Mosquito Larvae?

[DJW]

The last time I grew mosquito larvae I ended up with four different kinds of little worms in the tanks. They are harmless even though I don't like seeing them... but it made me wonder how they got there.

I used tank water from a water change in buckets, threw in some spinach and a handful of hay, then put the buckets under the porch. A few weeks later, the easiest live food there is.

There are ponds and irrigation ditches very nearby, and I think lots of flying insects, like mosquitoes, that lay eggs in water might carry the eggs of other critters on, or in, their bodies to my buckets. And that could be a way for parasites to get into the tanks. I'm not sure.

A question for those that grow mosquito larvae: have you had anything like this happen? Is it biologically possible or likely for this to be a vector for parasites?

[LizStreithorst]

I love mosquito larvae for my fish. I grow them as well. The only other worms I saw in my cultures were a few blood worms. I felt comfortable because they developed in my own container.

I have had no problems to date feeding either live blackworms or my home grown wild foods. It might happen one day but in all my years of Discus keeping my only problems have come from getting infected fish from sellers who I found out the hard way were unethical

[DJW]

Liz I saw the disaster that happened to you, Cryptobia if I remember it right, and I agree the most likely way to bring something like that into the fish room is with new fish. People who have suffered such a setback become very careful about where they get fish, and use longer and more stringent quarantine afterwards.

When I was a kid in the sixties I used to go with my grandfather to different places around San Francisco and collect live food for his fish. He was a breeder of angels and was always trying to breed his discus. It wasn't long before everybody in the hobby realized that was a bad idea. Until recently I figured that if you grow live food in a more controlled environment then parasites won't have a way to enter. Now I wonder about what the mosquitoes are up to. They were born in wild water, after all.

It works for you..... maybe I'll take the risk until I have too much to lose. I don't have any trouble getting fish to spawn, I tinker with the water for that. So its not like the live food is a necessity, I just like seeing the spunk and the greed at feeding time.

[LizStreithorst]

It has worked well for me so far and I've kept Discus since 2001. It's just my personal experience. I don't suggest for a minute that others follow my lead. All live foods carry a risk.

[Second Hand Pat]

Dan, you might consider live red wigglers. They are not aquatic worms so no concern with introducing parasites.
Pat

[Pardal]

Also white worms work well as long as you refresh your culture every couple of months.
Julian

[Exasperatus2002]

I feed live mosquito larvae to my fish and they act like a school of piranha feeding when they hit the water. I leave a 5 gallon tank in the yard for the mosquitos to lay in and use a brine shrimp net to harvest them. My rummy nosed tetras shine bright when they're joining the discus on the hunt.

[Filip]

Soon my LFS would start to sell fresh frozen white mosquito larvae, don't know which brand name yet.

Are they considered unsafe food like frozen bloodworms or frozen tubifex are ?
I have seen many pics and videos on net with wild discus eating this white worms, but I want to hear your thoughts and oppinions on this .

[DJW]

I think I will try the white worms. From what I have read, you can grow them in a fridge set to its highest temperature. They are smaller than red wigglers, which means they would be good for smaller fish as well as discus.

There might be a way to fiddle with the thermostat on one of those small refrigerators, to get the optimum temperature for the worms.

If I lived in a place where fish habitat, and the parasites that go with the fish, was a mile away from the house the mosquito larvae would be safer I think. There is a stream right here at the house with trout and dace in it. I flood the fields around the house with water from the stream, and the mosquitoes come from the puddles. I don't want to be a scaredy-cat about it, but I really hate having sick fish

[mcrracer]

Dan, you might consider live red wigglers. They are not aquatic worms so no concern with introducing parasites.
Pat

What is a good source for these red wigglers?

[papasmurf]

I have bought red wigglers from "Uncle Jim's Worm Farm"....started at the first of the year and they are still going strong in the garage so far even with the summer heat. You need to harvest the smallest ones most of the time as the discus have a hard time with the mature worms sometimes unless you cut them up first. White worms are another good option but are probably higher in fat. I keep mine in a styro cooler and place frozen water bottles in there every couple of days. The bottle condenses as the water inside melts and the runoff cools the substrate the worms grow in. Setting up a refrigerator just for the worms was too much trouble in my case and I did not want them in my food refrigerator.

[Second Hand Pat]

What is a good source for these red wigglers?

I have bought red wigglers from "Uncle Jim's Worm Farm"....started at the first of the year and they are still going strong in the garage so far even with the summer heat. You need to harvest the smallest ones most of the time as the discus have a hard time with the mature worms sometimes unless you cut them up first. White worms are another good option but are probably higher in fat. I keep mine in a styro cooler and place frozen water bottles in there every couple of days. The bottle condenses as the water inside melts and the runoff cools the substrate the worms grow in. Setting up a refrigerator just for the worms was too much trouble in my case and I did not want them in my food refrigerator.

I get mine from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm also. You can harvest tiny red wigglers to feed smaller fish but harder to harvest then white worms.
Pat