Live Foods For Killifish

There are a variety of foods that can be cultured and collected for killifish. Some foods that are collected can not easily be cultured, while others are cultured and seldom if ever collected from the wild. One of the advantages of cultured food is you can "gut load" it with highly nutritions things your fish would never eat. This simulates what fish would be getting in the guts of insects, packed full of phytochemicals we refer to in the trade as "color food": xanthocyanins, carotenes and many others. Insects get them from eating leaves, flowers of pollen and this can be simulated to some extent by feeding micro-particulate (use a blender) beet or carrot.

Image of Daphnia
collected

From a clean pond.

Never collect foods from a pond with fish - you run the very high risk of introducing disease. A clean forest pool can be a tremendous asset and provide food nearly all year round.


Image of White Worms
cultured

Grow your own

Brine shrimp
A=and related species
A long time favorite
Plantlike protist
Wingless fruit flies
"Scuds"
The best food for fry
Similar to daphnia
Instead of BBS
Many different kinds

Besides the obvious economic advantage, live food that you grow yourself are the safest and cleanest, and it is entirel conceivable to feed your fish soley on what you culture yourself.