catching my own feeders from pond

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Fire Eel
MFK Member
Feb 19, 2009
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Kaneohe
i know theres a 90%+ chance the guppys/tetras i catch in the wild are contaminated but is there a way to catch them and quaranteen them before feeding to my carnivores? main reasons are the cost of feeders are rediculous (5 for 4 dollars now!! WTF). and so i get feeder mollys instead which are around 10 for 3 bucks. but they die within the week from being incredibly weak fish. and i dont get to make use of them cause they almost always die of fungal diseases.

any1 who knows if its possible to safely feed wild feeders to my stock?
 
thats what I was thinking...
I have more dang mollies than I know what to do with in a community tank. Once you have a few big females breeding, every 40 days youll have 100+more.

Just set up a small breeding tank for them. as for the fungus thing mine dont seem any more prone to it than any other fish.

I'll gladly give ya the first 150 mollies to start your new feeder farm.
LOL

All I wanted was 2 or 3 in the tank.... I put the adult male in his own fishbowl.... when the babies are big enough to sex I'll separate all the males out from the fems.

I probably need something that eats guppies.
 
ive gone to a creek and have caught 100+ minnows but it would take a lot of time to catch enough feeders to have enough. especially if you have big cichlids
 
id opt for the breeding much safer option
 
You can figure out pretty easily if breeding will work for you for feeders. Just take how many feeders per week you feed and what size they need to be for a decent feeding. And then find out how long it takes the breeders to spawn and amount of fry. And calculate it out and see if it is worth it or not. ---------------For me to have 20 2'' convicts to feed every week. I had to have 3 tanks for adults/breeding and 4 tanks to grow out the fry. I cycled the fry from one tank to the next, when the next batch was ready to go in. ----------Ok long story short it will never be worth it if you have large predators that you are trying to feed.--------------Just catch your own and quarintine them for 2-3 weeks and watch for any signs of disease. And if you think they may have a fungus or parisite then treat them for that. ---------------What I do is buy minnows from the bait shop, like for fishing. Locally I get them for 14 bucks a pound. And thats 28-30 dozen 2-3 inch minnows. I allways treat them for parasites and fungus for 2 weeks and then feed. I have 2 feeders tanks set up. 1 tank to feed out of and 1 for new feeders. I have no problems keeping those 360 minnows alive and well in a 55g tank. And i have around 500 or so on hand at all times. There easy to keep. No heaters just good amount of fitration and large bio filter.
 
You could breed convicts for feeders, some people are against it, alot of people do it.

Its easy, cheap, and fast. They breed like rabbits.
 
[enjoyable_attempt];2870661; said:
You could breed convicts for feeders, some people are against it, alot of people do it.

Its easy, cheap, and fast. They breed like rabbits.
Click to expand...
Thats what I do with great sucess
 
yea convicts
 
hybridtheoryd16;2872689; said:
yea convicts
Click to expand...


hmm... since they breed so fast - and im just wondering right now - could you shoal convicts like piranhas and watch them eat other fish n stuff? or are they not of that nature? are they one of the species with sharp teeth or are they no teeth?

i barely have room for 2 more tanks >.> whats the minimum size i can cluster these feeders in? do fish in-breed? or do they need non-related fish so they dont come out with deformities (like humans & incest)?
 
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