Freeze dried worms dangers?

[DISCUS USA]

been a while since I've posted ,kinda remember the answer to this question from my years back in the hobby but can I get honest non politically sponsor driven answer on just this....

can discus get sick from frozen worms such as bloodworms or frozen black worms ? either from parasites somehow still able to survive somehow or bacteria or another way im not aware of ?

[brewmaster15]

Frozen and freeze dried arent the same thing Hector. MANY things can survive freezing..some bacterias, some parasite eggs, virus for ex.

Freeze Drying is a different process where not only are they flash frozen but all the water is pulled out of cells..its unlikely much can survive that except possibly spores.


You should also really consider where the food comes from prior to freezing or freeze drying. Blackworms are farmed and fed commercial diets and the environmental factors are controlled. Blood worms and tubifex are collected from marsh land where they are exposed to any number of pathogens, as well as heavy metals and pollution.

[bluelagoon]

This guy seems to think they're ok. I've also been feeding freeze dried mostly and some frozen bloodworms for years with no adverse effects. There were once a lot cheaper than blackworms and that was the reason I used then over the other. But now bloodworms are not cheap anymore. A natural source of high protein and other nutrients for wild fish too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJpB...dayFishkeeping

[brewmaster15]

Here is a real old thread on the forum.

https://forum.simplydiscus.com/showt...-sterilization

I have to admit that when Hikari started marketing their frozen bloodworms as being "triple sterilized" I was momentarily relieved thinking thats great.. then the realization sank in as I wondered what exactly are they sterilizing that would prompt them to incure extra processing costs to sterilize? Hmmmmm

[Charlyc11]

I been giving Hikari frozen bloodworms to my fish every day combined with some tetra granules and Repashy ( 2 types for community plus and soilent green) the zebras and cories love that. The occasionally give black worms in the 125 community tank. The 75 gallon community gets the freeze dried black worms every day and tetra ganuals. I don't know if that's a good diet but they seem to be ok with it.

[DISCUS USA]

Blood worms and tubifex are collected from marsh land where they are exposed to any number of pathogens, as well as heavy metals and pollution.

Hey Brewmaster
omg live tubifex horrible flashbacks .. thanks for the detailed info . question popped in my head didn't want google it cause where else but here to get the best answer ����������������

[DISCUS USA]

sorry costs went up,, inflation 👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽

[Willie]

Speaking from my own experience, I would absolutely stay away from live black worms.

[jwcarlson]

Speaking from my own experience, I would absolutely stay away from live black worms.

I see this a lot. I have no intention on feeding these to my discus, but I have been thinking about getting some of these to culture for other fish. What's the concern? Parasites? I know I hear a ton about leaches, are leaches something that's difficult to separate from the worms?

[Willie]

Live black worms work great in that they can pack on weight and induce adults to spawn. In fact, we have a few local fish stores that sell mated discus pairs by heavy feeding with live black worms. The problem with black worms is their heavy bacterial load. After a few month of feeding, a large number of fish will develop a grayish cast and cloudy eyes. I've never been able to cure them of this disease. A couple of local breeders here do the same thing. The freeze dried version of black worms do not have this problem, but they don't stimulate spawning any more than other high protein foods.

So back to the fish stores. They usually shut down in 18 months after lots of customer complaints. The same thing happens to the local breeders. They stop selling fry after 18 months.

[jwcarlson]

Interesting, thanks for the insight, Willie! I always appreciate it!