Live foods

[c_scherer123]

I am looking for more live food ideas. I am forbidden any more air pumps or lights; and no more tanks inside. Summer here is short and only 5-6 months are snow-free.

I am already planning to start:
banana worm cultures
microworm cultures
vinegar eel cultures
grindal worm cultures
white worm cultures

I also heard that leaving a 4-5 day old micro worm culture open outside can attach flies and I can obtain maggots that way.

Mosquito larvae in a 5g bucket are easy.

Some "safe" bugs/worms I can identify - like cabbage butterfly caterpillars in my garden (no pesticides used).

I heard fish eggs are a great treat for fish (for fishers and those who know some)

Any other ideas?
Fish flake is expensive where I live ($20 for 1 lb) and I am too far off the beaten track for cheap shipping.


Questions:
Is it possible to freeze the foods listed above?
Is there any way to dry the foods - preferably without electricity?

Anyone know how Marine fish will react to such foods?

 

[mtownshend]

With the restraints you have placed on your self, you have dramatically limited the scope of what you can raise. I think that you are well aware of this, since the foods you mention can be raised from a culture without the electricity. Although you may need to look into the temperatures that the worms need to be raised. If you can maintain the temperature requirements, you will have eluded another electricity need.

If you are going to raise these foods, It is going to be a respectable investment in time and money to acquire the cultures and the supplies and the time to raise them into a colony. I purchased the one book I am aware of... "Culturing Live Foods" by Michael Hellweg. I found that by using the methods in the book I was able to raise a lot of the foods mentioned. I found a bit of solice in knowing that I had a hard copy of a procedure to follow. If you operate using Google, you will find many conflicting methods. I have found that his logic and approach to raising live food to be sound and highly sucessful. I refer to the book all the time and the small fee to buy this book will provide you with all the info you need available at arms length.

I have raised Grindal, white and black worms as well as adult brine shrimp using only his advice (even the culture supplier instructions are put aside to keep the consistancy that the author applies to raising live food.

I hope that I was persuasive enough. I have no ties to this book or any supplier. I am a hobbyist as most all of us here are and I can say that I have failed many times raising live food, until I started to use this book.

I get my cultures from:
LFS CULTURES
http://www.lfscultures.com/
lfscultures@hotmail.com

I was a bit leary of using them because the ordering process is not secure. You have to email your info to the above address.

After a half dozen orders, I am comfortable with the ordering and their cultures. I do not think that better cultures are available and they have very reasonable rates. Lots of info to help you pick your first culture is there as well.
Once you order the first culture, you will get paperwork that lists all that they supply, descriptions and uses.
I can say that I have settled on this supplier after ordering from other sites, the cultures were just not that good and the prices were greater. They also sell their own kits to raise each food. So if you were to skip the book I mentioned, i would suggest getting their kits and following their instructions.

While it is always good to see all the various ways there are to raise lives food, you still need to adhere to one method. Hybrid DIY kits are never as sucessful as sticking with one set of instructions.

Good Luck!