Feeding wild live food to tropical fish

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Cyclop3000

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 22, 2005
448
1
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Quebec, Canada
Hey guys. I've had this doubt in my mind for a long time, figured i'd ask.

I have large fish (what would I do here otherwise LOL), lots of SA and some oddballs, including a Giant Mbu Puffer. Now obviously, food for those beasts is expensive, so i'm always on the lookout for opportunities.

I regularly feed market clams/squid/prawns/crab to my Mbu, but figured he might like a live meal once a blue moon. The last time I went fishing I caught some 3-4" crayfish in the river. The river's not the cleanest, like most rivers these days. The crayfish are now in my Gar tank, chilling and eating prawns. I'm reticent to feed the crayfish to my Mbu...afraid he'll ingest bad stuff the crayfish would have picked up in the river. But then he loves crayfish so much, and a larger sized crayfish in the fish store here is like 30$.

What do you guys think? Would you feed native live food to a fish like my Mbu? I love this darned fish, would hate to see anything happen to him. Anyways just looking for some opinions.

Thanks!
 
i feed native fathead minnows to my fish all the time. i think they are way healthier then feeders from stores, and if the crayfish has been chilling in a tank for a while, and you see no signs of diseas, go ahead and give your puffer a treat
 
Thanks for the replies. I fed my cichlids some large tadpoles from the same river and they enjoyed every bit of them. So I think i'll just give the crayfish some more time to settle then I might feed them to my Mbu.

Thanks again!
 
I'd lean more towards wild than something raised in a farm in max occupancy conditions for nothing more than quick profit...

For cheaper alternatives, check out a bait/fishing shop in your area... they are also mail-orderable. My lfs has eatin' size craws for $1.25 each... good thing the sports bar next door doesn't know...
 
As it's been pointed out - wild feeders are probably safer then store bought...and definetly more nutritious. I feed my fish all manner of wild caught stuff and not had a problem yet. I just visually inspect for obvious parasites and toss em in!

Elliot
 
Thanks guys for the replies! My puffer will be a happy camper with this crayfish ;)
 
every summer for the past 3 years when we go camping me and my cousin catch about 500 minnows each and itake some and she takes some and quarantine them just to make sure of heath and then feed them to our fish over the year (sometimes we even get a few babies in ther too) well anyways just as long as the fish are not diseased why not
 
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