Jmty
Members
does anyone raise crickets for fish.how you do it?
dogofwar
CCA Members
I grab the stray cricket that I find hopping around the basement and feed it to my fish but never tried to culture them.
Try red wigglers
Matt
Try red wigglers
Matt
ddavila06
Members
They are very dirty..buy some at super pets, they r cheap enough to buy as needed. I feed mine after putting the im the freezer for a few minutes.
Jmty
Members
used to trap then in the yard but Mr cold is here and no more crickets.
Becca
Members
Jose, you don't want to deal with crickets, trust me.
First - many people (maybe most) are allergic to some combination of crickets and the various microorganisms/molds/etc. that come with them.
Second - they smell heinous. Even if you keep them clean, they reek. And good luck keeping them clean without ending up with loudly chirping escapees in your house.
Third - They are noisy.
Fourth - They escape and are then noisy and you can't get rid of them.
To actually breed/culture them you'd need some sort of substrate because they lay their eggs in the dirt. Young crickets take a bit of time to grow into adult crickets and, in cramped conditions, the adults may snack on them along the way.
You're much better off with meal worms. The beetles are edible, easy to raise, and breed readily. The cultures are easier to keep and smell better - just some corn cob bedding and cereal in a bin. Plus, you can feed the worms to your fish, too.
First - many people (maybe most) are allergic to some combination of crickets and the various microorganisms/molds/etc. that come with them.
Second - they smell heinous. Even if you keep them clean, they reek. And good luck keeping them clean without ending up with loudly chirping escapees in your house.
Third - They are noisy.
Fourth - They escape and are then noisy and you can't get rid of them.
To actually breed/culture them you'd need some sort of substrate because they lay their eggs in the dirt. Young crickets take a bit of time to grow into adult crickets and, in cramped conditions, the adults may snack on them along the way.
You're much better off with meal worms. The beetles are edible, easy to raise, and breed readily. The cultures are easier to keep and smell better - just some corn cob bedding and cereal in a bin. Plus, you can feed the worms to your fish, too.
chriscoli
Administrator
Try red wigglers
Matt
+1
I'm very allergic to crickets and I can't stand the smell of them (and I'm ok with a LOT of weird smells after working in the lab for most of my career). I tried to culture them once and it was a horrible mess.
Acpape0
Members
Buy them by 500 ($15-19) or 1000 ( around $25) and freeze them .... Best way to deal with crickets ....I'll treat the arowana with a few live ones when I restock but you really have to watch for escapees
Ps there is risk involved with catching you own with pesticides and herbicides they may have came into contact with
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Ps there is risk involved with catching you own with pesticides and herbicides they may have came into contact with
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You can volunteer at the National Zoo in the Amazonia area and get involved in their cricket culturing. It is as Becca says.
At the zoo they use 75 gallon aquariums with the egg crate thingies that eggs come in as the structure for the crickets to hind in. They build a structure about half as high as the tank with the egg crates and half as wide as the tank. Then place small shallow containers of food and water in the open space. Also in the open space are a couple of container of soil, potting soil I think. After a week these containers of soil are moved to a dark closet until the young start to hatch. THe young are raised separately for a while as many of them are fed to animals that need much smaller than adult crickets. The culture containers are cleaned about once each week or two. One of the not loved jobs at the zoo. But it produces a lot of crickets to feed a lot of interesting animals.
At the zoo they use 75 gallon aquariums with the egg crate thingies that eggs come in as the structure for the crickets to hind in. They build a structure about half as high as the tank with the egg crates and half as wide as the tank. Then place small shallow containers of food and water in the open space. Also in the open space are a couple of container of soil, potting soil I think. After a week these containers of soil are moved to a dark closet until the young start to hatch. THe young are raised separately for a while as many of them are fed to animals that need much smaller than adult crickets. The culture containers are cleaned about once each week or two. One of the not loved jobs at the zoo. But it produces a lot of crickets to feed a lot of interesting animals.
Jmty
Members
Thanks guys you had convinced me of not doing it,freezing sound like good alternative since my fish enjoy then so much.
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