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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Bloodworm

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02 Sep 2007 16:47 #1 by steven (steven)
Bloodworm was created by steven (steven)
Hi guys and gals just wondering what peoples feelings are on feeding fish bloodworm, the reason i ask is i was talking to a guy yesterday about the severums i'm trying to get to breed and he said feed them nothing but bloodworm for a week or 2 to get them into condition.

I have read that fish can become bloodworm junkies and i don't want to go down that road. Any way if anyone has any suggestions or if they could let me know the benefits of feeding bloodworm to them.

Treat every day like your last, some day it will be??

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02 Sep 2007 18:36 #2 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
I have used bloodworms on a regular basis it does help to inprove condition and colour. My choice is the tetra bloodworm comes in a sachet in a jelly it sinks and brakes up slowly and provide a nice pratical treat. I also provide at least once a week daphina frozen plus fairy shrimp when i have some live.

i also increase the flow slightly in my tanks just before i want to breed as it excerise the fish which i also find helps to both condition and i.d. the best males and females to breed from

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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  • Anthony (Anthony)
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02 Sep 2007 21:10 #3 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re:Bloodworm
I think it is absolutely crap. It has no nutricional value
and can carry parasites. It you want your Sevs to breed try lowering the pH a little or doing a small w/c with cold water.

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02 Sep 2007 21:24 #4 by Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
Anthony wrote:

I think it is absolutely crap. It has no nutricional value
and can carry parasites. ...


Maybe the live stuff can, but the frozen stuff is safe enough, though I prefer to rinse it before use. There is definitely good in it, there are a few corys I have that will not spawn without a few feeds in the week or so beforehand. It is also great from bringing a fish that is poorly back into condition. Never used the live stuff, never even seen it.

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02 Sep 2007 21:40 #5 by Acara (Dave Walters)
Replied by Acara (Dave Walters) on topic Re:Bloodworm
I occaisionaly,very occasionaly,give live bloodworms(or what I presume are bloodworms)to my fish.I find them in the buckets of water scattered around the garden to harvest mosquito larvae.About to head out there now,a lot of fat wrigglers to catch.
I also use frozen ones,although not as much as I use to after reading they have no nutritional value on a few sites.I dont know wether to believe this though,after all,they are insect larvae,and therefore HAVE to have some nutrition,or they would not be able to develop into adults.I do,however,make sure they are well rinsed before going into the tank.

always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!

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02 Sep 2007 23:15 #6 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
Replied by KenS (Ken Simpson) on topic Re:Bloodworm
My understanding is that live bloodworms are more nutritious, but also more prone to bacteria that can infect fish. Frozen ones aren't as nutritious, but safer in terms of bacterial infections.

I use the frozen ones myself about once a week. Freeze dried are more convenient, but even less Nutritious.

Regards,

Ken.

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  • apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
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03 Sep 2007 09:56 #7 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re:Bloodworm
Daragh Owens wrote:

Anthony wrote:

I think it is absolutely crap. It has no nutricional value
and can carry parasites. ...


Maybe the live stuff can, but the frozen stuff is safe enough, though I prefer to rinse it before use. There is definitely good in it, there are a few corys I have that will not spawn without a few feeds in the week or so beforehand. It is also great from bringing a fish that is poorly back into condition. Never used the live stuff, never even seen it.


There was research done on this.Can't remember which university did it ( I think to recall Munich but I am not quite sure) but I'll try to dig it up. Frozen bloodworm can carry all sorts of parasites, even after being gamma rayed and shock frozen. And they had a look at some of the most reputable brands on the market. I'm not surprised. They are bred in chicken manure... There's a mental picture :cheer:

Black mosquito larvae and whiteworm are much cleaner and nutrionally better. Nothing like black mosquito larvae to get dwarf cichlids in the mood.

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  • Anthony (Anthony)
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03 Sep 2007 10:17 #8 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re:Bloodworm
Just look at the amount of protein in a pack of Bloodworms.
Around 5% total crap.

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03 Sep 2007 11:48 #9 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re:Bloodworm
...and come from the same waters where tubifex are bred

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03 Sep 2007 14:23 #10 by steven (steven)
Replied by steven (steven) on topic Re:Bloodworm
Cheers guys i think they will be staying in the frezzer out in the shed for a while i will give them a miss and try something else anyone any other suggestions on good food for them.

Treat every day like your last, some day it will be??

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03 Sep 2007 15:02 #11 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re:Bloodworm
black mosquito larvae, whiteworm, artemia, glasworm, garden worms, good cichlid granules (not the plants based stuff or Malawis, something like Tetra prima)

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  • Anthony (Anthony)
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03 Sep 2007 15:11 #12 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re:Bloodworm
Bloodworms are ok for Marines as a snack.
Less chance of cross contamination.

Incase you don`t know. Holger is pointing out that Tubefex
are bred/come from sewer like sess pits and contain all types
of nasties.:sick:

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03 Sep 2007 15:24 #13 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re:Bloodworm
If these frozen foods are so bad then why are all the best petshops pushing them?

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03 Sep 2007 16:12 #14 by steven (steven)
Replied by steven (steven) on topic Re:Bloodworm
Anthony wrote:

Bloodworms are ok for Marines as a snack.
Less chance of cross contamination.

Incase you don`t know. Holger is pointing out that Tubefex
are bred/come from sewer like sess pits and contain all types
of nasties.:sick:


I remember reading somewhere about Tubefex and how its made there is no way on earth i would dream of putting it in any of my tanks, what ever lab carried out the experiment found all sorts of diseases and if bloodworm is coming from the same source or same method i will be putting it in the bin never mind the frezzer thanks for the great advice again lads i think i will give the garden worm a go, do you chop it up or just rinse any debris of them.

Treat every day like your last, some day it will be??

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03 Sep 2007 16:17 #15 by Acara (Dave Walters)
Replied by Acara (Dave Walters) on topic Re:Bloodworm
With the garden worms,I just clean them off and put them in an ice cream container with a couple of damp kitchen towels in the bottom for a couple of days to purge out the waste inside them,then they usually go in whole,or chopped,depending on the size of the fish and size of the worm.

always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!

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  • Anthony (Anthony)
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03 Sep 2007 16:20 #16 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re:Bloodworm
Didihno wrote:

If these frozen foods are so bad then why are all the best petshops pushing them?




Because they sell. Most people see Bloodworms and think they are
giving their fish natural nutricional food.

Tubefex is an excellent protein food but best grown yourself is you know how.

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03 Sep 2007 16:33 #17 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re:Bloodworm
Depending on the size of the worm and fish but severums should be able to swallow them whole. You could also try mussle meat

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04 Sep 2007 08:39 #18 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re:Bloodworm
Let me just seek some clarification here.
You are telling me that these products, for example the frozen Artemia, Daphnia and Bloodworm that I purchased in a very repuatable store is actually bad for my fish?

Or is it just the bloodworm?

These are only occasional treats but you guys are freaking me out here, especially as this is the first mention of this I have seen on the forum.

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04 Sep 2007 10:01 #19 by S180de (S180de)
Replied by S180de (S180de) on topic Re:Bloodworm
i wouldn't panic too much. whatever has been said about the low protein content may be true for the fresh frozen bloodworms as most of the weight obviously is water. if you want to compare to dry food then have a look at analyses of the freeze dried BWs. they should contain about 40-60% prtotein.

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04 Sep 2007 10:10 #20 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re:Bloodworm
yeah and most fish hate the freeze dried stuff. Freeze drying kills pathogens but does not remove heavy metals, etc so you are still stuck with with those. Depending on the fish you have, even freeze dried bloodworms can still do harm even if they contain no pollutants. Their mouth can damage a fish's stomach. I would never feed them to Apistogramm for example.

Daphnia and Artemia are fine to feed, so is mysis. Daphnia, generally comes from fairly clean water and the other two from seawater. Daphnia have a fairly low nutritional value but I do feed them every once in a while as a snack

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04 Sep 2007 13:55 #21 by hill16 (GERARD DEVEREUX)
I give my tropical fish frozen bloodworms about three times a week they love them.Im going to get some Daphnia and Brine shrimp aswell.

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04 Sep 2007 14:09 #22 by S180de (S180de)
Replied by S180de (S180de) on topic Re:Bloodworm

I would never feed them to Apistogramm for example


why is that? do they have a sensitive stomach or sth?

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04 Sep 2007 14:51 #23 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re:Bloodworm
Their mouthparts can cause damage in the stomach even after they are frozen. Apistogramma feed mainly on Aufwuchs in nature and can be sensitive to rather big lumps of food like bloodworms

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