# Easiest Live food to culture/keep



## EmeraldAlkaline (Feb 24, 2017)

Hey guys. So I am looking into getting some scarlet badis, and I have a good population of pond snails in all my tanks, and I heard that those along with frozen food would probably suffice for them, but just to be safe I'm looking into possibly setting up some sort of DIY way to sustain live food, since no stores around me have such. Ive looked at things like grindal worms, daphnia, brine shrimp, etc. That being said, what is the easiest live food to get set up and have them reproducing so I can have a supply of food for my Badis? And if so, any tips on how to set it up or good guides? 

Not NECESSARY, but if you can, i'd prefer to stay away from things like the grindal worms. they... kinda creep me out and I would have to keep this in my room or outside if anything could stand that


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## cooledwhip (Apr 3, 2016)

I'm interested in knowing this as well.


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## Enano (Sep 19, 2014)

EmeraldAlkaline said:


> Hey guys. So I am looking into getting some scarlet badis, and I have a good population of pond snails in all my tanks, and I heard that those along with frozen food would probably suffice for them, but just to be safe I'm looking into possibly setting up some sort of DIY way to sustain live food, since no stores around me have such. Ive looked at things like grindal worms, daphnia, brine shrimp, etc. That being said, what is the easiest live food to get set up and have them reproducing so I can have a supply of food for my Badis? And if so, any tips on how to set it up or good guides?
> 
> 
> 
> Not NECESSARY, but if you can, i'd prefer to stay away from things like the grindal worms. they... kinda creep me out and I would have to keep this in my room or outside if anything could stand that




I use microworms heavily. Easily gut loaded and maintained with just some bakers yeast. I add paprika which is an excellent source of Astaxanthin. 2 small betta containers grow enough to feed my 75. You can harvest lightly scraping the sides with q-tips or heavily with a wetted coffee filter (spoon them from off the top). 
Fresh cultures smell yeasty which doesn't bother me. Older ones get a little sour so I use a piece of carbon impregnated filter to keep the smell down. 
My friend gave me some harlequin rasboras when he got out of the hobby to supplement my existing school and I could tell the difference for months because of how much redder mine were. 
Even my 4" rainbows loved them so not just for small fish either


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## ryry2012 (May 30, 2015)

I have Microworms and Gridal worms. MW are not as creepy as GW. The problem of MW is, it gets smelly if you keep them in oatmeal. 

Grindals are easy to keep and fish love them. My Dario Dario was eating them. I use coco fiber for the GW culture, so it doesn't smell like MW culture. Although they are creepy, you will get used to it. Believe me, there are much creepier live foods out there...


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Set up a shrimp tank (or any filtered tank without fish) and let copepods, ostracods, etc. naturally multiply in that tank. Easiest live foods to culture


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## EmeraldAlkaline (Feb 24, 2017)

ryry2012 said:


> I have Microworms and Gridal worms. MW are not as creepy as GW. The problem of MW is, it gets smelly if you keep them in oatmeal.
> 
> Grindals are easy to keep and fish love them. My Dario Dario was eating them. I use coco fiber for the GW culture, so it doesn't smell like MW culture. Although they are creepy, you will get used to it. Believe me, there are much creepier live foods out there...


Yeah, im kinda coming to terms that grindals are the best bet due to not smelling and being easy to set up. So you just get like, a small container, fill it say, half way with coco fiber, make it damp, then add a grindal worm starter culture and food? what can you feed the little hellions? I heard you can use dog food??? 

Also might seem like a noob question, but how exactly do you get them out for feeding to fish? dropper? Tweezers?


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## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

I feed them cat food. To get them out you put a small piece of glass, say 4"x 4" over them. The worms cling to the glass. Harvest them from there. Check YouTube. Plenty of videos there on how it's done.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


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## EmeraldAlkaline (Feb 24, 2017)

jrill said:


> I feed them cat food. To get them out you put a small piece of glass, say 4"x 4" over them. The worms cling to the glass. Harvest them from there. Check YouTube. Plenty of videos there on how it's done.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


Oh okay. would like... a petri dish work? and I always have the glass on or just when I want to harvest them? I don't have a cat so I assume dog food is just as good, haha.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Yep, crushed up dog food works well. 

I've been feeding mine with leftover crumbs in the bottom of the dog food bag for a few years. Little bit goes a long way.



EmeraldAlkaline said:


> Oh okay. would like... a petri dish work? and I always have the glass on or just when I want to harvest them? I don't have a cat so I assume dog food is just as good, haha.


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## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

Petri dish would​ work. Leave it on all the time.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


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## ryry2012 (May 30, 2015)

I keep GW in container with 1 inch of damped (with tap water) coco fiber. It's better to microwave the fiber a bit before using. Don't leave the container outside or near shoe rack. Mine got mites when I left them under shoe rack. They come from out of nowhere... 
What I feed them is kibble (cat food). I soak it in tap water for one hour before feeding.

I feed CPD, Chili Rasbora and betta. They go crazy.


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## BigMek (Dec 6, 2016)

Here's some ideas for you in video format.

Micro or Banana Worms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kkQS6XgG00

Brine shrimp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2BKVhFgpVU

Daphnia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbzm1kzX1kA

I'm a fan of daphnia because they will stay alive indefinitely in your tank, so they won't foul the water and your fish can hunt them all day long. I've found that copepods don't proliferate as fast as daphnia and my fish won't eat ostracods (seed shrimp) so I steer clear of those. I haven't actually tried brine shrimp or worms so I don't have any feedback on them.


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## Stacy1 (Dec 15, 2016)

+1 for the grindals. I keep grindals, microworms, and bbs. Grindals are by far the easiest, least mess, work, and smell of the three. Small fry cant eat the grindals though so if you're going to be breeding you may want to keep a smaller culture of micro or banana worms


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## MartinWill1989 (Nov 20, 2020)

jrill said:


> I feed them cat food. To get them out you put a small piece of glass, say 4"x 4" over them. The worms cling to the glass. Harvest them from there. Check YouTube. Plenty of videos there on how it's done.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


Thanks for the advice! It's just brilliant, I'm surprised I haven't even heard of it before. I will definitely try and write how well everything went.


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