19 replies to this topic

[Hooked]

Hi gang,

 

(Not to be confused with micro worm culture thats available at Aquotix, if you are looking for micro worm.)

 

Apparently there used to be a worm culture that you could buy from lfs's that was a white worm culture. It was easy to cultivate and produced a lot of food in the form of worms. I'd never heard of them until told about them from someone over east today thats searching for them again. Apparently were available in Newcastle NSW.

 

I found this,

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=HhWPNhI8iiU  

 

These I think are possibly the type of white worms that were mentioned. They appear about the same size as the black worm we can get at Vebas. Does anyone know of the white worm and if available in WA?

 

Cheers

Edited by Hooked, 26 September 2013 - 09:01 PM.

[sydad]

White worm cultures are available from time to time, but are seldom seen in aquarium shops. Rather they can be occasionally be obtained from other aquarists. I personally do not know of any available at the moment, but this does not mean that they are not around. The term "white worm" can apply to a number of worms, usually of the species Enchytraeus (Enchytraeid worms).

 

I have often kept such cultures in the past. The worms reach a maximum length of about 30mms,(depending on the exact species), with a diameter of up to 1.5mms; so they are somewhat smaller than aquatic black worms. They are relatively easy to culture during winter months, but require cooling during warmer months. Cultures crash readily if the temp. exceeds 20 degrees C. This requirement for cooler temperatures tends to limit their ready availability.

 

White worms are a good food source, but care is required in their feeding to fishes, with a maximum of 2-3 feedings per week. Exceeding this tends to cause fatty degeneration of  fishes' livers due to the high fat and carbohydrate levels found in the worms.The popular dwarf white worm, known as Grindal worms are often available, and will tolerate higher culture temp. conditions; their usefulness as a food is limited by their smaller size (as is the case with micro worms), but they are a good intermediate food for larger fry, juveniles and small fish species. Some ot the better Aquarium stores, such as Aquotix, usually carry Grindal worm cultures.

 

Syd.

 

[Hooked]

Hi Syd,

 

Thank you, much appreciated! Just curious Syd, but would you be giving a different diet to the worms than the one in the youtube link? Also would you mind if I cut and paste your above info onto another (Discus) forum, with a mention of course received from yourself over here?

If anyone knows of someone having these I would be keen to see if I could arrange to get some to start a culture. I'm in Albany these days but would happily send a return addressed post bag and container etc.

 

Cheers

[Mr_docfish]

You will often find the common white worm in earthworm cultures... You just have to dig around a bit to get a few and start your own from there.
The Grindal worms from Aquotix were originally found in my backyard seedling mix where I was trying to strike some cuttings.... Only started with 4 worms, but still going after 10 plus years....

[Hooked]

Hi Oli,

Thank you mate! Thats priceless info. I'm in Albany these days after a move and surrounded by agriculture etc. I'm going to have to start asking around where to get some worm culture,

 

Cheers

[sydad]

Hello Hooked,

 

I have always fed my white worm (and Grindal worm cultures)  on baby-food mixtures, such as Farex, and occasionally added bread. This always gave good yields, but not as spectacular as that attained in the youtube presentation. One thing I always found was to avoid high protein foods, as they invariably eventually led to bacterial overgrowth with subsequent failure of the culture.

 

One source of worms I found was in decaying seaweed deposits above high-water mark in the Swan River. It took quite a while to collect enough worms to start a good culture.

 

Feel free to use the supplied information as you wish.

 

Syd.

[Hooked]

Thanks Syd,

Very much appreciated,

Cheers

[Terry]

These worms are from my worm farm,I get this amount of white worms twice a week. The rubbish mixed with them is the remains of celery carrot parsley beetroot and apple, all of it goes into the tanks and is eaten.

Cheers Terry

[Hooked]

Hi Terry,
That sounds a healthy diet for the worms. As you say the small amount of food in there would be picked up by the cats etc. Can you give me an idea of your worm farm size, rough amount you are feeding and if you do anything special to maintain the temp? Any probs in summer with temp? I guess a larger worm farm would probably vary in temp less than a smaller one. Do you add any moisture? Are those the common earth worm also in your farm? Did your white worm arrive with a bought worm culture that is a mixture of types?
I've recently moved to Albany so no live worm at the lfs and I'm keen to get this right. Can you feed these to the fish with a perforated cone like the live black worm or just drop them in? Will they survive for long in the substrate like black worm can or do they drown? Thanks in advance Terry, really appreciate the assistance,

Cheers

[Terry]

Hi Hooked

The pic shows the size of the farm it was purchased about 2 years ago from Bunnings, Ronda makes juice from all of the ingredients and puts a cup of the pulp into the farm every 2 days. This varies sometimes because of the quantity of worms in there,once a week 4 liters of water is poured over the worms and drained off through the tap at the bottom. It is kept on the back veranda and so far heat has not been a problem.

The farm was originally seeded with 1000 earthworms and a bucket of peat.The whiteworms turned up 18 months ago and I started to harvest them in large numbers 6 months ago. A couple of old face flannels is placed on top of the pulp to collect the worms, I rinse a flannel in a bucket of water and allow it to settle then tip off the access water,this is done several times it takes about 5 minutes the result is in the pic above.

My tanks are bare bottom and all the worms are taken by the fish so I don't know if they will survive in water for long. I don't use feeding cones but they would work ok.

 

Cheers Terry

[Hooked]

Hi Terry,

 

Thanks mate, thats priceless info. I found out a friend with a 10 acre farm, has a large worm farm in an old bath tub. Its been going for 10+ years. I'll hopefully get there over the coming days for a good pick through. She has noticed small white worms in there but thought was young worms. Also I'm told the composting worms are different to the common earth worms, I didnt realise that. Fingers crossed for picking up a first culture. i looked into Grindal worms also, so will hopefully score some of them too.

 

Thanks again,

 

Cheers  : )

[Terry]

Bloodworms are another type of worm that I get from some of my ponds in large numbers and then there is Daphnia. Any live food is good for fish these were collected this morning.

 

Cheers Terry

[Hooked]

Hi Terry,
 
I've been to Bunnings and bought a worm farm, looks to be the same type as yours. I've picked through two peoples worm farms but only the composting worms unfortunately. My friend has given us some to get the farm started, so at least I'll have happy plants when the composting worms kick off.
I've ordered some Micro worms and Grindal worms from Aquotix online today for some fry Im growing out so pretty much got the fry sorted for live food now.
The live bloodworm looks great! I had not thought about them. What sort of environment do you have for them? I built a good size fountain out the front and it runs during day light hours, so is well aerated and am thinking of possibly growing the blood worms in that? It generally has a "fluffy" type free floating green algae growing or clumping on or near the bottom. I've got young kids so it has an aluminium safety screen on it. I don't have fish in it as I don't like looking through the screen to see them. Hmmm..... maybe bloodworms. My Discus eat frozen blood worms every feed along with other foods. Some fresh ones now and again would be good.

The fountain is about 2.5m wide and about 350mm deep water. I could lower the depth if needed. Just need about 150mm for the pump to pick up. Probably have to put in some vegetation or soil? What are your thoughts mate?

Thanks for any advice,

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

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[Terry]

These " bloodworms" are the larvae of a midge they are about 12mm long, any aged pond without fish should have them. The worms in the pic above came from a 2000 ltr pond that was set up about 3 months ago for mosquitoes, it isn't filtered and the only thing in there is a layer of dead algae. Your fountain should be fine for bloodworms.

There is another type of earth worm that could suit your needs I collect them when I'm harvesting Vallis from outdoor ponds (I have about 30 ponds half are in a greenhouse) these worms are about 1/8 the bulk of the composting worms. I'll collect some today and post a pic.

[Hooked]

Hi Terry,

 

I'd be interested in giving anything a try as live food down here not available. Of course... bloodworm are the larvae of an insect, I had forgotten that. Not sure the wife would be very impressed with me trying to attract that to our fountain. : ) Theres probably mossie larvae in there now though as you say. I sifted through another worm farm today and still no white worm.

Its a big ask but perhaps I could PM you for details and if possible post you up a second return addressed express postbag with a small sealable container to get a small amount of your white worms to get a white worm culture going down here? We could sort something out for your trouble if that would be ok?

Not sure about a larger worm than either the white or black worm that I'm use to? My Discus go nuts over these small worms, not sure how their internals would handle something larger? Hmmm..... I'll have to possibly look into growing some live black worm also. I have kept them fresh indefinitely in the fridge in the past. Temps in summer could cause a problem. I use to get them from Vebas, I wonder if I could do something with them in the fountain. Time to google those too. The things we do for our fish!

Thanks Terry for all the advice,

 

Cheers

[Terry]

These worms live in the potted vallis in my outdoor ponds, from one 200mm pot I got all the worms in the pic and enough to seed 11 indoor ponds it will be interesting to see if they increase. They are fully aquatic however a few weeks ago I left some in mud in an ice cream container, it almost dried out and they survived.There is a normal earthworm in the pic for comparison. 

Hooked you have mail.

 

 

 

[Hooked]

Hi Terry,

 

they look great. They would be worth trying. I picked up some lilies from a neighbour today for the fountain pond and will continue to make it an environment to hopefully grow out some live food. As of today a large frog has taken up residence in the pond so thats a good sign. Thanks for the PM. I'll be in touch over the weekend,

Thanks Terry,

Cheers 

[Buccal]

I would think tadpoles from the frogs would eat your tried cultures or compete against.

[Hooked]

Hi Buccal,

 

I'm not sure of a frog's diet to be honest. My main search has been for white worms that are eventually to be grown in a worm farm for my Discus as a treat. I haven't seen frogs in the pond before so maybe he/she's just passing through? Its extremely cute though and I'm sure my kids would have something to say if I try to evict it. I don't really expect to grow anything in huge amounts in the pond, although Terrys worms do look interesting.

I don't mind sharing : )

 

Cheers

[Terry]

I forgot to mention small tadpoles are great for angels and as they grow the bichers and large cichlids love them. Another good live food is guppies, I have about 60 breeding size angels and enough guppies to feed them year round.

 

Cheers Terry