Live White worms

[Tathamet]

@Paul B I feel like I recognize your name from somewhere. Are you the one that built the black worm trough years ago? I’ve really been wanting to get some of them reproducing for a few years now and the trough design was the only thing I could find information on at the time (besides keeping them in a cup in the fridge lol).

 

[Tathamet]

Yeah I found the post and it was you! Very cool! I have to thank you for getting me into live foods back then.

I was a bit younger then and used to just feed pellets and flakes to my freshwater fish. I’d had multiple live cultures of different bugs for other reptiles and amphibians I had and had never even thought to feed the fish live.

you talked about how it got your fish into breeding condition (I had never had any of my fish breed before). So I ended up buying micro worms, grindal worms, white worms and black worms to feed to them. In no time at all my fish all looked way happier, more colourful and started courting and breeding. And they wouldn’t stop!

So seriously, thank you for sharing what you do! My fishies love you for it too!

 

[Paul B]

@Paul B I feel like I recognize your name from somewhere. Are you the one that built the black worm trough years ago? I’ve really been wanting to get some of them reproducing for a few years now and the trough design was the only thing I could find information on at the time (besides keeping them in a cup in the fridge lol).

Yes that was me. I can't get blackworms here in my new house so I went to white worms. I discovered that whiteworms are better because they live 5 days in salt water and blackworms live about 5 seconds. I have no idea which is more nutritious.

 

[Tathamet]

Yes that was me. I can't get blackworms here in my new house so I went to white worms. I discovered that whiteworms are better because they live 5 days in salt water and blackworms live about 5 seconds. I have no idea which is more nutritious.

Yeah, black worms have always been pretty hard for me to source where I am. Because of that I’ve been mainly sticking with the micro worms and grindals (for my babies and tiny fish) and white worms.

 

[mborn]

@mborn what substrate are you using? Looks like the worms love it! Is it peat?

I’m using ground up coconut husk. moist but not super wet. They are alive still. Growing slow though.

I use the plain magic worm bedding.

 

[SDK]

What are some signs that the culture is about to crash? and what do you do after? do you remove as much worms as possible and disregard all the soil and rest of the worms in the culture and start fresh?

Sorry. Just saw this. As others have mentioned, larger and more aerated cultures need less frequent changing.

When a culture is going downhill the substrate will start to get a sour smell and be harder to fill up. You will also see production drop.

 

[Aqua Man]

Worms were doing great till I fed them a slice of Rye bread. It’s the only thing that I did that was different.

Anyone else try rye bread?

 

[Tathamet]

Worms were doing great till I fed them a slice of Rye bread. It’s the only thing that I did that was different.

Anyone else try rye bread?

I haven’t myself but I have fed grain/grain based foods without problems.

I think I’ve heard rye might be harder do breakdown/digest though so that could be it maybe.
What sort of issues are you having?

 

[lapin]

Worms were doing great till I fed them a slice of Rye bread. It’s the only thing that I did that was different.
Anyone else try rye bread?

I too have never tried rye bread.
Rye flour does have some compounds that wheat flour does not. Maybe a different bacteria make up. It is also higher in fiber. But because it is made with rye (1part) to wheat flour (3 parts) i would not think it would be much different.
I have used dry cat food soaked in water for a min to soften it up.
I use whole wheat multi grain seed bread buttered with yogurt.

 

[Tathamet]

Yeah I agree. I don’t know but I don’t think it should really cause an issue.

you may just need to clean or replace their substrate.

What’s your moisture like? Has it built up or dried out slowly over time without you noticing?

 

[DanConnor]

The key here is to have several cultures running at a time- as one starts to peaks the next is just coming up. When the best producing one crashes I compost it and start with the next.

 

[Aqua Man]

I use whole wheat multi grain seed bread buttered with yogurt.

Ran out of wheat. Also use yogurt and yeast.

What’s your moisture like? Has it built up or dried out slowly over time without you noticing

Could of been on the drier side. Usually the top gets a bit dry and they just huddled under the bread of migrate lower. This time it looked they were trying to escape the bread and dried out/ died. I’ll try again and monitor moisture better.

Moldy Rye has been rumored to cause interesting behavior in humans. Either way, it is off the menu for the worms.

 

[Aqua Man]

The key here is to have several cultures running at a time- as one starts to peaks the next is just coming up. When the best producing one crashes I compost it and start with the next.

Agreed, colony was small. Wasn’t ready to split yet. Going to buy 2 cultures and try again.

Or maybe it was ready. How do you decide it’s ready to split?

 

[lapin]

Ran out of wheat. Also use yogurt and yeast.


Could of been on the drier side. Usually the top gets a bit dry and they just huddled under the bread of migrate lower. This time it looked they were trying to escape the bread and dried out/ died. I’ll try again and monitor moisture better.

Moldy Rye has been rumored to cause interesting behavior in humans. Either way, it is off the menu for the worms.

In a pinch use stuffing bread cubes ( it is the holidaze)

Agreed, colony was small. Wasn’t ready to split yet. Going to buy 2 cultures and try again.

Or maybe it was ready. How do you decide it’s ready to split?

If you see a ton of worms near the edge and crawling over the lids then the soil could be going bad. Thats a good time to split a colony.

If you have a ton of worms, split them.

Hint; If you keep then in the dark they will move towards the surface and make for easier harvest or splitting.

Im going to split mine today. I will try to get a picture.

 

[DanConnor]

Agreed, colony was small. Wasn’t ready to split yet. Going to buy 2 cultures and try again.

Or maybe it was ready. How do you decide it’s ready to split?

I don't split them- I keep starting new one's and discarding old ones. I lay a strip of needlepoint mesh on top and when I gets a ton of worms I swish it off in a glass of fresh water. Then I feed with a turkey baster, and when I start a new culture, I start it with a squirt from there.

 

[lapin]

What you see is 1 months worth of growth of a new culture. To split it, I take 1 scoop, think large handfull, of the soil (coconut fiber) and add it to the new soil. The few worms in it will multiply in about a month so they can be harvested on a daily basis.

 

[WVNed]

Magic worm food
Equal parts of Purina cat chow, Gerber baby rice cereal and Cheerios cereal run through my food processor.
I give it to the culture by the teaspoonful so it is easy to not over or underfeed. No mold.
I fold a 1/2 sheet of Bounty paper towel and lay it on the soil and wet it. I do not put any water on the dirt. Just the towels. I place the food on the towel. If I do get it too wet I just put a dry towel in and let it suck up water from the culture. Just fold it a lay it on top of the old one. The worms eat the towels too. I have 3 towel stacks per culture.
I have 4 cultures going. This is the oldest.
11-13-20

12-30-20

I had flying bugs in my old cultures. Now I make holes in the tops and glue cloth over them with Amazing Goop.
No more flying bugs. Scratch the plastic with sandpaper, make a ring of glue and press a piece of old rag into it.

I am now getting enough worms to give some to 3 tanks every day.

 

[WVNed]

WvAquatics PMed me in November. He was looking for a starter culture then. I had to tell him no. I just didnt have many worms and was struggling. I had just changed how I was keeping them and starting over.
This was my reply. I like to be specific.


Dirt - I am using this I got at Home Depot
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kellogg...oil-for-Flowers-and-Vegetables-6850/205617876
I tried peat, coco fiber and the potting soil I already had. None of it worked. The soil above is the closet to what the worms come In I have found.
I tried the yogurt on bread thing. I didn't find a brand at Kroger they would even come near and the bread molds fast.
I put down about an inch of the dirt above then fold a half sheet of bounty into a rectangle. Then lay the towel on the dirt put the food under it then I moisten the towel. The worms will eventually start eating the towel too. When the towel starts to go I put the food on top of it and put a new one right on it. If you get it to wet just place the towel dry and let it soak up the water from the dirt.

I am feeding a mixture of Purina cat chow, Gerber baby rice cereal and Cheerios that I ran through my food processor until it is mostly powder.

Yes I watched all the videos. My worms never mass up on top of the food. They live in the dirt.
They come on top of the towel once another covers it and are easy to collect then.

Gnats will grow in the culture. To stop them make some larger holes like 1/2 inch and then glue a piece of cloth over them. Scratch the plastic with some sandpaper and then use Amazing Goop glue to make a ring around the holes and press a cloth into it. This keeps the bugs out.

I have found mine only do well if I keep them under 70 degrees. This is my 2nd attempt. The first ones slowly died out over the summer and got bugs. I now keep them in a wine cooler at 56 degrees.
I have started two more using the same methods. Not many worms in them yet. It's only been a few weeks though.

If you want to know more search the net about pot worms. That's what they are called by gardeners.


That was after a long period of trial and error.

This is the state of things this morning.
Pics of the 4 cultures, my food and todays catch.

time to give them to the fish. They are escaping.

 

[hans4811]

WvAquatics PMed me in November. He was looking for a starter culture then. I had to tell him no. I just didnt have many worms and was struggling. I had just changed how I was keeping them and starting over.
This was my reply. I like to be specific.


Dirt - I am using this I got at Home Depot
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kellogg...oil-for-Flowers-and-Vegetables-6850/205617876
I tried peat, coco fiber and the potting soil I already had. None of it worked. The soil above is the closet to what the worms come In I have found.
I tried the yogurt on bread thing. I didn't find a brand at Kroger they would even come near and the bread molds fast.
I put down about an inch of the dirt above then fold a half sheet of bounty into a rectangle. Then lay the towel on the dirt put the food under it then I moisten the towel. The worms will eventually start eating the towel too. When the towel starts to go I put the food on top of it and put a new one right on it. If you get it to wet just place the towel dry and let it soak up the water from the dirt.

I am feeding a mixture of Purina cat chow, Gerber baby rice cereal and Cheerios that I ran through my food processor until it is mostly powder.

Yes I watched all the videos. My worms never mass up on top of the food. They live in the dirt.
They come on top of the towel once another covers it and are easy to collect then.

Gnats will grow in the culture. To stop them make some larger holes like 1/2 inch and then glue a piece of cloth over them. Scratch the plastic with some sandpaper and then use Amazing Goop glue to make a ring around the holes and press a cloth into it. This keeps the bugs out.

I have found mine only do well if I keep them under 70 degrees. This is my 2nd attempt. The first ones slowly died out over the summer and got bugs. I now keep them in a wine cooler at 56 degrees.
I have started two more using the same methods. Not many worms in them yet. It's only been a few weeks though.

If you want to know more search the net about pot worms. That's what they are called by gardeners.


That was after a long period of trial and error.

This is the state of things this morning.
Pics of the 4 cultures, my food and todays catch.

time to give them to the fish. They are escaping.

Wow...I have never been able to get that many worms. I have 3 tubs going atm and keep them in a mini fridge set at 55 degs or so....and use the bread, yogurt and yeast flakes. And they do mold after a few days, which is a pain. But the bigger pain is I have to pick out the worms with tweezers when I feed my fish, then sift out most of the dirt. I feed em worms daily and I wonder if I’m depleting them too quickly, never giving the colony a chance to grow, as I use all 3 of the tubs I got going.

May have to try your method here...

 

[HockeyRooster]

I can’t keep mould out of my culture and I think it’s about dead. Any suggestions to reduce the mould? Do I need to start over?