Live Marine feeders

[VLR3]

I got a couple frogfish a while ago and have been feeding them frozen silversides and frozen krill but sometimes they won’t take frozen so I’ll grab some freshwater minnows or ghost shrimp. Is there anywhere I can order live marine feeder fish or shrimp that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg for shipping? I don’t want to pay $80 to ship $35 worth of fish.

 

[ichthyogeek]

I assume that you're living somewhere far away from saltwater, but if not, you could always look for saltwater baitfish at baitshops for fishing.

You could also look into converting guppies and mollies to saltwater and breed them. There's also Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis, but I'm not sure if they breed as prolifically as guppies and mollies.

Check with your local saltwater club, sometimes a member will be breeding fish, and you can get their culls for a relatively cheap price.

You could also just...buy damselfish or other relatively cheap fish depending on what's cheap in your area. I can get damselfish really cheaply ($7) where I am, but prices change based off of location.

 

[Peace River]

What part of the country are you in? In addition to LFSs, there are options on eBay, SprucePets, etc. If you are in Antioch FL then a trip to the coast to catch your own or get some from a bait shop may be an option. Good luck and let us know what you find!

 

[User1]

I assume that you're living somewhere far away from saltwater, but if not, you could always look for saltwater baitfish at baitshops for fishing.

You could also look into converting guppies and mollies to saltwater and breed them. There's also Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis, but I'm not sure if they breed as prolifically as guppies and mollies.

Check with your local saltwater club, sometimes a member will be breeding fish, and you can get their culls for a relatively cheap price.

You could also just...buy damselfish or other relatively cheap fish depending on what's cheap in your area. I can get damselfish really cheaply ($7) where I am, but prices change based off of location.

The guppy and molly is a good option and I've heard it done. The only concern I'd have, and I have nothing to back this up, is longevity of health due to them being native to fresh vs. salt. Not sure if there is any nutrition deltas if that makes sense. I really don't know but would be the only thing I could think of.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

The guppy and molly is a good option and I've heard it done. The only concern I'd have, and I have nothing to back this up, is longevity of health due to them being native to fresh vs. salt. Not sure if there is any nutrition deltas if that makes sense. I really don't know but would be the only thing I could think of.

They're brackish water, I wouldnt think it would be too much of a detriment. Especially if they are fully converted to saltwater I would assume the concern would be excess of freshwater in their bodies. Complete assumption though, and I've always heard of people cycling their tanks with them and then getting predatory fish to feed on them.

 

[VLR3]

What part of the country are you in? In addition to LFSs, there are options on eBay, SprucePets, etc. If you are in Antioch FL then a trip to the coast to catch your own or get some from a bait shop may be an option. Good luck and let us know what you find!

I’m in northern CA, about an hour from SF

 

[ichthyogeek]

Sounds like you’re in the Stanford area, or Berkeley. Infinite Aquarium(Santa Clara) can hook you up with some good mollies, or cheap damsels probably. And if you can use a boat, you could probably catch your own fish, as long as they’re not delta smelt (super endangered), and properly quarantine them. There’s also probably some sort of saltwater bait shop; check with the fishermen where they’re getting their bait, and see if you can use it.

 

[ThePurple12]

You can get ghost shrimp for 50 cents each at petco/petsmart. Not saltwater, but they'll just get eaten anyway. I used them to train my seahorses onto frozen.