Feeding Axelrodia riesei

[dinosauricon]

Hey all,

I just got a bunch of 10 Axelrodia riesei from GC. And they're really small as they usually are when you get them from stores. The thing is I'm not sure what the optimal food for them is. I have microworm cultures which are exploding. And the less-than-stellar grindal worm culture (so I haven't been feeding them to the fishes yet)

The thing is, the microworms get distributed in the filter current and then slowly settle on the gravel and get eaten by the cories. So any suggestions on what i could feed them.

[stormhawk]

I feed mine on pellets, but being small like most LFS stock in the initial stage, powdered food might be best. Have you tried micro pellets/BBS/Moina yet? Feeding tiny live foods like microworms means you have to turn off the filter for awhile, say 2-3 mins so that the fish have time to snap up their food.

[Shi Xuan]

For tiny mouths, you can go for more readily available fish foods like Hikari micropellets or even first bites, which is a form of powdered food, more for less picky fry like livebearers. I have tried the latter for quite some time with Boraras sp. and they ate it, more or less.

Alternatively, you can grind up fish pellets into powder, which can be fed with a spatula instead of your finger. Powdered food tends to settle and remain on the water surface, because it's lighter than water, spreading throughout the water column only when the water surface is disturbed.