How to Cultivate Live Fish Food
Feeding your fish with live food can give them a welcome change from the usual manufactured food. More importantly, fresh, live food is packed with nutrients in a combination that guarantees better growth of your fish. After all, fish were made for eating worms and larvae, not flakes out of a carton. From microworms to mosquito larvae, there are varieties of live fish foods that are easy to cultivate. Care however needs to be exercised during the process to ensure there is no decaying or infection during the cultivation process.
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Instructions
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Start small. Thoroughly study the method of cultivating live food such as earthworms, microworms, fruit flies, daphnia and larvae of bloodworms and mealworms. Check what materials and equipment you need to have. Select the foods that are the easiest to grow and don't require too much investment in terms of time and money. As you gain experience, experiment with cultivation processes that are more intricate.
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Begin with earthworms. Full of vitamins, calcium and proteins, earthworms are one of the best foods to ensure your fish grow rapidly. Earthworms need a moist, rich soil that is free from clay. Place some heavy sacking material on the ground in a shaded place. Keep this constantly wet and insert a few vegetable scraps and eggshells in the space between the ground and the sack. Avoid putting too much food or it can sour the ground and prevent the worms from growing. After a few days, you will find the earthworms growing.
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Cultivate microworms. Procure a microworm starter culture from the local fishing store. Transfer this into a big container and keep at a temperature of 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Make small holes in the container lid to allow air circulation. Add baby food, oatmeal, cornmeal or brewer's yeast into the container and mix. Close the lid and keep for three to five days; you will find worms all over the surface of the culture medium.
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Grow mosquito larvae. Take a rectangular container and fill it with dirty water. Alternatively, fill with normal water and allow stagnation. For best results, place the containers close to the ground; better still, keep this close to a pond. Mosquito larvae will start growing in three to four days time and appear like wriggling organisms on the surface of the stagnant water.
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Cultivate fruit flies. Take a plastic container and make holes in it. Place a bit or two of meat or fish inside and put the container out in the garden under a shady tree. Within hours, flies will enter the container and lay their eggs. Check the container in a few days time for the presence of larvae.
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Tips & Warnings
Add liquid vitamins into the culture medium while growing microworms; the vitamins will pass on to the fish too.
While cultivating fruit flies, avoid using maggots from the fishing store. These have chemicals, which can be passed on to your fish, leading to adverse effects.
