Can freeze dried worms retain parasite spores?      7/11/19
Dear WWM,
<Dev>
Thank you for being there, the immense knowledge available here is priceless.
<A pleasure, honor, indeed calling to share, help others>
Question: can freeze dried Tubifex worms retain latent spores of the whirling disease parasite?
<Mmm; I doubt that Myxosoma can/do persist through the process of freeze drying. My answer: No>
I was wondering as I lost couple of established tetras to disease with symptoms of lack of balance and rolling over. May be they were due to other causes, but a rare feeding of freeze dried worms just a day before the onset is prompting me to cross check, correlated or coincidence?
What about freeze dried bloodworms? Can they retain latent spores of parasites they are vectors of when alive?
<Again, I think that the freeze drying process eliminates such Myxosporeans et al. Am not a fan of "sewer fly larvae" bloodworm use other than by a few processors (San Francisco Bay Brand, Hikari) as have seen suspicious troubles from their use.>
Thanks in advance.
Warm regards
Devakalpa
<And you, Bob Fenner>
Re: Can freeze dried worms retain parasite spores? /RMF
Dear Bob,
<Devakalpa>
Thank you for a prompt and detailed response. It will help me take an informed decision going ahead.
<Ah, good>
Keep well.
Regards
Devakalpa
<And you, BobF>
Can freeze dried worms retain parasite spores? /Neale
Dear WWM,
<Hello Devakalpa,>
Thank you for being there, the immense knowledge available here is priceless.
<Thanks for these kind words.>
Question: can freeze dried Tubifex worms retain latent spores of the whirling disease parasite? I was wondering as I lost couple of established tetras to disease with symptoms of lack of balance and rolling over. May be they were due to other causes, but a rare feeding of freeze dried worms just a day before the onset is prompting me to cross check, correlated or coincidence?
<I would suspect the latter. It seems unlikely that any but the most specialised organisms could survive the freeze-drying process. Bacteria probably can survive freeze-drying, at least in some cases. But desiccation is often part of their natural life cycle. For more complex organisms -- I just don't know. I suspect not, unless you know the parasite is able to survive dormant on dry riverbeds for months or years (as, say, brine shrimp eggs can). When it comes to Neon Tetras, for example, there are so many
other reasons why they get sick -- Pleistophora, generally opportunistic Mycobacteria infections, even heat stress (they need water around 22-24 C).>
What about freeze dried bloodworms? Can they retain latent spores of parasites they are vectors of when alive?
<This has been discussed by aquarists at various times, both with regard to freeze-dried and plain frozen bloodworms. While parasites probably don't survive either, the often rather grim environments used to rear these bloodworms can expose them to things like heavy metals, and these will be in the food items produced from the worms. Bloodworms are to be used cautiously, especially if you're keeping delicate or disease-prone fish.>
Thanks in advance.
Warm regards
Devakalpa
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Can freeze dried worms retain parasite spores?
Dear Neale,
Thank you for the detailed reply, your inputs are valuable.
<Most welcome.>
The fish I lost was not a neon tetra but a Diamond Tetra and though I am aware that even they (or for that matter non tetras also) are susceptible to NTD, the symptom onset was overnight, the fish lost balance completely and was dead in a day. In fact I wrote to you for guidance.
<Diamond Tetras are lovely fish. So good choice there! But they are a little sensitive to water chemistry. They do best in soft water, and may be disease-prone in harder water conditions.>
I have added some Bolivian Rams and was thinking if I could add some 'safe' 'once-alive' food to bring some variety to their and their tankmates' diet.
<Understood. But really, not necessary. Modern flake and pellet foods (like the brands you mention below) are perfectly adequate for small community fish such as tetras and barbs. No real need to add anything else. If you want to offer some variety, green foods are the best, such as cooked peas and spinach. Indeed, it's worth experimenting with vegetables and fruit, in small quantities, to see if they're eaten. Some fish will also eat cooked rice, which like vegetables, is perfectly safe. Another good extra is hard boiled egg yolk. Tiny, tiny amounts at a time because it mostly gets spread out in the water, but the grains are perfect for small fish like tetras. As well as these, seafood is a good choice. Few, if any, parasites from seawater fish and invertebrates can infect freshwater fish. While freshwater fish should be safe if sold for humans, there's always a risk of parasites that don't affect us being present in the fish, and these could, if you were unlucky, infect your tropical fish. Still, I've used defrosted slivers of tilapia many times without problems.>
Their standard spread consists of pellets and flakes from Hikari, NLS, Tetra, Ocean Nutrition, etc. I have come to suspect live sewer worms for reasons much elaborated in your website.
<Indeed.>
I guess personally culturing live food is the safest option. It is rather unfortunate that in a tropical country like India, we hardly get any commercially vetted frozen foods like daphnia, Whiteworms, blackworms, and like.
<In theory, if you place a bucket of water outdoors, it'll become populated with mosquito larvae very quickly, and your fish will eat these very readily! But culturing mosquito larvae in a country where Malaria is present will not be popular with your neighbours. So while do-able, I wouldn't bother.>
Keep well.
<You too!>
Regards
Devakalpa
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Can freeze dried worms retain parasite spores?
Dear Neale,
<Devakalpa,>
Thank you yet again for all the helpful inputs.
<Welcome.>
I just love tetras, the Diamonds, Lemons, Pristellas, Emperors.. among my favourites!
<Ah, Pristella tetras definitely mine. Robust, adaptable, and impeccably well behaved. A perfect all-rounder for virtually all community tanks. The Emperor is another species with much to recommend it; exotic in appearance, but almost bullet-proof in terms of care.>
I regularly feed my fish parboiled spinach and other veggie tidbits and my Cories, Bristlenose and Whiptails just love them.
<Good to hear!>
I shall try the seafood, rice and hard boiled egg suggestions, thank you.
<Welcome.>
And indeed, not only neighbors' wrath, I shall attract the municipality health authorities' ire if I plan to culture mosquito larvae :).
<Precisely so. You could try Brine Shrimp though. Brine Shrimp tolerate a higher salinity than even mosquito larvae could handle, which would make this a safe choice. On a small scale you can use old 2-litre soda bottles for this, placing them on a windowsill to get the water green, and then adding the Artemia eggs. Outdoors you'd need some sort of salt-tolerant container, probably plastic or ceramic, since most metal would quickly corrode.>
Take care, and keep up the great work.
<Will try!>
Regards
Devakalpa
<Best wishes, Neale.>