Can Guppies Eat Bloodworms? (Is It Good For Our Guppies?)

There are varieties of live food present in the market that you can feed to your guppies. Bloodworms are one of the popular live food people like to offer to their fish. But are bloodworms good for our guppies? Can guppies eat bloodworms?. Let us find out.

Guppies can eat bloodworms. However, bloodworms contain high protein and fat and should not be a staple part of the guppy’s diet. Excessive bloodworms in a guppy diet will result in constipation. Instead, feed your guppies a small pinch of live, freeze-dried, or frozen bloodworm twice a week.

We will discuss how to feed bloodworms to our guppies and can guppy fry feed on bloodworms in this article. Also, we will discuss the best way of feeding bloodworms to our guppies. So, let us get into it.

Guppy fish ideal dietary requirements.

Guppy FoodServing QuantityNo of Times
Veggie pelletsOne pinch at a time2-3 times a day
Brine shrimpOne pinch at a time1-2 times a day
BloodwormOne pinch at a time1-2 times a day
Tubifex WormsOne pinch at a time1 time a week
Mosquito larvae10-15 pieces2-3 times a week
This table shows the ideal dietary requirements of guppy fish.

Guppies are omnivore fish species and need plant and meat matter food in their diets.

You should not rely on only one type of food to feed your guppies.

Usually, guppy can live feeding on pellets or flake food.

But, if you want to ensure their enhancing color and faster growth, you should feed them a variety of foods.

Guppies need vegetables also in their diet with meat foods.

Feeding them cooked vegetables like green peas, cucumber, carrot, lettuce, and more will fulfill your guppies’ plant matter dietary requirement.

All about bloodworms

Bloodworms include different types of worms.

The two most famous worms in bloodworms are small red larvae from midge flies and the genus glycera.

These two worms are best and suitable for feeding fish.

You must know that most of the worms present in the market are not worms but small red larvae.

There are three types of bloodworm present in the market to feed your guppies, live, freeze-dried, and frozen bloodworm.

Small red larvae from midge flies have bright red color due to the presence of red iron-porphyrin protein in their tissues and blood.

Small red larvae from midge flies are the primary food in the aquatic food chain.

Every carnivore and omnivore fish will feed on this creature.

Glycera bloodworms are a group of bristle worms that are usually found in marine waters.

They are pinkish in color and can grow up to 14 inches.

Glycera bloodworms have a venomous bite.

Are bloodworms good for guppies?

Bloodworms are one of the favorite foods that omnivore and carnivore fish love to feed.

Guppies are omnivore fish and will eat almost anything you serve to them.

Bloodworms are safe for your guppies and also good for them.

Bloodworms contain protein, vitamins, and minerals your guppies need for their happy and healthy lifespan.

However, bloodworms are rich in fat and should not be a regular part of your guppies everyday diet.

Feed your guppies bloodworm once or twice a week, and it is best for your guppy fish now.

Ensure to maintain a complex diet for your guppies rather than just relying on bloodworms.

Guppies need both vegetable and meat food in their diet, and providing them ensures their healthy life and longer lifespan.

Do guppy fish like eating bloodworms?

Guppies are omnivore fish species and need meat and plant matter food as their dietary requirements.

Guppies will love to feed on bloodworms.

They will go crazy when you offer them bloodworms.

However, bloodworms contain a lot of fat, which is not good for your adult guppies.

So bloodworms should not be a staple part of their everyday diet.

You can feed them bloodworms once or twice a week.

How often should I feed bloodworms to my guppies?

Bloodworms are the favorite food among guppies, and they love to feed on bloodworms.

Bloodworms should not be a regular part of your guppy’s diet.

You can feed your guppies bloodworms once or twice a week.

Providing one small pinch at a time is enough.

However, the serving quantity entirely depends on the no of guppies you have in your aquarium.

If your guppies eat the bloodworms, you are serving in seconds; you are feeding them in less quantity.

Continue adding bloodworm in a quantity that they finish in 1-2 minutes.

Make sure not to feed them in a quantity that they are taking above two minutes for finishing, as you will overfeed them.

Can I feed bloodworms to my guppy fry?

You can feed bloodworms to your guppy fry.

Guppy fry will happily eat bloodworms.

Feeding bloodworms to your guppy fry will provide the nutrients they need for faster growth.

Bloodworms are high in protein and help guppy fry grow and develop faster.

You can feed your guppy fry, live, freeze-dried, or frozen bloodworms.

However, ensure not to make bloodworms the staple part of their diet.

Feed you guppy fry bloodworm as a treat once or twice a week.

Make sure you don’t rely only on bloodworms, feed your guppy fry a variety of food like daphnia, veggie pellets, flake food, mosquito larvae, brine shrimp, and vegetables.

Which is the best option, live, freeze-dried, or frozen bloodworms?

ParticularsLive BloodwormsFreeze Dried BloodwormsFrozen Bloodworms
AdvantagesLive bloodworms contain more nutrients than freeze-dried and frozen bloodworms.They are easy to store and feed and don’t sink because of being lightweight.Frozen bloodworms are easy to feed and can store for up to 6 months in a freezer. Also, it contains more nutrition than freeze-dried bloodworms.

There is a zero risk of infection as the freezing process eliminates all the bacteria and parasites.
DisadvantagesHigh risk of carrying bacteria and parasites.

Fresh bloodworms are much more expensive than freeze-dried and frozen bloodworms.
Loses some of the nutrition during the drying process.

Your guppies get less nutrition and more fat.
There are no disadvantages to frozen bloodworms.
Price rangeLive bloodworms are much more expensiveFreeze-dried bloodworms are easily affordableFrozen bloodworms, too, are easily affordable.
This table shows the differentiation between live, freeze-dried, and frozen bloodworms.

You have three options to choose from when it comes to feeding your guppies bloodworms:

  1. Fresh bloodworms or live bloodworms
  2. Freeze-dried bloodworms
  3. Frozen bloodworms

Live bloodworms

Live bloodworms are the most uncommon option people prefer to feed their fish.

It is because live bloodworms are very expensive and are harder to come by.

You cannot store fresh bloodworms for too long and have to feed them to your guppies in 2-3 days after buying.

There is a high possibility of fresh bloodworms carrying bacteria and parasites, making your guppies come into critical condition.

However, live bloodworms contain more nutrition than freeze-dried and frozen bloodworms. Still, we cannot feed them to our guppies by considering this advantage and avoiding all other disadvantages. 

Freeze-dried bloodworms

Freeze-dried bloodworms are cheap and easily affordable.

You can easily store freeze-dried bloodworms.

Freeze-dried bloodworms are easy to feed. You only have to soak them before serving them to your guppies.

They are very lightweight and will not sink.

It loses some nutrition during the drying process.

However, your guppies will get more fat than other nutrition when feeding in bulk. 

Frozen bloodworms

Frozen bloodworms contain more nutrition than freeze-dried bloodworms and are comparable to live bloodworms as it is preserved from fresh bloodworms. 

It is also easily affordable and easy to feed. You have to thaw frozen bloodworms before feeding to get them to room temperature.

You can store frozen bloodworms for up to six months. You will never go out of stock when storing frozen bloodworms because of their durability.

Feeding frozen bloodworms eliminate the chances of food carrying bacteria and parasites, and this way, it becomes the best option among three for feeding your guppies bloodworm.

Other foods to feed to my guppies.

Guppies will eat almost anything you serve to them as they are omnivore fish.

Usually, you can feed them pellets or flake food.

But, to ensure their faster growth and enhancing color, you should feed them a variety of nutritional food.

Manage the diet of your guppy in such a way that they can get both plant and meat matter food in their diet.

You can feed them other live foods like daphnia, tubifex worm, and mosquito larvae.

You can include vegetables in your guppies diet like cooked peas, cucumber, lettuce, zucchini, etc.

Feeding your guppies a variety of food will ensure their faster growth and healthy lifespan.

Also read: Best Homemade Food For Guppies

Conclusions:

Guppies will love to feed on bloodworms.

But, bloodworms should not be a regular part of our guppies diet as it contains so much fat and protein which is not good for adult guppies in excess quantity.

Overfeeding bloodworms to your guppies can result in constipation.

Feed bloodworms to your guppies once or twice a week in a serving quantity of one small pinch at a time.

You can feed your guppies live, freeze-dried, and frozen bloodworms.

The best option here is frozen bloodworm as it contains nutrients the same as live bloodworms and is safe to feed to your guppies as it also gets rid of bacteria and parasites during the freezing process.


Reference: Scielo, Wikipedia

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