×
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

chandlers as fish food ?

More
21 Aug 2010 20:18 #1 by angel (caroline)
Hi

I got some chandlers in the fishing shop
€3 for for a nice amount
i asked him if they are safe to feed to tropical fish in a home aquarium
he took a load out from the fridge
there are no (dyed) red ones
said these are ok

anyone here feed them to their fish ?
good idea, bad idea ?
i'll hold off untill i get some feedback

thanks in advance
Angel :)

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 20:25 #2 by dyco619 (steve carmody)
i prob gona sound really thick!!! but what are chandlers???

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 20:30 #3 by angel (caroline)
maggots
Attachments:

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 20:32 - 21 Aug 2010 20:34 #4 by angel (caroline)
Attachments:
Last edit: 21 Aug 2010 20:34 by angel (caroline).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 20:41 #5 by dyco619 (steve carmody)
ive been fishing nearly 30 years and i have never heard them called that!!

anyway i feed them to my oscars sometimes they love them!
tho i would feed them slowly, if you put in to many they will bury themselves into the gravel and rot there..

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 21:06 #6 by angel (caroline)
thanks
i should've said maggots
thanks for the info
i'll throw some in to the tank
just once there is no risk of introducing any kind of infection or anything

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 21:12 #7 by convict84 (sean farrell)
i feed them to my fish sometimes,just make them a treat

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 21:19 #8 by Jaffacakehead (John McPartland)
Chandlers is an old Dublin name for maggots. I had a few left over from fishing today and some castors (pupal stage of bluebottles). I tried three or four of them in the tank and they were dived on by my Angelfish but they didn't actually eat them. They just grabbed them and spat them out. Once they reached the bottom they weren't bothered with them.
My corys just grazed around them and didn't touch them. I was going to take them out but I'm gonna give my shrimp a chance to try them tonight.

Fishing was very good this morning and I got sunburnt to bits.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 21:23 #9 by derek (Derek Doyle)
angel wrote:

thanks
i should've said maggots
thanks for the info
i'll throw some in to the tank
just once there is no risk of introducing any kind of infection or anything


chandlers/maggots/bluebottle larvae all the same buggers. feed them sparingly as the lads advise and ensure the fish eat them. if you keep the chandlers too long they turn into bluebottles and infest the house. some large carniverous fish love them, pure protein.
although even one of these would compact and even cause death with tropheus and the like.

30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 21:34 #10 by Jaffacakehead (John McPartland)
I borrowed my now ex-wife's car and went fishing one day had a mass maggot escape in the boot. They crawled under the back seat and right through the car to the driver's footwell. Much scrbbling about and a good hoovering and still had bluebottles in the car for about two weeks.
She went on the Gerry Ryan show to tell the story.
I still think its hilarious.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 22:21 #11 by JohnH (John)
I will add a word of caution here, I remember Goldy bought some and was feeding them to her larger Fish and she suffered an almost total wipeout.
I wouldn't use them as I seem to remember reading about them as having a high fat content, although, having said that I do sometimes feed chrysalis to my Kois in the pond, but they're only carp after all and pretty well invincible!
I did buy some recently to let turn into flies for feeding to the larger Bettas, but thus far they have still only pupated with still no flies in evidence!

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.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 22:27 #12 by angel (caroline)
thanks again
some usefull info there
most of my fish are big enough to swallow them down (bichirs, indian perch, shark cats, wolf fish etc.)
the main reason i got them to try is i got a oxydoras niger two weeks ago and he still hasn't fed for me
i said i'd try these out
i am getting a little concerned
he doesn't seem interested at all
all the rest of the fish spring to life when being fed
he just hides away
tryed feeding catfish pellets at night
tryed him on prawns, bloodworms, pellets ?

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 22:40 #13 by convict84 (sean farrell)
garlic works wonders for funny feeders,mash a few cloves of garlic,put whatever food you want in a jar ect...with the garlic,leave it for a few hours,hey presto....if the food is not taken within 5 mins make sure to take it out,dont feed anything for two days and start again

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
21 Aug 2010 22:47 #14 by angel (caroline)
convict84 wrote:

garlic works wonders for funny feeders,mash a few cloves of garlic,put whatever food you want in a jar ect...with the garlic,leave it for a few hours,hey presto....if the food is not taken within 5 mins make sure to take it out,dont feed anything for two days and start again


great
i'll try that
he seems to be extremely shy even for a catfish, reminds me of a jaguar catfish in that respect

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
22 Aug 2010 00:05 #15 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Jaffacakehead wrote:

I borrowed my now ex-wife's car and went fishing one day had a mass maggot escape in the boot. They crawled under the back seat and right through the car to the driver's footwell. Much scrbbling about and a good hoovering and still had bluebottles in the car for about two weeks.
She went on the Gerry Ryan show to tell the story.
I still think its hilarious.


Classic :laugh: . I had beer shoot out my nose after I read that.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • mr.cichlid (mr.cichlid)
  • mr.cichlid (mr.cichlid)'s Avatar
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
05 Apr 2011 20:32 #16 by mr.cichlid (mr.cichlid)
Replied by mr.cichlid (mr.cichlid) on topic Re:chandlers as fish food ?
i think anybody is foolish to feed chandlers ,
common sense has to prevail here , the parent flies of the chandlers spend there days eating and picking at what ever they can get there mouth to whether it be a dead badger on side of road with tb or a dead dog with parvo shallowly buried , all these germs would be harbouring in the chandlers and you have some people feeding to there pride and joy .....

just wouldnt be me ...

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
05 Apr 2011 20:56 #17 by coaks (clyde coakley)
The Maggots you buy here are breed purposely for fishing and would not be fed on any type of animal that has a disease, so are more than likely fine to feed to your fish.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • stretnik (stretnik)
  • stretnik (stretnik)'s Avatar
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
05 Apr 2011 21:02 #18 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: chandlers as fish food ?
Commercially produced Chandlers are raised in large Rooms where dead carcasses of Farm Animals are placed in temperature controlled conditions. When dropped into an Aquarium they wriggle for quite a while and excrete Ammonia, they get lodged in plants and decor where they become large bloated Fungused carcasses themselves, not something I want in the Aquarium.

Kev.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
06 Apr 2011 00:08 #19 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
true Kev but as with any non aquatic live food, if it isnt eaten in 5 mins, get it out of the tank to avoid such problems

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • stretnik (stretnik)
  • stretnik (stretnik)'s Avatar
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
06 Apr 2011 09:43 #20 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: chandlers as fish food ?
True, but the speed with which maggots go from live to manky is rapid. Maggots are rendered to a jelly mass in next to no time.

Kev.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
06 Apr 2011 10:08 #21 by JohnH (John)

True, but the speed with which maggots go from live to manky is rapid. Maggots are rendered to a jelly mass in next to no time.

Kev.


Since this thread first appeared last year I have given some more thought to the issue.
Maggots are, for the most part, mobile tubes of digestive juice - they have to be, because they need really powerful enzymes to transform meat into whatever is necessary for rapid growth and to allow the next stage of development into pupa, before finally metamorphosing into the final stage - the fly.

Much of what is fed to our fish (in whatever form) passes right through them and then is able to go along its merry way polluting the water, and my suspicion is that maggots (chandlers) fit right into this category.
In rivers and lakes this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but in the confined environment of our aquaria this can prove disastrous.
So, for reasons already mentioned - and for the above - I would decline the use of them as food for my fish.

Although, having said that, I still use flies as food - but only to fish which would eat flies in the wild (mostly Bettas and larger Killies in my case).

Any other views?

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.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
15 May 2011 11:00 #22 by wastegate (Joseph Farrell)
Iv fed a few as treats to my fish. I found that when i put them in whole, the fish would take them and spit them out again so Id have to remove them before they wiggled into the substrate. I pulled the maggots in half (yes very messy) and dropped them in. The fish devoured them. Angel fish where taking them out of each others mouths and even smaller fish (neon's, corys etc) where having a go. I have heard before that they are full of fat so not to feed too many or too often.

You know you're addicted to fishkeeping when...you spend €200 to accomodate a €5 fish.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.077 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum