creek minnows for feeders

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peter predtank

Piranha
MFK Member
Jun 22, 2015
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peterborough ontario
hi,
ok so i have some arowana and peacock bass small 5 to 7 inch type deal. i feed crickets and pellets mostly also have dew worms and frozen sea food ,squid and shell fish mix.
the bass take the pellets and have on one occasion taken a bit of squid tenticals .
but they dont feed with the same intensity as the arowanas unless i feed live fish.
so after buying a few rosy reds i decided to get a minnow trap ,i have a fishing licence and im allowed to catch bait fish with it. so figured gotta be cheaper and better to feed then rosy reds or gold fish.

so i started doing this about a week ago .the minnows are in a ten gallon tank that has a cycled filter
there doing great and havent lost a single one and they all look very healthy and are feeding well on pellets and flakes.

so to my question ... i have already fed a few to the bass they love them and one minnow fills them up real good. even had one of the arowana grab one up.

but today as i was watching the minnows feed i notice one of them has something protruding from its underside im assuming its anus.
its not moving or wiggling or anything and actually looks rather stiff like a horn or something but i havent touched it to see lol.

can anyone confirm what this is is it a worm ? and if so will my fish get infected also by feeding them minnows with this problem ?

i would think the minnows would be better then the rosies ? and surly the big bass in the wild must eat fish with parisites and they still grow huge and look healthy

can someone offer advice please thanks..

20150709_161254.jpg
 
A large percentage of fish in nature have parasites, and carry pathogenic bacteria, and they do die from them, or because they are compromised, become easy prey for predators.
But because they are not confined to a small area, the parasites are not as apt to multiply in epidemic proportions.
In the small confines of an aquarium, parasites, and bacteria have an easy time multiplying out of control and quickly infecting all residents.
Below is a video I took in a cenote in Mexico, although many fish are healthy, you can see a good portion have any number of afflictions.
 
awesome video, i cant wait till they are big enough to just take frozen smelt and what have you ... from my fingers hopefully then i will probably only feed live for a rare treat
 
A large percentage of fish in nature have parasites, and carry pathogenic bacteria, and they do die from them, or because they are compromised, become easy prey for predators.
Very true,.

I've seen studies where they have found parasite and bacterial infection rates of 40-70%. It's so high that it's almost a certainty that a tank will be constantly re-infected if wild fish are routinely used as food.

Just imo not the way to go,
 
Have you thought about breeding those minnows? I don't know what breeding minnows entails but I'm sure it's not too difficult. If you had some healthy fish you could control their enviroment, diet, blah blah blah and get them to breed which would get you healthy fish to feed to your arrowana and bass
 
Flush that 1 down the toilet...;)[/QUOTE

Dont! If anything kill it and flush it. Fish have been known to live for years in ones septic system. Just imagine that poor fish suffering every time you flush a log down the toilet haha.
 
ok well thanks for all the replies. im now rather convinced its not a good idea.
is it possible to deworm our fish not feeders, but our pet fish.
if it was suspected they were infected with internal worms can we treat for them, like we would do for other parasites and diseases ?
 
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