why are FBW so bad?

[Second Hand Pat]

Who would have thought you would need to put the label TOXIC on fish food. I have feed FBW twice but never again.

[gsteve]

You would not believe how bad i reacted.... i have put uv lights in my furnace , bought a air purifier for the bedroom and have been chokin on allergy pills for 2 months. Wow. sj

[dawrtw]

I am so glad to see this post.
I went home for lunch today. Fed the fish a big chunk of FBW. Had not given them any for a while, thought it would be a nice treat. Washed my hands, (not like a Dr. would do, but I thought it was sufficient). Came back to work and was checking the new posts on here. Started reading this one. Noticed my eye was giving me a little irritation. One of the ladies in the office frantically asks OMG, what is wrong with your eye. They had swelled up and looked like I had burst a blood vein.

This all happened within 30 minutes of feeding bloodworms. I've been having lingering problems for months now. I have even been to the Dr. who was treating me for sinus problems. I have read every entry of this thread and it seems that they are all written about me.

Anybody want some bloodworms?
This answers a lot of questions for me.

[DiscusOnly]

Well holy ... smokes... I would have never thought it was the BW either. I like to feed my guys by hand and never did much about washing my hands after. I have had night where my eyes were swollen almost shut and they were so gunked up in the morning i could barely open them. Throwing out BW as we speak. All BH and salmon from here on.

It tooks me week to figured it out. One of the worse reaction I got was from the Freeze Dried Hikari bloodworm. I must have gotten it on my keyboard. I was fine in the morning and had a 90 minutes drive to do a software demo. As I left the meeting and got on the elevator, I started sensing my lips and eyes starting to swell. I made a quick stop to CVS and got some Alavert to make the drive home. A lot of people don't realize that the alergic reaction develops over time.

I said if you can avoid using it, do so. It's just not worth the hassle. I have kids and have neighborhood kids that come around to watch the fish and the last thing I need is for one of them to have an alergic reaction.

[kaceyo]

I've been feeding FBW's daily since starting with discus and consider them to be a valuable part of my fishes diet. I've tried the off brands (non-Hikari brands) and was having trouble with internal diseases at that time but havn't since switching to hikari exclusivly.
Their protien level is comparable to blackworms when both are freeze dried. I would like to see a breakdown on the bio-availability of the protiens in FBW.
I don't worry about the exoskeleton as many fish eat insects, so I assume (ya, I know) that they have developed the means to digest or pass them. I think it may help keep them regular, and we all want regular discus, right!!! My fish don't seem to have any problem with them.

[rev2eight]

no allergies here and i feed them everyday amongst other things. Although, every packet of FBW ive seen have had a warning label about the possible allergic reaction. Perhaps the cube packs would be a better idea for those that want limited exposure to this stuff?

[gsteve]

I just googled it... very common. Not telling the wife as she thinks the work and hassle my discus are is nuts! But I love em. sj

[ZX10R]

I never touch mine by hand and I buy the cube packs Of Hikari. I keep a small cup in the sink when it is feeding time I pop a few cubes in the cup then dump that into the tank and rinse the cup for next use. That way I never come in contact with the cubes themselves.

[brewmaster15]

Close to 30% of the members here that have responded to Polls have experienced allergic reactions to frozen Bloodworms...and most that do, didn't have it at first, but acquired it thru use... I can't touch the them now, and can name many members here in the same boat.my eyes swell up, I get welts and I've had asthma reactions when I've been in a room where they have been heavily fed. Its a known issue in many aquaculture industries.

I honestly feel everyone has the potential to become allergic...and this is based on so many I know that had no allergy and now do....

-al

[Second Hand Pat]

For those of you who wish to continue to use FBW, consider using latex gloves when handling them. Damm glad the fishes are not allergic to FBW

[brewmaster15]

For those of you who wish to continue to use FBW, consider using latex gloves when handling them. Damm glad the fishes are not allergic to FBW

definitely and don't rely on washing your hands as protection...I did that once , only to rub my eye a few hours latter, and it swelled shut. Additionally, if the blood worms touch the tanks trim, that will still cause a reaction days and days latter... I went for about 6 months with welts on my arm at the elbow before I figured that out!

-al

[mikel]

"I also do not trust the Chinese /(Japanese whatever!) sterilization they claim.. if they use lead paint in baby products do you think they care what in your fish food?!"...

Wow, way to generalize more than 1.365 billion people, and the world's 2nd and 3rd largest economies in one single stroke.

[daveo]

I had no idea about the allergic reactions people could get from FBW. I use the Hikari brand all the time but am not to happy with the new packaged ones in the cube form. They seem to be fatter and and not the same.

I have allways washed my hands after using them do to the rotten smell, and try not to handle them at all.. (good thing I guess)

It might be time to head up to my butcher this weekend and get my PORKERT hand grinder out. By the way you can still get parts for these old work horses.

Daveo

[mikel]

Buy FD CBW from Al, and learn to make the BH/seafood mix (it's really easy and fun...if you dont like BH, then just the seafood mix). And you will never have to use blood worm again. I have not used it for 2 years now and my fish seem far happier and healthier. mike

[jimmyjoe]

Never had a problem with Frozen Blood Worms, have always washed my hand real good after feeding just because of the smell. Also have never had problems with the fish eating them, I also buy FBW from Hikari , I trust that product more than San Francisco Bay blood worms.........................JMO Jim in Ohio