Maggots (as fish-food)

[Andyroo]

Thinking a teaspoon of frozen~thawed chicken juice (blood) in a lid-punched takeaway container might be a good way to feed tetras & rainbows (et al). Thoughts?
Or would a bit of fruit be preferable, IE fruit-flies?
As they seek a pupation spot they climb up the side, making collection easy (in both cases, IME).

The juice/trash-flies we tend to get around here are tiny, as are their maggots. Bigger meat-chunks (dead toads) get the bigger flies & maggots, yes.

Note: I've never had a fish that likes black solider maggots, even mature jags & silveraro spit 'em out.

 

[tlindsey]

trash-flies

You'll probably have to rinse the stinky smell off.

 

[FJB]

Other than the stink, maggots are excellent food.
If one produces them (i.e., is certain that the toad, rat, meat, etc.) is not contaminated with poisons or pesticides, then they should be good. I have fed maggots to my fish before, but not in a long time. They were always relished! However, For some time now I have restarted growing red wiggle earthworms, which are a lot more pleasant to work with.

 

[jjohnwm]

Back in the day, when books borrowed from the library were my prime source of information, I recall reading that housefly maggots were referred to as "gentles" and were apparently sold for fish/reptile food and also fishing bait. Don't know if that is still a thing or not; maybe we can get some information pertinent to this millenium from a UK member?

 

[esoxlucius]

Save yourself a load of smelly hassle. Go to a fishing bait shop and buy plain white maggots which have already been gut cleaned in bran, i'm not sure about the coloured dyed ones. I'm a little out of touch with it now but back in the day it was said that some of the dyes were carcinogenic, maybe it's all changed now.

UK bait shops primarily sell bluebottle maggots which are a nicer size than the tiny housefly maggot. Maggots from fruitflies just seem a waste of time imo. They must be absolutely miniscule.

The best thing about maggots is that even when they turn into the chrysalis stage they are still a great food. Maggots will sink and the chrysalis (castors) will float, great for surface feeders.

 

[jjohnwm]

There ^ ya go!

Speaking of bait stores...in Ontario the larger bait stores used to sell "mousies", a slang name for the aquatic larval form of Drone Flies. They were squirmy little grey blobs, looking similar to maggots except for colour, and they had a long flexible tube sticking out the butt end which was used as a snorkel for breathing. They lived in the filthiest waters imaginable, which meant that they were tough as nails and could be kept alive for weeks in the fridge, and they were a terrific ice fishing bait and were also readily eaten by any appropriately-sized fish.

I haven't seen them offered for a while, but they're worth consideration if they are available to you.

 

[Andyroo]

Appreciated, have a peek at where I am though - buying fishing bait 's not an option unless I'm hunting marlin.
Compost'y-water can have some nifty stuff in it -varous wormy maggots, ostracods, annelids- but the production is slower & the smell's a negotiation. My thoughts on the magots is that they'd be modular per-generation/iteration, so can multiple several containers for two-per-week feeds. So long as there's not an overt issue vis a vis fish health then I'll get that ball rolling next week.
Rinsing is part of it, yes - gently spoon-scrape crawlies into a cup of water, replace water, replace water, replace water+++, pour all into tank.