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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

feeding bloodworms

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10 Jan 2008 00:35 #1 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
folks, just curious as to how you feed frozen bloodworms.
Do you let them thaw out ? or use a feeder or what ?

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10 Jan 2008 01:17 #2 by fishman 1 (fishman 1)
Replied by fishman 1 (fishman 1) on topic Re:feeding bloodworms
Hi

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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10 Jan 2008 01:24 #3 by tanks_alot (Denis Coghlan)
I'm a thaw person also. However, I don't go as far as rinsing the bloodworm. The lazy approach I take is to thaw the bloodworm in the packet, remove the foil, then use a large tweezers to separate the worm from the large volume of blood/worm juice. Its lazy but works for me!

Lead me not into temptation, For I can find it myself!

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10 Jan 2008 09:49 #4 by S180de (S180de)
Replied by S180de (S180de) on topic Re:feeding bloodworms
i put the block into the tank frozen and let the fish rip it apart. there was an interesting discussion a while ago about the pro and cons of feeding blood worms and their nutritional value. unfortunately, I couldn't find the thread anymore...

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10 Jan 2008 11:29 #5 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re:feeding bloodworms
Depends on the tank.
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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10 Jan 2008 13:48 #6 by russell (russell)
Replied by russell (russell) on topic Re:feeding bloodworms
Best way is to put cube in an egg cup, let it thaw then strain the liquid of f through a fine net?wifes stocking.

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10 Jan 2008 23:08 #7 by derek (Derek Doyle)
Just a few further points to discuss on feeding bloodworms.
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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10 Jan 2008 23:34 #8 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re:feeding bloodworms
derek wrote:

i always wash my hands immediately after handling.

The bloodworm or Gerry Evans?!!!!:laugh:

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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10 Jan 2008 23:48 #9 by chris (chris)
Replied by chris (chris) on topic Re:feeding bloodworms
I personally think that bloodworms is not the best (I even would say unsuitable) food for discus because of parasitic problem again. Artemia is much healthier choice especially live. Because it lives in salty water it doesn't carry any dangerous for fresh water fish parasites or their forms. It's also very rich diet and if given live stimulates fish hunting habits and keeps them active. It's cheap, safe, nutritious and natural.

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11 Jan 2008 01:09 #10 by derek (Derek Doyle)
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

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

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11 Jan 2008 01:12 #11 by Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
I used to always rinse bloodworms, there is a huge amout of waste liqud, about 50% of the cube and I reckoned that the fish were not getting most of it and it was just loading the filter. I am lazy now and don't bother for most fish except I always rinse it for feeding my zebras.

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11 Jan 2008 01:54 #12 by Tom (Tom Brecknell)
Daragh_Owens wrote:

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.B)

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

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11 Jan 2008 02:10 #13 by Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
:-) you probably do, they are on CITES I think! But the less said about that the better, their natural habitat is being destroyed anyway, captive beeding should be encouraged instead of banning them. See avatar for the equine variety I keep!

Daragh

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11 Jan 2008 03:20 #14 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:feeding bloodworms
Frozen Bloodworms have received mixed receptions on this forum, I think that the stuff in the 'individual' blister packs used to be irradiated, but I don't know if that's still the case but they were claimed to be safe.

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

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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11 Jan 2008 09:30 #15 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re:feeding bloodworms
derek wrote:

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

Cheers 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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11 Jan 2008 22:57 #16 by derek (Derek Doyle)
Daragh
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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13 Jan 2008 11:49 #17 by JohnH (John)
Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Re:feeding bloodworms

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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