Can anyone tell me what I might be able to find at my local walmart that I could feed to rainbow darters and a brindled madtom?
darter/madtom food
Started by
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, Sep 12 2010 04:22 PM
6 replies to this topic
#2
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 12 September 2010 - 04:37 PM
Can anyone tell me what I might be able to find at my local walmart that I could feed to rainbow darters and a brindled madtom?
As I have not been in any branch office of the mentioned location for years (and not for the reasons you might think), I cannot directly answer your question, but the best thing you could find to start with is frozen brine shrimp or frozen blood worms... both are often sold in your local fish store...but not always advertised... in my local place they are in a large refrigerator looking freezer that has no advertising on it... the first time you might have to ask the employees.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#3
Guest_star5328_*
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Posted 12 September 2010 - 04:56 PM
Yea i know they'll definitely eat that, but my closest lfs is 30 miles away, and closed right now. How are the freeze dried blood worms and brine shrimp that come in a can at room temp? Doesn't seem good to me...plus i'd imagine it would float.
#4
Guest_Okiimiru_*
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Posted 12 September 2010 - 04:58 PM
Can anyone tell me what I might be able to find at my local walmart that I could feed to rainbow darters and a brindled madtom?
I've got orangethroat darters (Etheostoma spectabile). I'll list their reactions to the following foods:
Live bloodworms: The darters quickly swam forward and ate with enthusiasm.
Fish flakes: Ignored for the most part but occasionally snapped at if the flakes moved in the current. It's possible to wean darters onto flakes. They know from the reaction of the other fish that there is food being added to the aquarium, and they can smell it, but they don't mentally associate a sheet of dried dead stuff with food at first. It takes them a while. Some never learn.
Sinking vegetable based pellets, slow to dissolve: Ignored.
Sinking Wardley brand shrimp pellets: Possible to wean the darters onto them. Takes a week to three weeks. The Wardley pellets dissolve quickly and bits float in the current. The darters snap at those moving floating bits and eventually get the idea. I think the darters are more likely to eat meat based sinking pellets than vegetable based ones.
Live adult brine shrimp: Super happily eaten. Darters' favorite food.
Live aquarium plants: Ignored
Physa fontinalis snails: Eaten
Ramshorn snails: Small ones eaten. Bigger snails ignored.
Leeches: Eaten if no other food available. Ignored if the darters are bloated on brine shrimp or bloodworms.
Livebearer fry: Eaten if no other food or only flake food is available. Ignored if the darters are bloated on brine shrimp or bloodworms. Maybe.
Other darters: Not eaten.
Other fish: Not eaten.
Shrimp: Large shrimp ignored. Dead shrimp eaten. Small shrimp babies too small to be observed: probably eaten.
Stuff in your local Walmart that I haven't named: Aponogeton bulbs (not eaten), vacation betta food (not eaten), betta pellets (not eaten). I can't claim experience with those but I bet I'm right.
Stuff I'd try if I were unable to get anything else: diced raw shrimp (the kind you dunk in marinara sauce, found in the frozen seafood aisle of your local grocery store), diced raw clams (ditto the grocery store), small worms from a local bait store.
Edited by Okiimiru, 12 September 2010 - 05:03 PM.
#5
Guest_Okiimiru_*
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Posted 12 September 2010 - 05:04 PM
How are the freeze dried blood worms and brine shrimp that come in a can at room temp? Doesn't seem good to me...plus i'd imagine it would float.
The darters would probably eat those. They sink eventually.
Edited by Okiimiru, 12 September 2010 - 05:05 PM.
#6
Guest_Uland_*
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Posted 12 September 2010 - 05:05 PM
Frozen market shimp (the kind for human consumption) should work for both fish. A forum member some time back recommended using a cheese grater on shrimp that were still frozen. Works great for me but I'm araid I can't recall who to credit with that advice. Even though they'll eat frozen shrimp, long term you'll probably need to vary their diet a bit. The madtom should also take small sinking pellets.
#7
Michael Wolfe
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- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 12 September 2010 - 06:34 PM
Yea i know they'll definitely eat that, but my closest lfs is 30 miles away, and closed right now. How are the freeze dried blood worms and brine shrimp that come in a can at room temp? Doesn't seem good to me...plus i'd imagine it would float.
I'm guesing the madtom would eat them (or most anything else remember it is a catfish) once they sink to the bottom. The darters would probably eat them if you could get them in the flow of a powerhead or something. I wonder if you could soak then in a shotglass of tank water until the sank?
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
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