All aquarium fish enthusiasts know that feeding your fish a balanced diet is crucial in the fish care routine. Blood worms are one of the best live food to feed any fish. You are lucky if you have a swordtail fish because the swordtail fish diet is pretty easy. So, can swordtail fish eat bloodworms?
Swordtails are omnivores, so they enjoy both plant and protein-based food. Therefore, blood worms are an excellent food choice for swordtails. Blood worm contains about 55% protein, 3% fat, and 5% fiber. So, swordtail fish can eat bloodworms as it is a nutritious diet.
You can find blood worms in live, frozen, and freeze-dried forms. This article talks about an appropriate swordtail fish diet, including bloodworms.
Swordtail Fish Diet
Swordtail fish are not picky when it comes to food. You can provide swordtail fish with a wide range of fresh, frozen, and dried food as long as the food is high-quality and nutritious. You don’t have to worry about getting ill if you feed your swordtail with a balanced diet.
Swordtails are omnivorous, so swordtails enjoy eating both plants and meat-based food. The best part about swordtail fish is that these fish do not prefer any specific type of food.
Always remember to treat your swordtail fishes with respect and give them nutritious meals every day. Swordtails also enjoy plant-based foods like leafy greens and vegetables and meat-based snacks such as blood worms and brine shrimp (artemia).
The swordtail’s appetite is affected by its surroundings too. If you keep feeding them food that does not resemble their natural diet, it may kill them or make them sick over time due to the poor quality fish food.
Can Swordtails Eat Bloodworms?
Yes, swordtails can eat bloodworms. Swordtail fish diet includes both plant and animal protein source food. Swordtails and other swordtail species are omnivores, so it means that swordtails enjoy a balanced mix of both meat and vegetable-based foods as well.
Aquarium fishes like swordtails take almost any live food, including bloodworms, as their natural diet in the wild. In fact, swordtail fish is an aggressive hunter and will hunt for worms, small amphibians, insects like crickets, earthworms, etc., and make no exception to bloodworms or mosquito larvae if available.
So swordtails are the kind of tropical freshwater aquarium fish that can easily adapt their diet to frozen or even freeze-dried blood worm, but swordtail fish diet also depends on the swordtails species you have.
As swordtails are omnivores and bloodworms can provide a wide range of nutrition to swordtails, swordtails will definitely enjoy these worms as they do in the wild.
Swordtail fish would love to see bloodworm pieces falling into their tank so that they could pick them up and eat them instantly. So consider sprinkling some fresh bloodworms into your swordtail tank every other day.
How Often Should You Feed Swordtail Fish?
It is essential to give swordtails enough food and space suited for their growth. If the swordtail fish does not get adequate food or water, it may result in stunted growth.
A swordtail fish can eat blood worms two times a day to ensure enough proteins and fats. But for the swordtails new in your aquarium, feed swordtail fishes once every three days.
As you know, swordtails are active hunters, so swordtail fish will definitely try to hunt any moving food they see falling into their tank, so do not be surprised if swordtail grabs right away the bloodworm you have just fed them. In fact, when feeding swordtails with bloodworms or anything alive, even mosquito larvae, none of them should be left floating as these fishes will see them as easy prey and attack on the floating food without thinking twice.
So we should balance the swordtail fish diet. You can always supplement the swordtail fish diet with freeze-dried blood worms and other foods like krill, brine shrimp, earthworms, and mosquito larvae. Remember not to overfeed swordtails, as swordtails do get aggressive when they are hungry!
Are Bloodworms the Best Food for Swordtail Fish?
Swordtails may become an omnivore if you want them to thrive in your tank. So it is better to give them a mixture of live food such as bloodworm, mosquito larvae, or some zooplankton so that their swordtail fish diet will remain balanced. This way, swordtails will get all nutrients needed for their healthy growth as well.
Swordtails do not have teeth; swordtail fish eats by sucking tiny crustaceans and other food with their tongue. So swordtails swallow their food whole. So, for example, when swordtails eat bloodworms, they do not even chew the blood worms into pieces but suck them up when you feed swordtail fish with live foods like these worms.
If you decide to feed swordtails bloodworms, then make sure to provide them only with freeze-dried bloodworms or live bloodworms. Live bloodworms will be better than freeze-dried ones because they have more nutritional value.
So feeding swordtails with bloodworms is very easy as it only requires dropping or sprinkle a few of them into your swordtail tank once every two days, and swordtails will catch them and eat them right away without hesitation!
How To Feed Your Swordtail Fish?
Swordtails are very fussy eaters, especially when it comes to living food. So do not just drop frozen bloodworms into a swordtail tank and assume swordtails will catch them mid-air because swordtails won’t.
Instead, drop the bloodworm into your tank or sprinkle some fresh blood worms in several areas of the aquarium before you leave so that swordtail fish can hunt for them and eat them up as soon as they find a piece of a worm moving on the surface.
Swordtails do not like their foods all over their habitat, which is natural considering swordtail’s hunting nature. So to get swordtails to eat frozen bloodworm after sprouting it (they don’t like freeze-dried bloodworms), you must break up large pieces.
Once swordtails find bloodworms, they will eat them all. For the swordtail fish that are really fussy in eating bloodworms or any other foods you try to feed swordtails with, then consider using some sprout on live food so that swordtails can catch those moving around and chew them up before they swallow the whole thing.
Next time when feeding swordtails bloodworms, it’s good to know swordtail fishes’ favorite hunting spots. After knowing these hunting areas, sprinkle some fresh bloodworm there like behind your rocks and under your plants. This way, the swordtail will be forced to search for their food instead of near walls where we usually feed swordtails.
What Are Some Other Good Food For Swordtail Fish?
Many swordtail fish owners think swordtails can eat only bloodworms and mosquito larvae. But, unfortunately, they don’t know swordtails also like other foods as well.
One of the most recommended swordtail food is krill. Krill is an effective swordtail fish diet for swordtails because swordtails will hunt down krill if they find it, which means that krill will not pollute your tank but goes in whole when swordtails catch it!
Swordtail is lucky to have such a versatile nature; you can feed them with anything as long as their main diet consists of frozen blood worms or fresh blood worms so that the swordtail fish diet remains balanced.
Another great way to feed swordtail fishes is brine shrimp. You can feed swordtails with brine shrimp in any form, such as frozen or live food. (In some cases, swordtails even prefer to suck the simple saltwater out of living brine shrimp than eating them up after they catch the fish).
You can also feed swordtail fishes with daphnia since swordtails eat many crustaceans, including those tiny insects that are hard for us to see.
Another interesting swordtail fish diet is snails. It may sound weird and even cruel, but swordtails often hunt down snails when they are hungry enough because swordtails like snails too! So next time you clean your tank, be careful not to let any snail escapes if you want all swordtail fishes in your tank to stay alive.
Conclusion
The best food for swordtail fish is going to depend on what they like to eat. Some people feed their swordtails live foods, while others prefer frozen or dry-packed options. You’ll have the most success with your new addition if you let them decide which type of food they would rather enjoy!
In general, it’s a good idea not to overfeed your pet and make sure there are plenty of hiding places if he becomes frightened by something around him. This way, he will feel safe enough to explore his surroundings without fear and be more likely to want to stick around when offered tasty snacks now and then!
