Live Feed and Aquarium Critters: Cardina Shrimp, Assorted Snails, Vinegar Eels (price list follows, in Short Description)
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SHRIMP ($1.00/each): The mix might include the red cherry, red crystal, yellow variety, a transparent type of caridina and a dark speckled, wild type variety (which could be an interesting breeding experiment). The shrimp seem to change color depending on their surroundings and feed. They came as a mix to me from an online order off Aquabid.
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RAMSHORN and POND SNAILS ($0.50/each) : the blues were acquired from the aquabid auction: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/closed.cgi?view_closed_item&fwsnails1416503540 and the others were carried in on the plants from another auction. If you have poultry and want to save on crushed eggshell or grits, you might consider starting a culture of these. They reproduce quickly, dehydrate well, and provide a cheap source of protein and calcium for your birds. For those with ornamental birds, you can dehydrate the snails, crush them and feed them as you would grit or oyster shell.
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Meal Worm starter beetles (adult beetles, $1.00/each).
An adult beetle can lay hundreds of eggs. Skip the wait on jump starting your meal worm colony. Prepare a meal worm home as suggested by many of the online DIY meal worm farm sites online. Line an enclosure with rolled oats, cut an apple/carrot/potato into pieces and place in the enclosure with the beetles and they are off and laying. Here is a quick reference site describing how to raise meal worms: http://www.wikihow.com/Raise-Mealworms.
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VINEGAR EELS ($1.00/ounce)
Vinegar eels make an excellent beginning food for fry that have small mouths. Vinegar eels are smaller than baby brine shrimp, reaching a maximum size of 1/16th of an inch or about 2 mm. They are free swimming and stay alive in the water column for a while, which reduces water fouling. They are also VERY easy to maintain, only requiring room temperature (60-85 degrees) and that you keep their vinegar to water ratio within limits by topping off their container with water to replace the evaporated water every now and again. They do not seem to be particularly light sensitive, but they do require access to oxygen so do not place them in a sealed container. Note that they do not need an air bubbler, just an open container.
Some tips I would like to add regarding vinegar eel care:
1) Divide up your culture when you get it. Put half of the eels into another container of apple cider vinegar/water mixture with a dash of sugar. I only recommend this because if one of the cultures crashes (cat knocks it over, you bump into it and it spills, etc.) you will have another container remaining to save the day. Though eels are harvestable, I would recommend letting them sit some to build up and allow for additional containers to be created. You might consider placing the eel cultures in different places to help minimize the risk of a culture crash either by environmental conditions or simply by them getting knocked over.
2) Invest in some micro coffee strainers. The keurig type, plastic, reusable, fine mesh filters. I find that these work well to sift out vinegar eels. The filter can be swished in water and the water with eels dumped into the tank for fry feeding. Easier then monkeying around with paper filters that fall apart when you use them or pipettes. The methods to harvest eels are numerous and YouTube lists a good number of ways. (One of the less publicized methods involves creating a centrifuge with a salad spinner; with the eel's body's being heavier they settle towards the bottom of the spinning containers in the fuge').
3) For viewing the eels I have found that keeping a flashlight nearby is handy. To view eels, shine the flashlight at an angle from the rear of their container. This will back light and make them visible.
4) Place a piece of cheese cloth or paper towel and secure it over the lid of your vinegar eel containers. This will keep out dust particles, insects and other gross things that can foul the vinegar eel culture.
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RAMSHORN and POND SNAILS ($0.50/each) : the blues were acquired from the aquabid auction: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/closed.cgi?view_closed_item&fwsnails1416503540 and the others were carried in on the plants from another auction. If you have poultry and want to save on crushed eggshell or grits, you might consider starting a culture of these. They reproduce quickly, dehydrate well, and provide a cheap source of protein and calcium for your birds. For those with ornamental birds, you can dehydrate the snails, crush them and feed them as you would grit or oyster shell.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meal Worm starter beetles (adult beetles, $1.00/each).
An adult beetle can lay hundreds of eggs. Skip the wait on jump starting your meal worm colony. Prepare a meal worm home as suggested by many of the online DIY meal worm farm sites online. Line an enclosure with rolled oats, cut an apple/carrot/potato into pieces and place in the enclosure with the beetles and they are off and laying. Here is a quick reference site describing how to raise meal worms: http://www.wikihow.com/Raise-Mealworms.
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VINEGAR EELS ($1.00/ounce)
Vinegar eels make an excellent beginning food for fry that have small mouths. Vinegar eels are smaller than baby brine shrimp, reaching a maximum size of 1/16th of an inch or about 2 mm. They are free swimming and stay alive in the water column for a while, which reduces water fouling. They are also VERY easy to maintain, only requiring room temperature (60-85 degrees) and that you keep their vinegar to water ratio within limits by topping off their container with water to replace the evaporated water every now and again. They do not seem to be particularly light sensitive, but they do require access to oxygen so do not place them in a sealed container. Note that they do not need an air bubbler, just an open container.
Some tips I would like to add regarding vinegar eel care:
1) Divide up your culture when you get it. Put half of the eels into another container of apple cider vinegar/water mixture with a dash of sugar. I only recommend this because if one of the cultures crashes (cat knocks it over, you bump into it and it spills, etc.) you will have another container remaining to save the day. Though eels are harvestable, I would recommend letting them sit some to build up and allow for additional containers to be created. You might consider placing the eel cultures in different places to help minimize the risk of a culture crash either by environmental conditions or simply by them getting knocked over.
2) Invest in some micro coffee strainers. The keurig type, plastic, reusable, fine mesh filters. I find that these work well to sift out vinegar eels. The filter can be swished in water and the water with eels dumped into the tank for fry feeding. Easier then monkeying around with paper filters that fall apart when you use them or pipettes. The methods to harvest eels are numerous and YouTube lists a good number of ways. (One of the less publicized methods involves creating a centrifuge with a salad spinner; with the eel's body's being heavier they settle towards the bottom of the spinning containers in the fuge').
3) For viewing the eels I have found that keeping a flashlight nearby is handy. To view eels, shine the flashlight at an angle from the rear of their container. This will back light and make them visible.
4) Place a piece of cheese cloth or paper towel and secure it over the lid of your vinegar eel containers. This will keep out dust particles, insects and other gross things that can foul the vinegar eel culture.