Feeding Live Worms

Andrew C · Post by **Andrew C** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:57 pm

I have tried feeding my zebras live Blackworms before, but it didn't look like they were eating them.
I feed my other fish White Worms and have tried some them on my zebras tonight, but i am unsure how they will take to it.

Dos anybody feed their zebras live food such as, White Worms, Blackworms, Daphnia, Newly Hatched Brine Shrimp, Etc ?

clogwood · Post by **clogwood** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:02 am

Hello, I often feed mine frozen blood worms and brine shrimp. I have tried live blood worms but they are slow and not so aggresive eaters and the worms just hide or borrow into the substrate before they get eaten. I would stick with frozen foods.

NetsuaiAngel · Post by **NetsuaiAngel** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 4:26 am

Hello there,

Do you turn your pump off before you feed?

Also, not to rain on your post but here's a link to another past post about feeding live worms to zebras:

http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtop ... bloodworms

If you use the "Search" feature and type in bloodworms or live food, it will bring up a lot of past topics that were discussed and there's a lot of past experiences everyone has posted. It's a great way to get your answer quickly and see if we've discussed it before. You can even post in the old topic to make it "fresh" again, that way everyone can reread what they posted and if they had a different experience they can post about it in the same topic.

How deep is your substrate? If you're feeding live worms and have deep substrate I would suggest sticking with frozen bloodworms, that way the bloodworms that burrow into your substrate won't cause excess waste in your water (I'm theorizing here). That's my 2 cents.

Andrew C · Post by **Andrew C** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 1:31 pm

I have read the topic you linked to, i posted in it !
I know Des never recommends to use bloodworm, live or frozen, and Adam has used Blackworms before, but i think McEve has it spot on when saying that she thinks that zebras are scavengers and more used to food that has been lying about then actually chasing and catching it.
But there is not much about anybody trying to feed there zebras any type of live food, and how they got on with it !

I have a bare tank bottom, so i do not need to worry about the worms borrowing in the substrate.
I do not turn down my filters as the food settles in one end of the tank, where the zebras eat the food from, which they have been doing for a while now.

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 1:44 pm

I have a sand substrate tank and have fed live bloodworm, daphnia and brine shrimp with no problems at all. They love it.

I also turns all pumps off before feeding.

zebra046 · Post by **zebra046** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:12 am

Andrew,
if your purpose of feeding live food is to condition the fish for breeding, I would say stick with the cultured diet like grindal worms, white worms or micro worms, don't even risk trying to feed live black worms there are way to many horror stories about feeding live black worm, anyways you can get away with feeding prepared foods, high quality pellets and an occasional live white worms and please chopped them if you are feeding small fry, I am fortunate enough to be able to raised two generations of zebra's without any live or frozen food it's better to be safe than sorry.

INXS · Post by **INXS** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:04 pm

I have to agree with some of the posters mentioning that zebras seem to be more of scavangers as I fed some blackworms a few years back and there is still a colony living in the substrate with the zebras and the snails.

I tried it in another tank and would have to say that it didn't seem to do much for the zebras. Frozen seems to be a better choice (and safer) at least for my fish.

Andrew C · Post by **Andrew C** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:12 pm

The reason that i have been trying live food on my zebras is that i am feeding it to my other fish and thought that the zebras might enjoy it as well.

Have been sticking to feeding the zebras white worms, as i can see if they are eating it, or not.
And the signs are good so far, as there are no worms left in the tank in the morning, but will stick to one feeding of white worms a week, because they may just be getting sucked up by the filter.

Post by **Barbie** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:10 pm

IME the zebras WILL catch and eat live blackworms. They'll also eat shelldweller and other small fry that likes to stay on the bottom. The blackworms are very adept at hiding and able to live and reproduce in our tanks, so once you add them, they do stick around for awihle. This doesn't mean none are being eaten though

. They are a very rich source of protein and fat, so don't overdo them, but yes, your fish will be eating them, definitely.

Barbie