Sterilizing live food???

catfishgrrl · Post by **catfishgrrl** » 22 Jun 2005, 21:46

Hello.
I have a planter outside that was empty and rain water has been collecting in it.
I was about to clean it out (I don't want a mosquito swarm) and thought my fish would probably enjoy the treat.
Is there anything I should/could do to make them "safe" for the fish to eat?
I know there can be problems associated to feeding live foods/foods that are alive. Up til now, I've only fed them various commericalized frozen foods.
Thanks in advance...
Steph

Post by **Silurus** » 22 Jun 2005, 21:48

If you're not living in a highly industrialized area, there shouldn't be any need for sterilization.

catfishgrrl · Post by **catfishgrrl** » 22 Jun 2005, 22:27

Coolbeans!
Thanks.

natefrog · Post by **natefrog** » 23 Jun 2005, 04:28

Sterilization wouldn't really do anything to most harmful industrial chemicals anyhow. The need for sterilization generally occurs when their is a parasitic lifecycle that has more than one host. It is unlikley for this to occur in a small isolated bucket of water, it mostly happens when live food is raised in unnatural, super-saturated conditions, or wild-harvested food sources in stagnant or polluted waters.

If it were me, I'd feed them the larvae without a second thought. I feed garden-dug earthworms, pond or stream caught invertebrates (excluding snails), and any random bug whose unfortunate fate it is to find my hand.