IMG_8434.jpg
another view
Hey all,
just thought i'd show you guys my blackworm culture. i had tried a couple different times before this to keep them in their own small tank but never had much luck. but my recent attempt has proved way more successful so far! as you can see below, i actually incorporated the culture into the sump of my discus aquarium. i used a plastic container i had lying around, i drilled about a 3/4 inch hole into one of the broadsides to serve as an overflow back into the sump and sat it on top of the open end of the sump. toss in a spare powerhead and vinyl tube with flow control valve and voila! a blackworm tank within a discus tank. no extra water changes or other maintenance aside from feeding them. they're unfussy voracious little eaters. i used burlap this time as opposed to brown paper towels as the "substrate" and it seems to be working out great. the burlap doesn't breakdown and make a mess. i keep my tank around 82-84F and they've been perfectly fine. i cant speak to their rate of reproduction but i've been harvesting some around every other day and haven't noticed any real depletion yet. they've been eating the same portions of food at about the same rate since i started the culture with 1/4 lb of live worms from aquaticfoods.com.
let me know what you guys think or have any questions!
thanks,
matt
IMG_8364.jpgIMG_8402.jpgIMG_8403.jpg
IMG_8434.jpg
another view
So your saying the worms can thrive under water? I thought they lived in moist mossy conditions or something else but that the conditions were something other than submerged. They don't have gills do they?
Incorporating them into the sump is an interesting idea! As long as they're eliminating more waste than they're producing, it seems like it would work fine.
Thank you so much for that idea
Ok, good to know. I only buy a weeks worth of live blood or black worms(not really sure which they are?) Because after a week they usually start dying. But sometimes my LFS runs out and my babies are forced to eat FBH or pellets. I know they are upset with me because they will eat the FBH slowly. And the Discus pellets, it's like feeding vegetables to the carnivores. But I've always thought of freezing some worms for the just in case scenarios. Maybe I better do that, try it with ice trays.
You can't freeze them. They turn to mush.
Mattjim how long have you been doing this? Others have tried but failed.
Mama Bear
[QUOTE=LizStreithorst;1201042]You can't freeze them. They turn to mush.
Really? I haven't tried, but why would the worms turn into mush?
If you can keep them reproducing over time you deserve a prize. Did you talk to Dan about this or did you just up and try it?
Mama Bear
I would imagine as the colony got larger they would start producing a whole lot of waste that would be detrimental to the overall health of the tank. Would love to be proved wrong here though. Please update in a few months. Use a starting point for nitrates.
Click here to view my 75g Acrylic Tank w/ Bean Animal Overflow with 40g Sump Thread
Also, click here for my 25 group of discus grow out thread
http://i3.cpcache.com/product/162117...ht=75&width=75
Want to look like Al did at his ACA talk with his white Simply Polo shirt?(You can catch Al's awesome Discus talk HERE)
You can get this and many more items such as T-shirts/Polos/hoodies/cups from our merchandise shop:
Cafepress.com