LFS blackworm and possible disease

[johnnyboy2476]

Hi all,
I'm feeding my newly aquired discus with LFS blackworm not California Blackworm. They told me that the blackworm are from Long Island, New York. I hear a lot of bad things about feeding Blackworm and even worse if they are not California Blackworm. I like to know which of the following are most likely to occur by feeding blackworm: Bacterial infection, Fungal infection, Parasitic infection, Hexamita or all of the above?? My plan is to fatten them up quickly in a bare bottom tank, then medicate them with Kanacyn and Hexamite, and finally transfering them to my main show tank which is heavily planted. Another few questions is when medicating for bacterial and fungal infection, should I add Epsom salt or uniodized table salt? Should the temp be lowered to 82 for bacterial infetion while raised to 92+ for Hexamita? Is Kanacyn more effective then Maracyn and Maracyn-2 combined?

[Carol_Roberts]

Don't feed your discus bad worms! Buy your worms from a reputable source and rinse them each day. Then you won't have to bombard your discus with medication.

A bare tank, daily water changes and good food are all healthy discus need to grow and thrive.

I keep salt, epsom salt, metro and formalin on hand. The only time they are needed is when fish are new arrivals or the power goes off.

If you start off with healthy discus, if you always observe quarantine and if you keep your tanks clean you will not need antibiotics and antifungals - unless a fish jumps out of the tank and lands on the floor.

As far as I'm concerned folks who have to medicate their discus have made a mistake - either in who they bought the discus from or in how they have cared for the discus.

[Martinphillip03]

How can you tell if the worms are good or not?

Marty

[Carol_Roberts]

healthy worms are black and wriggly.

bad worms may have patches of slime, are light in color and listless.

[johnnyboy2476]

My Blackworm from LFS are black and wiggly. Should I still feed them?? By feeding blackworm are discus most likely to develop parasitic, fungal or bacteria disease? I just want to be prepared if anything happens by feeding LFS black worm.

[Carol_Roberts]

If they are black and wiggly and you are rinsing them thouroughly at least once a day in chilled, dechlorinated water they should be fine. IF you are worried about the quality don't feed them. Only you can see them and make that decision.