Catching Live Food From Ponds
by Jerold Hustafa,
SouthWestern Michigan Aquarium Society Jr.; from SWAM, May/June 1989 Issue
Aquarticles
Once you have decided to collect live food, the first thing you must do is find a pond
that contains the food you are after. You should look for a fairly small pond that is
partly stagnant, but not polluted, and contains very few or no fish. If the pond has firm
banks around it and the water deepens quickly, it will make your job of collecting a lot
easier. If you are not able to find a pond like this, tall boots should get you into deep
enough water to draw your net through.
After you have found a suitable pond, round up something with which to catch and
transport the food. To capture live foods you need a fine net. A woman’s nylon
stocking sewed to a six-inch by six-inch stiff wire frame, fastened to a long handle,
works excellent. The food can be carried in anything that holds water, as long as it is
clean and free of chemicals.
Now that you are ready to go, knowing what to look for may help keep you from getting
discouraged. The food organisms most often caught by aquarist are daphnia, mosquito
larvae, and glass worms.
Daphnia are small crustaceans averaging about the size of a pin head, or a little
larger. They are reddish-colored and swarm near banks of the pond, swimming in vertical,
jerky motions.
Mosquito larvae are probably the food eaten most by wild fish. They can be seen hanging
from the surface of the water in their third stage of development. They will wiggle down
to the bottom as soon as they are disturbed. The eggs of the mosquito are laid in groups
of 20 or 30, called “rafts”. If you find some, take them home and let them hatch
out in a jar or aquarium.
Glass worms are not worms, but larvae of a Chaoborus plumicornis fly. They
range in size from 1/8-inch to 3/4-inch, and swim horizontally in the water. The larvae
are glass clear except for their eyes and digestive tract.
In the course of catching these, you may also get some bosmine, blood worms, (another
fly larvae), and Cyclops. They also are alright to feed, but are somewhat rare.
Now you can get to the actual catching and feeding of the food. Capturing the food is
easy. Just take your net and draw it through the water. Trying different depths, sooner or
later, if there is anything in the pond, you should catch it.
When you have caught as much as you want, run the food through a series of nets. A
kitchen strainer that is not too fine will catch the leaves and other debris, and let the
food pass through. Then strain the food through two more progressively fine nets, one to
catch the larger food, and the other to get what is left. Now you can put the food into a
couple of small jars filled with fresh water. One can be used to feed your larger fish and
the other can be used to feed your small or baby fish. By putting the food in jars it is
easier to control the amount of food you want to put in each tank. The above is not
absolutely necessary if you do not wish to do all that, but if you bring the food home in
the pond water you should put them in fresh water before feeding.
If you have any food left over, you can keep them in a spare aquarium. They are best
kept cool (in the 60’s will do), and aerated if possible. If you do not have the room
to keep them alive you can freeze them in ice cube trays.
As a few last notes, watch out for large larvae and other water bugs. If in doubt, do
not feed. If your fish go crazy over live food and you do not mind the snow and cold, some
of this food can be caught through the ice in the winter.
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