Black
Worms
I purchased my first
batch of black worms from Aquatic
Foods and have raised my own since.
I have successfully been
able to raise a sufficient amount of black worms for my breeders since
that purchase.
How I keep my
supply of black worms:
Media:
Using a 14"Lx10"Wx6"D
plastic container (or whatever container you have that can hold
water), fill container with about 3-5" of either spring water
or water that has been left out overnight. I do not use rain water
for fear of contaminating my black worms.
Add a layer of shredded
strips of brown paper towels covering the bottom of the container. I
get my brown paper towels from a grocery store that sells organic products.
The white paper towels contain bleach which can kill the culture. I
have heard that you can rinse the white paper towels thoroughly and
use them, but I figure 'why risk my culture?'
Carefully add about 2
tablespoons (or more) of black worms. It's best if you do not handle
them too much as they break easily. I use a pipette or very gently scoop
them with a spoon.
It seems that they are
fine at room temp (72 - 85 degrees) with as little light as possible.
Feeding your
culture:
I started feeding my new
culture with Liquifry for egg layers (1 drop a day for about 4 days)
and a small pinch of sinking spirulina pellets. The Liquifry seemed
to start feeding the culture immediately, but I have no proof of this.
After the paper towels were showing signs of bacteria growing (the towels
started to disintegrate), I stopped feeding the Liquifry and fed the
culture sinking spirulina pellets and occasionally sinking earthworm
pellets.
Feed worms sparingly
and feed only after all pellets are consumed.
For my culture, it seems that a small pinch of food is completely consumed
daily. Below, you can see a picture that shows the
size of spirulina pellets compared to the black worms. The picture shows
only a few grains that stuck to the side of the container, not the amount
that I feed.
Changing the
water:
I change the water weekly
or at the most every 10 days.
Gently pour water out of container trying not to lose any media or
worms (you will lose some media, but don't fret about it...just keep
your worms!). Carefully add clean water. If your culture smells bad
due to overfeeding, repeat process.
If your worms are crawling up the side of their container above the
water line, they are saying "PLEASE change our water!!!"
I add a new layer of shredded paper towels on top of media about
every 4th water change or when the paper towels are no longer showing
signs of having form (can't see strips any longer, only disintegrated
material).
Aeration:
I use a 5 gallon air pump
with an airstone and set the airstone in a corner. This seems to not
disturb the media too much.
FEEDING YOUR
FISH is
very easy. Use a pipette and remove worms as needed. These worms seem
to like to clump together, so you may need to gently separate them by
disturbing them with your pipette. They will scatter upon any disturbance
(amazingly fast!).
Feed sparingly to your fish. Fish will overeat with this scrumptious live
food!
I have noticed that even if the worms seem to be too big for the fish
you are feeding, the fish can easily break off pieces of the worm as needed.
Also, I have small cat fish (albino cories) in all of my tanks, and they
happily consume any worms that hit the floor!
