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Feeding Darters

Started by Guest_exasperatus2002_* , Jan 12 2012 11:53 AM

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15 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_exasperatus2002_*

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Posted 12 January 2012 - 11:53 AM

I was just reading about darters from my states website and it made me wonder, does anyone ever go out & get native food stuffs for their darters? When I used to keep poison dart frogs & Melanophryniscus stelzneri, to supplement the pinhead crickets & fruit flies, I'd take a net & sweep it thru tall grass to get little critters for them.

Per the PA site pbfc

"Prey selection varies with the lifestage of the fish. Juvenile darters consume small crustaceans such as cladocerans, copepods and ostracods. Adults prefer chironomids (midge larvae), simulids (blackfly larvae), ephemeropterans (mayflies) and trichopterans (caddisflies). Large darter species such as the longhead darter may also eat amphipods (freshwater shrimp), isopods (sowbugs) and crayfish."

So does anyone ever go out & scrape the critters off the bottom of rocks in the streams to supplement your fishes diets?

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#2 littlen

NANFA Member

Washington, D.C.

Posted 12 January 2012 - 12:12 PM

I'm sure plenty of people do, especially during the summer months. I personally do not. There are plenty of food options available from your LFS, (Blackworms, bloodworms, adult brine shrimp, various pellets, flake foods, and freeze-dried inverts). I assume you're just asking in general? As opposed to seeing who keeps darters strictly on native foods?

Nick L.

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#3 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 12 January 2012 - 12:36 PM

I just give them earthworms from my leaf pile, often cut into bite-sized chunks. When slicing and dicing worms with a scalpel I feel like the Butcher of Alabama...

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#4 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 12 January 2012 - 01:03 PM

So does anyone ever go out & scrape the critters off the bottom of rocks in the streams to supplement your fishes diets?

I do. Anytime I go collecting, I take a small container and get scud and other larva out of the creek and bring them back to supplement my fishes diet. Also, I sometimes buy live brine shrimp from the LFS for them.

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#5 Guest_mywan_*

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Posted 12 January 2012 - 01:48 PM

When I was a kid I used to set out 5 gallon bucket with water to let mosquitoes breed in. Then after 2 days cover it with window screen. This insured all mosquitoes were within 2 days of the same age. Then 5 days later feed them to the fish. At higher summer temps mosquitoes can metamorphosis a lot faster. If any pupa, that look like large fat water fleas, show up it's time to feed the fish immediately.

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#6 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 12 January 2012 - 03:50 PM

I breed grindal worms to add a bit of fun to my fish's diet. They're alive and wiggling, and the fish love them. It's easy to breed them and fairly free-ish, so I like the grindal worms, too

http://gallery.nanfa...6-4/002_001.JPG
http://gallery.nanfa...2-4/004_001.JPG

Unlike a lot of the darters' wild foods, grindals won't hatch into a stinging flying insect, which would not be tolerated well by the roommate.

Edited by EricaWieser, 12 January 2012 - 03:52 PM.

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#7 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 12 January 2012 - 03:56 PM

I just give them earthworms from my leaf pile, often cut into bite-sized chunks. When slicing and dicing worms with a scalpel I feel like the Butcher of Alabama...

I cut a worm up recently for the first time in a long while and it was a mildly traumatizing experience. Even though my first blow was a clean cut severing its head from the rest of its body (I thought that would be the most humane), the whole thing and all of the little pieces writhed in pain regardless of how small and quickly I cut it. Doing that made me feel like an awful person. The rest of the red worms sit here in their container near the fishtank, untouched. I'm never doing that again if I can help it.

Edited by EricaWieser, 12 January 2012 - 03:56 PM.

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#8 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 12 January 2012 - 06:04 PM

I cut a worm up recently for the first time in a long while and it was a mildly traumatizing experience. Even though my first blow was a clean cut severing its head from the rest of its body (I thought that would be the most humane), the whole thing and all of the little pieces writhed in pain regardless of how small and quickly I cut it. Doing that made me feel like an awful person. The rest of the red worms sit here in their container near the fishtank, untouched. I'm never doing that again if I can help it.

oh gee....I cut up worms all the time. Whenever we have a rain and they are on my driveway, I always put them in my tank.

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#9 Guest_exasperatus2002_*

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Posted 13 January 2012 - 08:24 AM

I figured it'd be soming educational & fun for my daughter to do with me when it warms up enough. She'll be 5 in may. Already she digs around the shallows while fishing at the lake collecting empty clam shells & catching bugs. I've only had my darters for a week now but Im feeding earthworm flakefood (from yourfishstuff.com) in the morning & then a mix of frozen brine shrimp & bloodworms. They dont bother with the flake much if at all. Some peck at the b.s. but they all gorge on the bloodworms.

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#10 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 13 January 2012 - 08:34 AM

I figured it'd be soming educational & fun for my daughter to do with me when it warms up enough. She'll be 5 in may. Already she digs around the shallows while fishing at the lake collecting empty clam shells & catching bugs. I've only had my darters for a week now but Im feeding earthworm flakefood (from yourfishstuff.com) in the morning & then a mix of frozen brine shrimp & bloodworms. They dont bother with the flake much if at all. Some peck at the b.s. but they all gorge on the bloodworms.

I feed mine about any frozen food from Sally's brand; bloodworms, brine shrimp, plankton, beefheart, emerald entree, marine cuisine, etc... along with flakes for the shiners, sinking pellets, and peas.

I would like to start a scud culture in the garage and grow my own scud, but I've had trouble finding them recently.

Edited by jblaylock, 13 January 2012 - 08:34 AM.

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#11 Guest_exasperatus2002_*

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Posted 13 January 2012 - 09:54 AM

Can/would they eat scuds?

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#12 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 13 January 2012 - 11:56 AM

I figured it'd be soming educational & fun for my daughter to do with me when it warms up enough. She'll be 5 in may. Already she digs around the shallows while fishing at the lake collecting empty clam shells & catching bugs. I've only had my darters for a week now but Im feeding earthworm flakefood (from yourfishstuff.com) in the morning & then a mix of frozen brine shrimp & bloodworms. They dont bother with the flake much if at all. Some peck at the b.s. but they all gorge on the bloodworms.

Maybe mine eat the earthworm flakes cause they are HUNGRY... I only feed once a day (its related to work schedule and light schedule in the tank)...and once or twice a week they get skipped all together for the same reason. But I have 10 Brown Darters from the Florida Convention and that was 2 plus years ago, and they are in great color, so they must be doing OK.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

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#13 Guest_Ken_*

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Posted 13 January 2012 - 01:21 PM

I pick up rocks and branches etc. in the creeks to find many foods for my darters such as scuds, various larvae and snails. Besides these I feed my darters live blackworms, daphnia, mosquito larvae, fairy shrimp, green sailfin molly fry and redworms that I raise.
I also freeze many redworms and save them until the aquariums start to warm up to @ the high 40s. I'll then put them on a piece of plexiglass and save off thin slices with a single edge razor blade. Depending on which darters I am feeding I will then chop these up into smaller bits. I should clarify that I only put enough worms in a freezer bag so that when they freeze they are in a group @ the diameter and a few inches shorter than a paper towel tube. I do this for breeding purposes to insure the darters get as much protein as possible. The only frozen foods (other than redworms) I feed them are Hikari bloodworms and mysis shrimp.
The reason I feed so much variety is because I have quite a variety of darters of various sizes, I am working on breeding, and I have found that some variaties actually like some foods more than others.

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#14 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 13 January 2012 - 02:48 PM

Can/would they eat scuds?

Darters LOVE them..

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#15 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 13 January 2012 - 03:27 PM

I am working on breeding,

If you succeed, please take pictures and document what you did here on the forum. I tried to breed my darters, but without more than one tank it's difficult, as they aggressively eat fry.

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#16 Guest_Ken_*

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Posted 15 January 2012 - 05:48 PM

If you succeed, please take pictures and document what you did here on the forum. I tried to breed my darters, but without more than one tank it's difficult, as they aggressively eat fry.

Erica, I have had limited success at this point. I have bred and raised Johnny, Fantail, Banded, Christmas and Blackbanded fom egg to adults. The last three in very limited numbers. As for Johnny and Fantail, I raised so many I culled the vast majority and used them as food for my sunfish.
I set up my system differently this fall and if I get better results I am going to put all of my info in BAP so people can access it. I'm not using a single tank for any of my breeders/fry so if you want to know how to raise darters from egg to fry in the tank with the breeder's I'm not the person to ask. Keep in mind different darters have different requirements for spawning as do the food requirements for fry. If you have any specific questions regarding spawning or rearing fry I will try and help.