Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Chironomus plumosus larvae get white and die

Posted by MarkuraTynsa on 30-09-2016 20:34
#1

Hello everyone. I culture chironomids larvae. I thought I could sell them to aquarists and anglers but I'm not sure if they are not ill. I collected the egg masses from nearby pond, put them into tanks, fed the larvae and watched them grow... and everything was pefrectly fine but some of the larvae started to die. First they get pink, then white. White ones are already dead. The scale of such deaths is not very large, several larvae per tank, and I observe other dead larvae (they die when I unintentionally overfeed them), but these "white" deaths make me anxious.
And here is my question: Does anyone have an idea why some of my larvae die in normal way and some get white? My main concern is if the larvae from the same tanks, that look ok, are safe to be fed to fish.

I'm not a native English speaker. If anything is unintelligible, please let me know and I'll clarify what I ment.
Thank you! :)