Because bloodworms provide a high-protein diet that many fish species find enticing, they are a common choice for aquarium fish food. Maintaining the health and happiness of your fish depends on your ability to store and feed bloodworms correctly, regardless of experience level.
These tiny red larvae come in three different forms: live, frozen, and freeze-dried. To preserve their nutritional value, each form needs to be stored differently. You can make sure your fish get the most out of this nutrient-rich food source by handling bloodworms correctly.
While feeding bloodworms to fish may seem simple, there are a few important guidelines that will help ensure that your fish remain healthy and active. Let’s discuss how to give your aquatic pets bloodworms and how to store them.
| How to Store Bloodworms | How to Feed Fish with Bloodworms |
| Keep in the refrigerator in a small container with a lid | Thaw frozen bloodworms before feeding |
| Change the water daily to keep them fresh | Offer in small amounts to avoid overfeeding |
| Avoid direct sunlight and high temperatures | Use feeding tweezers for controlled feeding |
- Obtaining live bloodworms
- Types of bloodworms
- How to prepare bloodworms for fish?
- How to store bloodworms?
- Is bloodworm necessary in the diet of fish?
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Obtaining live bloodworms
It is regarded as a popular and readily available diet for aquarium fish (from live ones). It is not thought to be a difficult process, and it can be obtained at any time of the year (though it is more convenient to do so in the summer or autumn). Numerous techniques exist:
- Scooping out the upper silt layer with a bucket with a tied rope or a special ladle (a dredge on a long sliding stick), followed by thorough washing of the contents with a sieve or a bucket with a net.
- Using a special linen bag. Pieces of fish, meat, offal, pieces of foam rubber, a washcloth are placed there, thrown onto the bottom of the reservoir for several days: during this time, bloodworms collect there. It remains to pull out, clean and sort out.
- Having collected the sediment with bloodworms along with water and placed near the fire. From the heat, the bloodworms themselves float to the surface, it remains to collect them with a net.
Bloodworms prefer to gather in small depressions where the silt is softer rather than in an even layer throughout the entire bottom layer. The presence of larvae in the water may also be indicated by swarms of mosquitoes on the water’s surface. Bloodworms are found on the very surface of the ocean in warm weather, and they descend into deeper layers (up to 30 cm or more) when the temperature drops.
You will have to purchase bloodworms from a pet store or the market if you are unable to gather them yourself.
Types of bloodworms
Bloodworms can be classified into several types based on their habitat and size:
| Large (bait) | It is mined on an industrial scale in freshwater swamps, lakes containing a large amount of organic waste. |
| Small Ural | Also the main habitat is in fresh water bodies. |
| River small | Concentrates in fresh water near large industrial discharges, livestock complexes, etc. p. |
| Southern estuary | More often accumulates at the bottom of salt estuaries in the south of Ukraine and Russia with large amounts of organic waste. |
Estuarine bloodworms range widely in size (1–7 mm) and are frequently too light, occasionally resembling carrots in color. They are also distinguished by a thick chitinous covering that reduces the larvae’s nutritional value.
Aquarists more often use the small bloodworm, which is regarded as food, as live food. Additionally, even though it is used to feed large populations in reservoirs, fishermen find that the larger one works better as bait.
How to prepare bloodworms for fish?
For feeding purposes, only premium bloodworms that are a deep red color with a distinct gloss and no strange, rotten odor are chosen. Additionally, the bloodworms need to be mobile; they should move and curl up when touched.
The bloodworms, whether purchased or caught on their own, should be thoroughly cleaned under the tap and kept in water (in the refrigerator) for three to five days, with periodic water changes. This is required to ensure that any potential toxins or other poisonous substances that could harm the fish’s body are removed from the bloodworms’ intestines.
Before feeding, the larvae should be treated with antibiotics (such as kanamycin) to prevent tuberculosis or disinfected with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or methylene blue. However, some aquarists have adapted to keeping bloodworms in lactic acid environments (bifidok, kefir) because they are afraid to use strong drugs. Another popular method is to wash in a 5% table salt solution for ten minutes to disinfect.
Bloodworms prefer boiled or settled water; they dislike chlorinated water, which could kill them.
How to store bloodworms?
While storing frozen bloodworms, there are no questions, but there are some tricks to keeping them alive. It is best kept in the refrigerator between 4 and 10 degrees. Bloodworms unquestionably require access to oxygen and a humid atmosphere that doesn’t dry out.
Different techniques are chosen based on the length of storage:
| For short-term storage (up to a day) | It is enough to dry the bloodworms for 15-20 minutes in the open air, scattering them in a thin layer on paper, then pour them into a box with holes (made of any material), covered with a slightly damp cloth. |
| Up to five days | Everything is the same, only it is better to choose a box made of either foam or wood. Storage is also practiced in large fruits, tubers (zucchini, potatoes), from which the core is removed. How a humidifier is added to a sleep, spilled with starch so as not to stick together. |
| Within a week | It is well stored in the form of a "pie": the bloodworm is wrapped in a piece of damp burlap mixed with pieces of paper, used tea, covered with damp paper on top. Several layers are made in this way, covering the top with the second half of the burlap. Every 2-3 days the fabric is washed. |
| Up to two weeks | Usually a nylon stocking is used, placed in water (which is changed every 2-3 days) or a drain tank (if the water is chlorine-free). It is also stored in a regular glass jar between layers of snow. From time to time the melt water is drained and a new portion of snow is added. |
| Up to 2 months | It is well stored with the onset of cold weather in a simple bucket of water (possibly with silt) on the balcony, preventing freezing. |
| More than three months | Only freezing after sorting into boxes, bags or other means. |
Don’t forget to periodically sort the bloodworms during storage to get rid of any dead ones (you can’t feed them dead bloodworms because the fish could get poisoned). You will need to discard the larvae if you detect any strange or rotten odors.
Storing and sorting sluggish, non-viable bloodworms is made a lot easier by using specialized bloodworm boxes. Not only can they be used as food when they are still alive, but they can also be dried or frozen and still have their health benefits for up to six months.
It is preferable to use ice molds with small cells. Before freezing, remove any debris, white, or dead individuals from the entire mass. Rinse thoroughly and spread out in a thin layer.
In any case, freezing bloodworms will "kill" any bacteria present and sanitize the food.
You can maintain the health and vitality of your aquarium fish by feeding them in portion-controlled amounts and storing them in a cool environment. Handling bloodworms carefully is necessary to keep them fresh and nutrient-rich.
Is bloodworm necessary in the diet of fish?
With over 45% protein, nearly 20% carbs, over 10% fat in the dry matter, vitamins, and essential amino acids, bloodworms are regarded as a popular and all-purpose live food for nearly all varieties of aquarium fish. It has a nice flavor, but feeding it every day is not advised because of its high calorie content.
Hemoglobin-rich bloodworms boost fish immunity, particularly in the winter. Furthermore, the larvae become essential during the spawning period and the lead-up to it. Such food is especially necessary for growing fish, especially reddish fish (feeding bloodworms enhances coloring).
Overindulging in mosquito larvae food can cause your pets to become obese.
It should be remembered that some fish, particularly those captured in the wild, have weak stomachs and occasionally cannot handle the digestion of large amounts of this food.
The health and happiness of the fish in your aquarium can be significantly affected by the proper feeding and storage of bloodworms. You can make sure your fish get the nutrition they require without overcrowding the tank by keeping bloodworms fresh and giving them sparingly.
Bloodworms should always be handled carefully, whether they are used live, frozen, or freeze-dried. Every form has advantages of its own, so pick the one that best suits your routine and your fish.
Bloodworms can add significant value to your fish’s diet and encourage vivid colors and lively behavior if you handle them properly.
