Need help with my blackworm culture

S

Shelby

Registered Member
Nov 9, 2004
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About a week ago I recieved 1/2 pound of California blackworms from Aquatic Foods. I read that you should keep them in an inch or two of water, put shredded paper towel in as substrate, aerate the water, and feed them sinking fish food pellets. Well, I did all that, and after a day or two, those worms stunk.

So I rinsed them out and put fresh water in, and the next day, they stunk again. This time, I took out the paper towel shreds and gave them fresh water again. This time it took a day or two for them to stink, but they do again, so just now I refreshed their water again.

I have them in a shoebox size rubbermaid container. Maybe that's too small?

The food I'm using is TetraMin Tropical Tablets 'The Rich Mix' food for bottom feeders. I think it's the food that stinks. It seems to dissolve pretty quickly. Do they still eat it then?

Also, the worms try to crawl out of the water, onto the sides of the container, as if saying that the water is icky and they want out. (I don't blame them)

One more thing.. this last time I refreshed the water, I noticed there were some dead worms and worm pieces.. I removed all I could.

Sorry this post is so long, but I really would like some help.
 
Most of the care instructions I've read for blackworms says a daily rinsing and cleaning is advised.

I clean my worms daily with the spray nozzle in the sink. It stirs them up really well and makes the dead or dying worms come loose from the healthy worms. I then dump the water off and repeat the method (you'lll lose some live worms when pouring the water off but more importantly you'll get rid of the nasty stuff). When the water is completely clear and there's none of that oily film on top I replace the water with bottled water and place them back in the fridge. I don't have an airstone in the 5 gallon tank I keep them in inside the fridge and I also don't feed them either. I've found it's easier to clean them if there are smaller numbers. I use about a 1 pound every 2 weeks now. I dump a few portion into a container, clean them, then place them back into a clean 5 gallon tank. I repeat until all the worms are clean and in the new tank. This works pretty well for me and when the new worms arrive I still have healthy worms from the previous purchase. Also as a note I've missed a few daily cleanings every once in a while and the water still is pretty clean after 2 days.

If I use the water from my tap or R/O unit the worms also will climb up the sides of the tank. Since switching to bottled (deerpark) water I haven't had this problem. I'm guesing they do this because of the temp and/or pH change. The bottled water I use also sits in the same fridge as the worms.
 
I guess I wasn't clear. I intend to breed the worms myself so I don't have to buy any more. So I can't keep them in the fridge.
 
Raising Blackworms

You can also go to Simply Discus for lots on info on raising and culturing blackworms. The guy from Aquatic Foods posts there regularly.

SimplyDiscus.com
 
Thanks. SimplyDiscus.com was helpful. I'd read the other article before.

At SimplyDiscus, they suggest using grocery bags instead of shredded paper towel.. and little added food. I'll have to try that.
 
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