live food for africans?

Isn't feeding live bait a way of introducing bacteria etc into the tank.
Seems like the cons outway the pros? Fish can thrive on dried food so why
mess with what works? I put new fish in an isolation tank before risking
exposing my big tank to disease. Why throw live food in? Just wondering?

In article ,
says...
In article ,
(Zimm44) wrote:

I know that Africans of Lake Malawi should eat a diet of predominantly
alga or
vegetable based food to avoid bloat. My question is whether anyone has
suggestions or advice on feeding blood worms and other live foods to
them as a
supplement/conditioning food? Any advice? I just bought some frozen
blood
worms. My frontosas in the other tank love them. Are they good for
Mbuna?


I thought this was an interesting debate until I saw the BBC/Someone* Wild
Africa program "Lakes and Rivers" which showed the Midge hatch over Lake
Malawi. Quick pan to under water - everything with fins going frantic
eating the blood worm pupae as they rose to the surface. Various
Pseudotropheus & Labeotrophues in there with the rest.

I've also seen a Scientific article on stomach content analysis of wild
caught Mbuna, lots of Algae, but lots of insect larvae too. The author
suspected that the insect larvae were picked up with the algae, rather
than separate from it.

So nature says it's OK. The mistake people make is Cichlid = Carnivore so
meaty diet, whereas for the Mbuna have a mostly vegetable diet. Nothing
wrong with adding a few bloodworm etc though.

* Something was a US co. might have been Discovery Channel

Roger Sleet
Roger's Aquatic Pages http://www.sleet.plus.com

In article ,
(Bchbound) wrote:

Isn't feeding live bait a way of introducing bacteria etc into the
tank. Seems like the cons outway the pros? Fish can thrive on dried
food so why mess with what works? I put new fish in an isolation tank
before risking exposing my big tank to disease. Why throw live food in?
Just wondering?

Breathing near the tank is a way of introducing bacteria.

You only deed to worry about obligate pathogens. So long as the live food
doesn't come from anywhere that contains live fish, it can contain no
obligate fish pathogens. Having said that I occasionally remove midge
larvae from the Koi pond to give to my tropicals, so far without dire
effects.

Roger Sleet
Roger's Aquatic Pages http://www.sleet.plus.com

"Bchbound" wrote in message
...
Isn't feeding live bait a way of introducing bacteria etc into the
tank.
Seems like the cons outway the pros? Fish can thrive on dried food so
why
mess with what works? I put new fish in an isolation tank before
risking
exposing my big tank to disease. Why throw live food in? Just
wondering?

Yes, in many live foods the risk of parasites can be higher than with
many of the other options. These days the only live food I use with any
regularity is Blackworms I get from California. I order a pound at a
time and keep them in a dedicated refridgerator (my kid left his little
one behind).

Here is a link to a site where you can read up on it:

http://www.aquaticfoods.com/worms.html

I am not affiliated with this site.



In article ,
says...
In article ,

(Zimm44) wrote:

I know that Africans of Lake Malawi should eat a diet of
predominantly
alga or
vegetable based food to avoid bloat. My question is whether anyone
has
suggestions or advice on feeding blood worms and other live foods
to
them as a
supplement/conditioning food? Any advice? I just bought some
frozen
blood
worms. My frontosas in the other tank love them. Are they good for
Mbuna?


I thought this was an interesting debate until I saw the
BBC/Someone* Wild
Africa program "Lakes and Rivers" which showed the Midge hatch over
Lake
Malawi. Quick pan to under water - everything with fins going
frantic
eating the blood worm pupae as they rose to the surface. Various
Pseudotropheus & Labeotrophues in there with the rest.

I've also seen a Scientific article on stomach content analysis of
wild
caught Mbuna, lots of Algae, but lots of insect larvae too. The
author
suspected that the insect larvae were picked up with the algae,
rather
than separate from it.

So nature says it's OK. The mistake people make is Cichlid =
Carnivore so
meaty diet, whereas for the Mbuna have a mostly vegetable diet.
Nothing
wrong with adding a few bloodworm etc though.

* Something was a US co. might have been Discovery Channel

Roger Sleet
Roger's Aquatic Pages http://www.sleet.plus.com