# Frozen vs Live Bloodworms



## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

the breeder I got my CRS from suggested I feed Frozen Bloodworms.
my LPS also has Fresh Live bloodworms.
if I use a dish to keep the live worms out of my substrate,
what reasons would Frozen still be preferred.
just because they are not moving?
are there more additives or appetite stimulants added?

I googled around and found most of these answered elsewhere;
_since the food cubes are larger than 15 shrimp will eat,
can I cut a frozen cube before serving it,
should I defrost it first before cutting and serving.
is one brand of frozen bloodworms better than another?
I'm kinda new at this obviously, having relied on dry food only.
I actually have freeze DRIED bloodworms, and the CRS were disinterested,
so I'm a bit skeptical frozen or fresh will matter much.
does any vendor ship them cheaper in the winter time?
are blackworms bloodworms? or they two different things._


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## Gordon C. Snelling (Jun 20, 2007)

I would love to be able to get live true blood worms. I always like using a variety of live foods when I can.I have found a case where what the LFS is calling live blood worms to be anything other than blackworms. Nothing wrong with frozen though.


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

yeah, i went to the local LPS and bloodworms are really blackworms.
they had a non Hikari bloodworm, but after reading a lot of forums,
I'm holding out for that brand. there is an ebaY seller who sends it
regular priorty, not $25 overnight like most sellers, so I may risk it
on 8-16oz next week. if the pack defrosts a bit and gets refrozen,
does that somehow ruin it, or since it's vacuum sealed it'll be fine.

what is the difference between;

BioPure = http://cgi.ebay.com/BLOOD-WORMS-FLAT-8-OZ-/290495966470

UVX = http://cgi.ebay.com/BLOOD-WORMS-FLAT-16-oz-/290495966474

beside packaging and portioning... anyone know?
and which would be best for CRS.


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## Lizzz (Nov 28, 2010)

I prefer frozen. With live food, you run the risk of infecting your tank. I used to regularly buy live blackworms, and even some brine shrimp from time to time, until my angels came down with a mysterious parasite. I thought nothing of relating it to the food until I lost a betta, and various tetra, all in different tanks. I hadn't introduced new fish or plants for as long as I could remember, and decided that the worms must have brought the parasite in. As far as I know my LFS stocks cultured worms (as apposed to some places that just grab them straight out of a mucky pond...) and after much conversation with them, they admitted that they probably did have a parasite, and suggested that if my fish were 'sensitive' to switch to frozen.

As far as your choices of a flat pack, or the push out cubes, i prefer the cubes. The flat pack is much harder to break up into portions. My petco sells both of these kinds, have you tried checking there? They're in with the frozen rats :/


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## Franco (Jun 25, 2010)

Hey, buying them frozen is more pleasant than freezing the mice and rats yourself. Every time you open the freezer, the paper bag is shivering. : (

Any of the frozen ones will work fine. I thaw a pushout cube in a little plastic salad dressing cup and then refreeze what I don't use.

Thawing and refreezing them makes them turn to mush. Just buy them at the store.


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

*sigh* if only I could... just my luck I'm walking distance between 3 LPS
one is a livebearer commercial chain, and the others are Asian ma&pa stores,
but all they sell are discus and cichlids, so planted tank keepers are fk'd

Update: one of the Asian stores has 3.5oz $4 and 16oz $12 so I may walk over.


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

live CA blackworms are okay. just don't overfeed. It does introduce planaria though. Plates are'nt going to hold them in either. they will burry themselves in the substrate and once introduced, you wont be able to get them all out.

bloodworms are filled with phosphates. I'd rinse them a several times before I feed. I don't think different brands are too different.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

i used to feed bloodworms but its really hard... i cut up the worm and held it in long tweezers until my shrimp became interested... then they tore it up. so unless you got a mass of hungry crs i recommend frozen.


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

yippee  I finally caught a CRS eating lightly blanched spinach.
they cut little discs out of the edge, and spin it as they munch.
now I have to remember to steal a leaf every time I food shop.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

that's good. you know what i like to do when i used to feed blanched veges? get a zuchinni aka italian squash and a vegetable peeler.
cut off the ends and use the vegetable peeler to make perfect disks (0.5mm-1mm thick), freeze the disks and when you need to feed, take out the disks you want and blanch in the microwave!
to microwave, take a small bowl with some water enough to cover the vege and then microwave for 5-20 seconds depending on how big the vege is or how soft you want it.


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

more good news... _sorry I can't focus my P&S camera_.
my CRS are spending up to 5 minutes at a time eating
Freeze DRIED Bloodworms (even food that is years old)
so I'm hopeful they and my crabs will be happy when I give
them a taste of frozen foods next week. I'm just relieved
I won't have to put any live worms in this tank. I don't
mind live swimming stuff like Daphnia or Brine Shrimp, but
there is no way I'm leaving live worms to my clay substrate.


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## aquarliam (Dec 26, 2010)

live worms are really black worms, since bloodworms are actually fly larvae. my shrimp dont eat live blackworms, i tried it once


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

^? actually there are tubifex bloodworms.... they're different. i don't know, my cherries at little pieces of live bloodworms.


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## aquarliam (Dec 26, 2010)

Tubifex are not blood worms... In fact, tubifex are SEWAGE worms. Think about that next time you feed them to your shrimp, haha.

Seriously though, tubifex are found in sewers and sewage ditches. It seems to be where they thrive, and I'm not comfortable putting them into my tanks since they'll survive in the substrate


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## Gordon C. Snelling (Jun 20, 2007)

Nothing wrong with tubifex provided you clean them properly. I certainly would have no qualms with having a breeding population in my tanks and worms raised in tank would be as clean as any blackworms you buy if not cleaner. My biggest concern would be that the worms living in the substrate would raise the tanks bio load and if the tank crashed they would be a source of pollution when they died.


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## rich815 (Jun 27, 2007)

CA black worms are neither bloodworms nor tubifex (though many LFS actually get them in from their suppliers labeled tubifex and sell them as tubifex 90% of the time they are CA blackworms, at least around the SF bay area). I feed my fish Hikari frozen bloodworms (they seem a higher quality than the other brands with less empty casings, and also are "encapsulated" in vitamins), dried blackworms and live blackworms. My discus and tetras seems to like them all but live ones are the favorite by far. Do they introduce planaria? Maybe. But I got news, if you got live plants you already have planaria in your tank, and if you see planaria frequently or in numbers on the glass you are feeding too much. My amanos love all three of the worms but especially go nutso for the live black worms.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

sorry my bad... but i get tubifex from my lfs and compared to the online photos... they are tubifex.


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