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
feeding bloodworms
- Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
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Do you let them thaw out ? or use a feeder or what ?
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- fishman 1 (fishman 1)
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When I feed frozen bloodworm I thaw it out completely, strain it through a net and rince, then put it back in some clean fresh water and use a pipette to squirt it into each tank.
The reason I use the pipette is to prevent cross contamination between each tank. This prevents the chance of passing any nasties from tank to tank.
If you are just feeding the one tank a couple of blocks then after thawing it out I would rince it in fresh water and swill the net directly into the tank.

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- tanks_alot (Denis Coghlan)
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Lead me not into temptation, For I can find it myself!
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- S180de (S180de)
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- Didihno (Didihno)
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I let my cichlids duke it out over the frozen cubes of bloodworms, but I thaw cubes of brine shrimp and daphnia in tank water from my marine tank and syringe it into anemones/ near fish. Also I feed cichlids the whole bloodworms on the little squeezy packets. They are ultra messy but the fish love them.
It never occured to me to rinse those out, I guess it makes sense and fouls the water a lot less. Great tip.
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- russell (russell)
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- derek (Derek Doyle)
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I never bothered cleaning bloodworm before, but think I will in future as it can't do any harm.
Never feed to vegetarian fish, tropheus, most mbuna.
I would only use it as a treat or conditioning food with angels, discus, corydoras
It is often reccommended to avoid feeding to tanganyikans ( i very occasionally feed to frontosa and calvus)
Some people are allergic to it (gerry evans for example, his eyes get red and sore)
so i always wash my hands immediately after handling.
I would have thought the freezing process kills pathogens.
All the above are my opinions and i would welcome further discussion.
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
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- Didihno (Didihno)
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The bloodworm or Gerry Evans?!!!!i always wash my hands immediately after handling.

Seriously though, should I not be feeding this stuff to my mixed africans?
I have a varied mix of 'peacocks', catfish and a handful of tangs in there too.
It is only an occasional treat and they (all) ravage it.
Well, they ravage everything actually.
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- chris (chris)
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- derek (Derek Doyle)
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Currently I would be inclined to avoid feeding bloodworm to tanganyikans and any of the malawi herbivores. Artemia and cyclops are better and safer foods for these species. I would also reccommend a good grade Spirulina flake.
Derek
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
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- Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
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- Tom (Tom Brecknell)
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I always rinse it for feeding my zebras.
Did not know you kept wild animals as well, do you not need a licence for Zebras.





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- Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
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Daragh
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- JohnH (John)
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I use the 1 kilo blocks which I am 100% certain are not irratiated, but far more economical to buy, I always fetch a few back whenever I go back to UK. However, although I agree rinsing would probably be better I never have done that, I use a sharp wood chisel to cut/break off portions and feed the whole lot, water and all to the appropriate fish (mostly my Angels). I put the broken-off chunks into an Algarde worm feeder, designed for feeding live Tubifex worms really, but it didn't take the fish long to realise they can 'suck' the thawing Bloodworms through the feeder mesh. I do find that I need several feeders as, especially with Angels (and probably Discus too) the most dominant of them 'takes over' the worm feeder and, even after having eaten its fill, guards it against all-comers...talk about 'dog in the manger' attitude !!! With more than one I find that in their greed the dominant one(s) spend so much time trying to defend all the feeders the others can 'nip in' and get their share.
John
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N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
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- Didihno (Didihno)
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Cheers Derek,Didinho
Currently I would be inclined to avoid feeding bloodworm to tanganyikans and any of the malawi herbivores. Artemia and cyclops are better and safer foods for these species. I would also reccommend a good grade Spirulina flake.
Derek
I must go and check my african stock for proper dietary requirements.
I have been a bit blase about what they are fed.
At the moment its 40% New Life Spectrum cichlid formula, 40% Nutrafin max flake, with a smattering of other foods making up the balance, such as the packet bloodworms, frozen cubes of daphnia/brine shrimp and sliced cucumber/courgette (which is meant for the pleco but he only gets the left overs).
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- derek (Derek Doyle)
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I used to just drop the frozen chunks in and let the fish chip away, but now i suspect that this practice would be somewhat detrimental to water quality so i let the cubes defrost first. As a precaution it seems a good idea to rinse as well.
John
Although the kilo packs are far better value they are so messy and time consuming that I dont bother with them anymore. Bits flying in all directions when breaking off chunks and the sickening smell were just too much hassle. The blister packs are at least convenient and don't require much handling. I fully agree that Angels and Discus thrive on bloodworm and it does bring out their bullying instinct (pecking order). Have you still got those lovely Angels that you benched at the show.
Didhino
I have been using New life spectrum for a while and it seems to be an excellent food.
other good foods are osi spirulina and brine shrimp flake, tetra tabimin and kens food. i have been using kens growth food for fry for a while and the fish seem to love it.
If you put up a list of your fish I will try to advise you on their feeding requirements and compatability.
Derek
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
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- JohnH (John)
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Derek: \"Have you still got those lovely Angels that you benched at the show\".
I have indeed, all being well they'll be back for another outing to the Capital this April...me and the fish are looking forward to the event already.
John
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
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