Tubifex

[Geeky1]

Haven't been around for a while... I've been too busy :shake:

Anyhow, I've got about 1/2oz of live tubifex in a large PVC pipe endcap (so they can't escape) in my 10 gallon. I'm tempted to just upend the "dish" and let the stupid worms go.

Here's my reasoning:
1- They're fairly clean, for tubifex worms, since they're from a pet shop. I have never had any issues with diseases caused by these things

2- They're basically harmless in and of themselves, as far as the fish and plants are concerned. In fact, considering that they burrow through the substrate and such (similar to earthworms), they may actually be somewhat beneficial to the plants

3- They're scavengers; they eat the "muck" that collects in the gravel, so they should be beneficial in terms of keeping the tank clean

4- Constant source of live food (in theory; I'm not sure how well it'd work; the substate is fluorite, not sand, so...)

5- The additional bioload is minimal and effectively inconsequential. The tank is over-filtered almost to the point of absurdity (it's got a small Eheim ECCO canister filter on it, which is far larger than it needs to be to handle a 10g tank)

So, it sounds like a pretty good idea to me. And, at worst, I'll just have to net out the fish (currently 3 ~1" spillurum cichlids, 2 or 3 dwarf rainbows, 4-6 celebes rainbows, 2 corys and a clown plec), and thoroughly clean the tank (kill the tubifex with hot water, rinse the substrate a few times with hot water, empty, reassemble).

Any thoughts?

[Geeky1]

Turns out that they're california blackworms, not tubifex. Anyhow, I let them go a few minutes ago. They just sat in a clump until one of the corys found them, and slurped up a fairly good number of them. Most of the rest of them burrowed into the gravel. The ones that didn't, I dispersed myself by breaking the clump up with my hand. We'll see what happens...

[Cearbhaill]

I would never just drop in a big clump of worms- why don't you use a worm feeder?
I feed one pound of blackworms each month and have yet to find one in the substrate. I use the wormfeeders and very few ever reach the bottom for the cories to even get to. Smaller more frequent feeding is much better than one big dump of food into the tank.

You do know that overeating these things can cause digestive upsets and even death? They are so yummy that fish unfamiliar with them will literally gorge themselves to death the first few times they are offered.
Take it easy with them!

[Geeky1]

Why not use a worm feeder? Because I'd like the corys to have access to the worms as well. I usually put them in something like the PVC endcap I used this time. It's deep enough that they can't get out, but it allows the fish free access to the worms.

Yes, I know that overfeeding them can cause problems, but I have never had an issue with it. Fish are, in fact, capable of regulating their food intake. Besides, they can't eat what they can't catch, and the worms had all either been eaten or burrowed into the fluorite by the time I got up this morning.

[Cearbhaill]

Why not use a worm feeder? Because I'd like the corys to have access to the worms as well.
I know what you mean- I love watching the cories and ghost shrimp scurrying to get themselves a morsel. With the worm feeders my cories always seem to get one or two each but with no leftovers in the substrate.

Hope it works for you!

[Captain Hook]

Originally posted by Geeky1
Fish are, in fact, capable of regulating their food intake.

I disagree

[Geeky1]

Cearbhaill, we'll see... :) At worst, I'll have to kill the worms, but I think that most likely, either they'll work, or they'll end up living in the gravel without being a problem. They may not last very long, either. I've read that blackworms don't like being in water much over 60*F, which is a far cry from the 78*F that my tank is...

Captain Hook, the only fish I've ever seen that don't stop eating when they appear to be full (e.g. bulging stomachs) are cyprinids, goldfish in particular. Besides, if worst comes to worst with regards to overeating, the fish will die, and it'll be their own fault. Darwinism in action. I'd prefer that they didn't die, of course, but...

Unless of course we're talking about the three baby spillurum cichlids that are in there. If they start overeating, I'm gonna have to move them or something. I like teh cichlids. :D