within 48-72 hours you should see 
a milky cloud develop in the water, this is your infusoria colony. (Don’t trust yourself? 
Check it out under a microscope.) Two tips, always use dechlorinated water and never 
use a metal container to grow infusoria. As long as there is ample vegetable food 
(green water works best), you should be able to maintain the colony indefinitely. 

    Infusoria can be fed by using a small siphon or basting bulb to remove about 
tablespoon of infusoria laden water. Adjust feeding to size of fish, and be careful 
not to over feed. It is better to feed small amounts more often, so as not to cloud your 
tank’s water 


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    Microworms- Micro worms are nematodes that are just barely visible. They are a good 
source of food for fry and very tiny fish. They are easiest to use in glass bottomed 
breeding or hatchery tanks as they do sink to the bottom. 

    We culture our microworms in 2’ deep Tupperware dishes, but butter containers will 
work. The container is covered but has small ventilation holes. (Make sure the air holes 
are tiny so the culture does not become infested with fruit flies.) The recommended 
culture medium is a soupy mix of Gerber’s Dried Baby Food , water, and a pinch of yeast. 
This mixture is just slightly more soupy than pancake batter. Water or dried baby food is 
added as needed to keep this consistency. Microworms feed off the mold created by the 
yeast, so a couple of pinches of dried yeast is added every couple of days. If too much 
yeast is added bubbles will form in the mixture. Shake these bubbles to the surface each d
ay. It is time to start a new culture if the medium turns dark brown or stinks too much. Try 
to avoid transferring old medium when starting a new culture from a really aged one (just 
use the worms from the sides of the container). We usually have several mother cultures 
and a few smaller ones at any given time. We keep them just fine at room temperature, 
but it is possible to put a culture in "stasis" by put it in the refrigerator. Chilled cultures 
will still produce worms after a couple of weeks in the fridge. Most cultures at room temp. 
will yield steady a steady harvest for 2-5 weeks. 

    A thriving mother culture will have millions (?) of wiggling worms on the surface of the 
medium as well as climbing the sides of the container. To feed to your fish, wipe a small 
amount of the worms off the sides of their container with a finger, make-up brush, or even 
a Q-tip. Rinse into a small cup of water (to separate and dilute the worms from the yeasty 
medium) After a couple minutes, the worms will sink to the bottom of the cup and the water 
may be drained off somewhat. Feed as needed with an eyedropper, remembering that the 
micro worms eventually sink. Microworms will live for several hours, sometimes even for 
a day in your tank. It is as easy to over feed microworms as anything else if one is not 
observant. 


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    Vinegar Eels- Vinegar eels are also a nematodes and are only slightly larger than 
microworms. They are a very good fry food, especially for top feeding fry. Mother 
cultures can be kept productive indefinitely! 

    Vinegar eels are acid loving nematodes. Our recipe for starting a mother culture is as 
follows: Using a one gallon jar, dump in your starter culture. Pour in an equal mixture of 
apple cider vinegar and water (or cheap apple juice) to bring the level of liquid in the jar 
to about 3/4 full. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and one teaspoon of activated yeast. Add one half 
apple (any variety) and that is it! The vinegar eels live off of the mold or "mother of 
vinegar" that will subsequently grow in this mixture. Vigorous growth should occur within 
one week. We usually rubber band a paper coffee filter to the jar as covering and to 
keep the vinegar smell in better. The addition of yeast and sugar (or more apple slices) 
can be helpful you your culture should look slightly weak. Add more cider vinegar/water 
if needed. Vinegar eels cultures can be reinvigorated from just a small amount of medium 
liquid months later, so this is definitely an easy and strong culture to keep going. 

    The key to feeding vinegar eels is to siphon them into a brine shrimp net or coffee filter 
and rinse very thoroughly. This will prevent the acidity from their culture liquid from 
changing your water chemistry. The net or coffee filter is then inverted and rinsed into a 
glass jar. The vinegar eels can then be poured out or you can use an eye dropper or 
turkey baster. Vinegar eels will swim to the surface of your tank and can live for a day or 
so if uneaten. 


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    Brine Shrimp- While not the natural food of freshwater fish, this tiny ocean crustacean 
can be an important part of breeding and raising many fish species. Culturing of adult live 
brine shrimp (Artemia) is a bit too time consuming for us, so we hatch as new batch of 
brine about every 3 days. In between brine hatches, we feed microworms and vinegar 
eels. Baby brine shrimp is suitable for some newly hatched fry, but smaller fry will need 
a smaller live food. 

    The keys to successful brine hatching are: egg quality, water quality, salinity, and 
temperature. Buy the best quality eggs you can afford (higher hatch rate=higher cost) 
either at your local pet shop or through the mail. We use a 2 liter soda pop bottle which 
we hang from the wall via a wire around the neck of the bottle. This is filled with tepid 
water until it is about 4/5 full. Next, add 3 tablespoons of aquarium/sea salt (kosher salt 
is said to work fine also) and shake to mix. Some folks add a pinch of baking soda to 
adjust hardness and pH. (check with your local pet shop to test your hatchery’s salt water). 

    In our case, with so many fish to feed, we add 2 tablespoons of Artemia eggs but the 
amount of eggs you will need should be adjusted. A piece of rigid air tubing, with an air 
stone on it, is attached to an air pump and dropped into the bottle. This air stone may 
need changed after a couple of months. The temperature for hatching should be 72-82F. 
The room where we hatch is about 80F, but you could use a small incandescent light bulb 
positioned near your hatchery to warm it up a bit.. Cooler temps cause a slow hatch, 
warmer ones cause a quick hatch. Temps that are too warm are not good for the baby 
brine. Your brine should hatch in 24-48 hours depending on your water, temp., and egg 
quality. 

    To feed your baby brine, remove the air stone and allow the hatchery to settle. the 
shrimps’ egg cases will float, while baby brine will sink. If you put a small light by the 
bottom of the hatchery, they will be attracted to it. We use a 12" length of rigid air tubing 
attached to some flexible tubing to siphon baby brine shrimp off the bottom of the 
hatchery. They are strained trough a brine shrimp net, and are then rinsed to reduce any 
salinity before feeding. After feeding, the air stone is put back into the hatchery for 
aeration. 


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    Daphnia- Also know as water fleas, these tiny water insects (Daphnia pulex & D. 
magna spp.) are great natural food for any small to medium sized fish. They can be very 
tiny to an 1/8 of an inch or so. They can easily live in your tank for long periods if uneaten. 
A starter culture is need to start a colony. 

    Daphnia can be cultured in any size container. We use 10 gallon tanks and one gallon 
jars to raise our daphnia. The easiest way to jeep a daphnia culture going is to use aged 
green water or heavily aglaed water. Aged aquarium water with just a bit of aquatic or 
non-aquatic plant fertilizer can be left in full sun for a week to get green/algaed water. 
Daphnia eat the infusoria and other microorganisms which grow in such water. You can 
also feed your mother daphnia cultures dried brewer’s yeast, powdered milk, pumpkin 
pulp, or squash pulp. Avoid vigorous aeration of the culture. 

    Hatchery tanks can be seeded with Daphnia -- the Daphnia will continue to eat bacteria 
any other microorganisms that may be present. Daphnia generally purify water and the 
fry will eat them as they grow to sufficient size. 

    A shrimp net or a fine fish net can be used to catch Daphnia. Invert the net to feed. 
Over feeding of daphnia is almost never happens, but over feeding in a tank with heavy 
filtration might lead to problems if the daphnia die off quicker than they are eaten. 


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    Grindal worms- Grindal worms are a dwarf white worm. They only get to about 1/2 " long 
and are suitable for young and small fish. 

    Grindal worms are cultured in the same fashion as white worms with one major 
exception. Grindal worms grow and reproduce better at 72-82F. Cold will slow their 
reproduction. 

    You can harvest and feed grindal worms in the same fashion as white worms. 


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    White worms- White worms are 1"-1 1/2" small. They are suitable for small to medium 
fish, but are too big for most fry. 

    As with all worms the key to culturing is temperature, moisture, and medium. We use a 
styrofoam shipping box with ventilation holes. The ideal temperature for white worms is 
60F but they will tolerate upto about 70F. White worms like their medium very wet, but 
avoid standing water. Medium should not have to be any deeper than about 2 inches. 
Our favorite bedding is Magic brand bedding. Another bedding alternative is 1/2 peat 
plus 1/2 soil plus handful of agricultural lime (to counter the peat’s acidity). 

    White worms eat almost anything, but remember the better quality of worm feed the 
better quality of worm. Whatever food you chose, it should be liquid as they can not eat 
dry solid food. We feed Gerber’s Mixed Dried Baby Food and bulk staple flake fish food. 
We usually add a pinch or two or dried activated yeast to the feed.. Feed only as much 
as is consumed, remove any uneaten or moldy food. A piece of glass can be laid on the 
surface, on top of their food. The worms can easily be rinsed or picked from the glass. 

    Soil mites will eventually occur in just about any soil based culture and are not unusual 
whatsoever. White and brown soil mites may appear in any worm culture. These are not 
dangerous and can be fed to your fish. The appearance of a brown soil mite can get to 
be a problem. Not only do they eat the worms’ food, but fewer of your fish will eat them. 
Allowing the culture to dry slightly so that the worms recede from the surface and then 
scorching the surface with a small torch can help keep these buggers in check, but it may 
also kill any worms at the surface. A good way to clean and restart a worm culture is to 
immerse the worms for about an hour in water. Any mites will float to the surface and can 
be poured off. 


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    Drosophila- We culture a wingless form of Drosophila (fruit fly). They are easy to 
culture and most top feeding fish will learn to eat them. They are appropriate in size for 
small to medium fish. 

    Many home-made recipes exist for fruit fly medium. The cleanest and most reliable 
medium is a starch base commercially made medium which contains an antifungal agent. 
This medium is available through Exotic Aquatics and is relatively cheap as you only 
really need a small amount. We use small vials with foam plugs as starter cultures and 
quart jars for larger, mother cultures. The jars are covered with a piece of paper coffee 
filter and a rubberband. The medium is mixed with water and a couple of pinches of dried 
yeast. The mixture should be wet, but fairly solid. 2-6 fruit flies are then added. Cultures 
are kept at room temperature. Higher temps may cause even wingless fruit flies to 
develop wings. Fruit flies will mate until they die, so you should see your first big hatch 
within one week of introducing adults to the culture jars. The culture may continue to 
produce flies for upto one month! 

    We feed our adult flies just a few grains of yeast as needed. And their medium is kept 
thoroughly moist, but not drowning wet. Adults only live for a few days, so they begin to 
breed 48 hours after hatching. 

    To feed the flies to your fish, simply chill the culture in the refrigerator for minute or so 
to slow the adults down. They can then be easily poured from the jar without them 
hopping everywhere. They will then hop on the surface of the water until eaten. Feed 
only as much as your fish will consume in just a few minutes. 


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    Red worms- Red worms or "red wigglers" are sold primarily to fishermen as bait. These can grow to about 2"-3" and can be fed to medium or large sized fish. They can also be chopped and fed to smaller fish. 


    Culturing is done similar to grindal worms, with Magic Worm Bedding (or a 
soil/peat/lime mixture) and are kept at room temperature. Bedding should be about 4"-6" 
deep. Their medium should be moist enough that a squeezed handful will exude a bit of 
water. Too much moisture will cause them try to climb out of their culture box, but not 
enough will cause them to shy away from the surface. Red worm eggs are laid near or at 
the surface. They can be fed vegetable scraps , flake fish food, or Gerber’s Dried Baby 
Food. Like other worms, their food must be wet or liquid, as they do not eat dry solid 
food. Do not over feed your worm cultures as mold may become problematic. Red 
worms may eat upto 4 times their body weight per day! Red worms, like other larger 
worms can double their number in 90-120 days if conditions are just right. 

    Worms are harvested for feeding by hand. and are rinsed off in a small jar of water 
(dirty water is poured off). The hobbyist needs to watch that he/she does not feed worms 
which are too big for their fish. This may cause death by over eating! 


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    Nightcrawlers- Nightcrawlers are also sold as large fishing bait. They are great food for large fish, but can also be chopped up for small and medium fish. 


    Having limited indoor and outdoor space, we do not currently reproduce our own 
nightcrawlers. We usually collect them during the early Spring/Summer from 
chemical-free sites. Our excess that is not sold is frozen and fed during Fall/Winter to 
our own fish. True worm farming (vermiculture) is done outdoors or in large productive 
bins or beds. There is a body of literature on vermiculture which is beyond the scope of 
this brief introduction to live foods. The following is how we KEEP worms. 

    A large styrofoam fish shipper makes an excellent indoor worm keeper, but it should 
be ventilated. While outdoor compost may work, we recommend either Magic worm 
bedding or a cellulose based bedding when keeping them indoors. The medium should 
be moist, but not too soggy and kept as dark as possible. Temperature for nightcrawlers s
hould be ideally at 50-60F. So a spare refrigerator will be handy for indoor culturing. You 
can also use ice cubes instead of liquid water to keep your culture cool and moist, if 
done carefully. An adequately sized outdoor culture box can be sunk into the ground to 
keep temps low, but be sure to drill tiny drain holes. The worst things you can do to a 
nightcrawler culture is to let it get too hot or to under feed it (wet and liquid foods only). 
We turn the bedding completely over once a month in ALL of our white worm, red worm, 
and nightcrawler boxes and occasionally ad new bedding as needed. We believe that 
this mixes both worms and nutrients, and aerates the bedding. 

    Nightcrawlers can be fed literally ANY organic waste so you need only be careful not 
to over feed, which could lead to a nasty food smell (covering the food with a bit of 
bedding is good). Yucch! You will be amazed at how much food these guys can eat a 
week. Nightcrawlers will rise to the surface to feed and can also be driven to the surface 
by excessive water, but sometimes digging is half the fun! Harvested worms should be 
rinsed thoroughly and chopped if needed. Chopping worms is truly the sign of a 
dedicated fish keeper! 


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    Mealworms- These small worm-like animals are the "larval" stage of a Tenebrio 
molitor beetle. They can only be fed whole to very large fish, but can be crushed and fed 
to smaller fish or dried and powdered into other foods.. 

    At temperatures of 70-90F mealworms will not change to pupae or beetles. Small 
sized mealworms can be put in the refrigerator (40-50F) and be kept dormant for a month 
or more if needed. Giant mealworms should not be refrigerated. We use plastic boxes 
with ventilated lids as our culture boxes, but a one gallon glass jar can support as many 
as 1,000 mealworms. 

    Many homemade recipes exist for mealworm bedding and food. It can be made of 
wheat bran, corn meal or dry oatmeal. If the culture’s bedding becomes dusty and worn 
down in appearance, add more bedding. Food such as a piece of raw potato, carrot or 
celery is essential to provide the mealworms with moisture. They can also be fed ground 
dry cat or dog food. Excess food should be removed and saved as mealworms may lay 
their eggs on it (after the mealworms have eaten what they wanted of it). 

    Unless you’re queasy, you harvest them by simply picking them out of the medium. 
Mealworms are a healthy food for many birds and mammals as well. 
    

    Joshua Sloan
    Exotic Aquatics
    705 South Race
    Urbana, IL 61801
    217-367-5679 (after 7:30 p.m. CST)