# Dried mosquito larvea for my bettas.



## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Well, so some of you guys know that I'm from a tropical country, where malaria is very dangerous! 
So the frozen method was eliminated cause I received an "ewww...!'' from mom and dad lol when they tried to find something in the fridge 
Well then I come to the second method: Drying the little larvea. I bought bunches of them from the LFS and got to the highest place of the building; used a net and poured the stuff into that. The larvea were traped into it and what I gotta do was stretch the net, posed the lil creatures under the tropical sun and wait... Of course I took some live one and offer the bettas...
But the question is... after the sun, will the larvea be able to provide my bettas enough nutritions? Will it be a reliable source of food for them? As well as other fish of mine...
Thanks for your reading and help...


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## drosera (Feb 2, 2005)

*Drying mosquito larvae*

I was hoping someone would answer you sooner, as I have little experience with this. But I thought it would be nice if someone answered you at all. 

Whenever food is not absolutely fresh, there is some loss of nutrients. However, I think dried mosquito larvae would be far more valuable than flakes, pellets, or freeze dried foods. They will however lose more nutrients as time goes by, so try to keep your batches small enough to last only a couple of months.

I would be more concerned about them going mouldy if they are not dried enough, or if they are kept in a damp place. Keep an eye out for that. And don't forget, as good as mosquito larvae are for fish, any mono-diet can have its' problem, so try to add other foods as well.

Hope that helps. Take care!

Chris


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Oh thanks  I'm wondering where my post has gone ha ha...
Well yeah, I'll try to make it dry out completely and switch food... rite? It's rite when someone say bettas won't accept flakes. 
Thanks for replying...


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Well, first feed the 2 bettas today. They seem to like them! Maybe I'll make some more and store...
About tupifex, should we do the same thing? What do you guys do to clean them, turn them to toxic-free food for your fish?
Thanks


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## drosera (Feb 2, 2005)

*Tubifex*

Here I think you will have more problems. First of all, the standard way to purge them is to leave them in clean water in the fridge. The water needs to be completely changed every day, for a week or so, I think. I'm sure your parents won't like that much!  Also, worms are made of a lot more water than insects, so when you dry them, their volume will decrease spectacularly. I wonder how interesting of a food they will make at that point. 

Not to say you shouldn't try it if you want. Just don't expect the same results.

Take care!

Chris


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Well... worth a try  ahhh what else do you feed your bettas? Tubifex are soooo dirty. If I can make a chane, it's better. And I soon must find the best solution cause I'll have mom and dad keep the 2 bettas


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