Are blood worms ok for saltwater fish?

[Animal-Chin]

I feed my fish Mysis, brine, krill and plankton but have never done blood worms. Does anyone else?

[rishu_pepper]

Originally Posted by Animal-Chin

I feed my fish Mysis, brine, krill and plankton but have never done blood worms. Does anyone else?

I feed blood worms about twice a week. My copperband butterfly seems to be the biggest fan, and the others eat them up without complaining either.

[Piscez]

Originally Posted by rishu_pepper

I feed blood worms about twice a week. My copperband butterfly seems to be the biggest fan, and the others eat them up without complaining either.

Ditto

[Myka]

Nutritionally speaking, saltwater organisms generally have a more complex amino acid profile than freshwater organisms. Bloodworms are freshwater critters and our reefs are saltwater so on paper bloodworms aren't the best choice as a staple diet. Does it really matter? Probably not, unless bloodworms make up a significant portion of the diet.

I don't normally feed them, but they are in my freezer because I used to enjoy training Mandarins to eat frozen food and I found some (few) took to Bloodworms better than Brine.

[spit.fire]

Originally Posted by Myka

Nutritionally speaking, saltwater organisms generally have a more complex amino acid profile than freshwater organisms. Bloodworms are freshwater critters and our reefs are saltwater so on paper bloodworms aren't the best choice as a staple diet. Does it really matter? Probably not, unless bloodworms make up a significant portion of the diet.

I don't normally feed them, but they are in my freezer because I used to enjoy training Mandarins to eat frozen food and I found some (few) took to Bloodworms better than Brine.

mysis are freshwater

[George]

This may be a little off topic, but mysis shrimps that are being sold in the aquarium trade are not all the same species. Some brands mainly sell fresh water mysis (PE). Some are brackish/fresh water (hikari). Some are advertised as saltwater mysis.
FYI, if you want to train a fish to eat, instead of blood worms, you can try live black worms. The movements of live black worms attract some finicky eaters.

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by George

FYI, if you want to train a fish to eat, instead of blood worms, you can try live black worms. The movements of live black worms attract some finicky eaters.

Live blackworms also have this miraculous properly of keeping fish mad healthy. I've fattened up and maintained so many finicky and/or challenging fish using these worms that I could probably buy a new motorcycle with the savings. Honestly, if they weren't such a pain, I'd have them on hand all the time.

Attractive prey movement + Very strong nutritional profile = great tool for acclimatizing and maintaining new fish!

[Piscez]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

Live blackworms also have this miraculous properly of keeping fish mad healthy. I've fattened up and maintained so many finicky and/or challenging fish using these worms that I could probably buy a new motorcycle with the savings. Honestly, if they weren't such a pain, I'd have them on hand all the time.

Attractive prey movement + Very strong nutritional profile = great tool for acclimatizing and maintaining new fish!

Hey Albert where does one get these blackworms?

[gregzz4]

Black worms - blood worms ... same thing ? I don't know as back in my freshwater days they were known as 'worms', and they were live.

So are they the same, or are there 2 kinds ?

[Myka]

Blackworms are a really good trick to have up the sleeve. They can also help to trigger spawning activity in fish that need a bit of a tip over the edge. Locally, I order them through Petland. A 5" ball is $20. They usually come in with lots of leeches which have to be picked out. The last batch I ordered died in only a few days, so I didn't even get a chance to feed any to my fish, but usually they live a few weeks in the fridge.

Originally Posted by spit.fire

mysis are freshwater

Piscine Mysis are freshwater, certainly. Piscine is based in the Okanagan of BC. The Piscine Mysis are an exception in that they have an outstanding amino acid profile which is why I said, "Nutritionally speaking, saltwater organisms generally have a more complex amino acid profile than freshwater organisms."