Has anyone seen a reliable source for nutritional analyses of various live foods? The 'net being what it is, there seems to be a lot of speculative nonsense floating around, particular about the value of things like Artemia. Also, as Ed has pointed out, there are some inherent risks and waste associated with using supplements in food.
Which brings up the question, what is the utility of "gut loading" Grindal worms, blackworms, Daphnia, fairy shrimp etc. with certain foods to add to their overall nutrition profile. For instance, I've gotten into the habit of adding ground flax seed to the oatmeal I use for various species of "microworm" nematodes, which is supposed to increase their levels of unsaturated fats and omega 3's - seems to make some difference in conditioning fish for breeding but what the actual value is for caudates is a mystery to me at least.
Ditto for other high nutrition foods I've been using to gut load food animals, such as spirulina and other dried alga used for human consumption.
Which brings up the question, what is the utility of "gut loading" Grindal worms, blackworms, Daphnia, fairy shrimp etc. with certain foods to add to their overall nutrition profile. For instance, I've gotten into the habit of adding ground flax seed to the oatmeal I use for various species of "microworm" nematodes, which is supposed to increase their levels of unsaturated fats and omega 3's - seems to make some difference in conditioning fish for breeding but what the actual value is for caudates is a mystery to me at least.
Ditto for other high nutrition foods I've been using to gut load food animals, such as spirulina and other dried alga used for human consumption.
