"Life Begins with Live Food"
We
specialize in information on live food for tropical and native fishes, frogs, newts,
salamanders, birds and small herps, supplying live food, along with starters, kits and
supplies for growing your own.
Do
you have a finicky critter that doesn't seem to want to eat? You might have a picky Betta,
or perhaps you are trying to induce a group of Apistogramma to spawn. Are your
Dart Frogs not spawning? Did that salamander spawn and you don't know what to do? Do you
want to add variety to your herps diet? Do you need worms, grubs and flies for your newts?
Whether you are you new to the live food culture game, a research facility or an
experienced and advanced hobbyist, whatever your situation, we would appreciate the
opportunity to help you.
Live
in an apartment in Manahattan? No problem. We have spent significant time developing tools
to grow small cultures in close quarters.(including fruit fly cultures, Grindal Worms and
Vinegar Eels among others).
Panicking
about that science fair project? No problem. We love to work with students and
parents...even at the last minute.
Live
food cultures are not our only interest. Every since he was a little guy, Jim's parents
let him bring home the local wild life...lizards, toads, frogs, birds and salamanders.
Most of us settle on a genus or two...it's fish for Jim. We are primarily fish geeks...and
we do witness a large number of spawns each year, but we also work with a significant and
wide variety of fish (livebearers, Bettas, Killifish, Corydoras and
more) over the course of the season. We also keep newts and frogs to help us with hands on
experiences in feeding.
Because
of our unique approach, we are able to gain a wide variety of experiences regarding the
appropriate application of live foods. Our core foods for fish have been Grindal worms, whiteworms, vinegar eels and microworms but we have had some
stellar response by using fruit flies, flour beetles and paramecium
(among others).
Some
animals need live food simply for survival. But it's the conditioning for spawning and
breeding and the survival of the young where the application of live food cultures can
have it's largest impact on all species.
Fish
such as Killifish can produce more eggs when conditioned on live foods, upwards of 50%
more in some of our semi-scientific studies (if you see Jim walking around town with
yellow fingers you know he's been doing one of his imfamous egg counting sessions again).
Some fry (like Apistrogramma or other Cichlids for example) seem to be attracted
by the motion of live foods. We have found that some fish like Corydoras do well
on worms and that their fry take an early likely to microworms and Grindal worms. Other animals, especially those F0 and wild
caught individuals may not recognize anything other than live as a food at all.
We
have put together a food comparison chart for fish. But if
you are a little overwhelmed and confused by the choices of live foods and if the fish
chart doesn't help you and you have questions about the applicable live foods for your
situation you can either email us or call
us.
Always
feel free to contact us with questions
about live food cultures or live foods in general and how you might be able to improve
your chances of success by using them.
"We Grow Food...Not Bait!" |
