Live blackworms VS frozen/freeze dried

[lindad5038]

Compared to live blackworms, how do the other two stack up? I have been doing live BWs due to feeding issues. My guys will eat frozen but the frozen seems to have less red color to them.

[Phillydubs]

I could be wrong but I am sure freeze dried keeps the same components as the original.... Freezing I think they add water and water it down a bit...

What is your "feeding issue"

[Akili]

If they are red in color then they are bloodworms which is a midge larvae.

[John_Nicholson]

To catch everyone up she had some discus for a while and after a water change they all died. She cleaned up all of her equipment and then got 6 discus from me. For some reason she and one other person that got fish from me have had a hard time getting them settled in and eating. The odd thing is the fish at the house will eat you arm off. She has seen me feed them so we know they were healthy when they left. Her fish would not eat at all so I had her try an old trick. We wormed the fish. It was not that the fish had worms but a side affect seems to be that it shuts down the appetite for 48 hours or so but after that the fish tend to have much more appetite. It worked to the point that the fish are at least eating some but still not quite right. I am beginning to worry that her water might just be really crappy. I know she is doing everything that she can but positive results have been slow. The other person that is having trouble is a little different. He also bought I think 6 fish. @ are not really eating but the other are doing well. In the time frame mentioned I probably sold fish to 20+ people. None of the others that I have contacted are having any issues at all. This one has me scratching my head.

Now to the question at hand.....As you know I don't really like live blackworms. I only suggest them in a pinch. I would say buyng some freeze dried ones from Al would be the best long term approach.

-john

[Phillydubs]

Thanks for the background info John... That is really puzzling, must have you going crazy! What size are the fish? Are they showing any other ill effects besides the appetite?

At least she has you to lean on and help her... Is she aging her water or maybe overdosing a chemical such as prime?

With my new wilds, I have been breaking down cubes of the FDBW and letting them soak in some water for a little bit with some blood worms, then I dump a bit at a time in for them and it got them eating pretty quickly... Maybe you should try some of Al's worms and try something similar or soak in garlic or something else tasty to trigger the eating?

[John_Nicholson]

Yep this is a really weird one. She has tried just about everything with her water at one point or another so I am not entirely sure exactly where she is at right now. She got some 4 inch discus from me.

-john

[lindad5038]

Thanks, John, for updating for me. I have been very busy. I am using both sources of water from the R/O unit. I replaced my membrane 2 days ago and since then they are eating better. I only have one of the 6 still not eating, the others are eating very well the last few days. I feed them beefheart (from John) live blackworms (to get them to start eating) and OmegaOne color flakes. I am out of the blackworms, so not going to get anymore. I feed at least 3x day. Doing daily water changes ( I have had 2x doing every other day due to time restrictions. Turns out I bought bloodworms instead of blacks , but they eat them. BTW, their color is awesome!!

[nc0gnet0]

What temp is your tank at and what size are the little ones?

[lindad5038]

What temp is your tank at and what size are the little ones?

They are probably 4.5in and water temp is 84

[nc0gnet0]

try 86