My neighbor's fennel bush is weighed down with aphids. It hasn't been sprayed because he knows I eat it frequently and he's a nice guy. Anyway, they are the tiny green aphids that ladybugs love to eat. Can I feed them to my angelfish, etc.?
Aphids a safe fish food?
- Thread starter knifegill
- Start date
I wouldn't do it, mostly due to their exposure to any possible contaminant, even if there was no direct spraying
From an organic garden, aphids (genus: Aphis) make great food for aquarium fish. Small plant branches and leaves can be shaken over a container to collect the aphids. A few will fly away but many will be wingless and of varying sizes and will fall into the container in a big pile suitable for feeding as live food. Or, they can be frozen in little aphid ice cubes for later use. Either way, smaller fish will enjoy them and the aphids will help in conditioning the fish for spawning. And, of course, there's the added bonus of reducing the number of damaging little leaf-suckers from your garden.
Go for it. People are to picky with the whole" it might have been sprayed with ferts/pesticides" stuff. I've always fed whatever I've found outside and were covered on all 4 sides by fields. Unless you know they sprayed right on this certain plant then don't, but otherwise go for it.
If you want a steady supply of tiny insects to feed your fish you can always breed wingless/flightless fruit flies.They're extremely easy to keep and breed.