Live Whiteworms for Mandarins etc.

[TheEngineer]

Yes after I make sure the bread is nice and wet with my little mix I bury it.

I’m gonna try that! Seems like it would aid in the worms eating it and maybe hold back the mold process

 

[Paul B]

I opened the cover and 30 seconds later I got my camera and half of the worms already disappeared in the soil. They really hate light.

 

[TheEngineer]

I opened the cover and 30 seconds later I got my camera and half of the worms already disappeared in the soil. They really hate light.

Here’s mine. See how popular the dog food is?

 

[nanomania]

Fantastic post. Do u have a post with pics and black worm cultre too??

 

[Paul B]

I keep my blackworms in here.

 

[TheEngineer]

I came up with a trick to harvest the worms a little easier. I scoop a bunch of soil into a container and then give it a good soaking. Not drown it, but make it really wet. Then I put this mesh on top, cover it and come back in 20 minutes and voila! Just run my finger around the rim and I’ve got mostly clean worms ready to feed.

 

[Paul B]

Looks like a great idea

 

[cracker]

May I ask again, is 50 degree's too cold? my reason is this old dorm fridge would be the most logical place for me to raise these worms. In these parts during summer if You have "anything" organic out then the fruit fly's move in . Everything organic goes into a plastic grocery bag then in the freezer till garbage pickup. So in the garageee & kept cool/cold would be best. Then I wonder if the fridge is too airtight for them to breath? just considering the best place/chance for them to thrive. Thanks !

 

[Paul B]

I am not sure if 50 degrees is to cold. You may have to get some worms and put them in there. I don't think they would die, but they may not reproduce and they reproduce very fast. They would have plenty of air in your fridge. I don't think they breathe that much.

 

[cracker]

Thanks Pau,l I figured I'd have to start a culture & see how they did. Really would be the best place for me. Not sure If You have moved & all but hope that all goes as smooth a possible !

 

[SMB]

Just got my culture from Angels Plus. A large amount of very healthy worms it appears, anyway. They are now in their plastic dirt box.
I did notice they don't all go into the soil when it's dark and many stay along the sides of the container.

Paul, have you ever heard of feeding them with flake food? Seems like you could gut load them with what's in the prepared flakes.
Thanks for all the info.

 

[Paul B]

I think they will eat anything but the flakes will disintegrate very fast. I use whole grain bread with yogurt on it and some nutritional yeast. (not bakers yeast)

 

[TheEngineer]

My culture is really cranking now. They devoured an entire hotdog bun (it was whole wheat and the last one) in two days. I’m not going to be able to harvest them fast enough pretty soon.

I’m gonna give chunks of the culture away for local club members to start their own. I guess that will help control it some.

Oh and the advice to bury the food is fantastic! Gone before the mold can start.

 

[SMB]

Same experience as TheEngineer. Buried the bread and it was gone in 2-3 days. I rolled over some dirt and thought I was looking at mold; nope, it started to move...hundreds of baby worms.

My biggest problem is getting the Mandarin to eat them. He is interested, and ate one, but now at least while I'm watching, he picks them up and spits them out. The tank he's in is 2 1/2 years old so he is likely eating pods, (and for now I am adding more). The Mandarin is very curious and waits for the feeding tube to deliver the food.
Hopefully he will develop a taste for worms.

Since I am only adding 5-6 worms at a time (the other fish are not that interested (the hermit crabs are), I harvest the worms with fine tweezers, rinse them in a small cup and direct feed with a feeding tube. Don't have to manage too much rinsing.

 

[Rakie]

I just ordered some. Seems easier and less expensive than black worms.

That's the main thing that kept me from blackworms...

The other thing that kept me from black worms was my fish are derpy and they were scared of them. My fish aren't no dummies, they know what food looks like... It comes from the silver wrapper and the food monster gives it to them with a pipette. These guys couldn't make it in the wild anymore lol

 

[esse]

uff my cultures went kind of nutso overnight & worms were squeezing out of the airholes and plugging them up. I don't think these cultures have been going that long, but are they abandoning the soil already?

 

[nanomania]

I am not sure if 50 degrees is to cold. You may have to get some worms and put them in there. I don't think they would die, but they may not reproduce and they reproduce very fast. They would have plenty of air in your fridge. I don't think they breathe that much.

Hi, i made a feeder like yours for mandarins/pipefish. The nauplii stays in the tube. Also the mandarin doesnt come closer to it. Any tips? I have also attached a Toms Hatch N Feeder. Do they eat from the water colum? Or it has to be the rock. The tank is 15g currently with 1500lph wm housing a mandarin and a coral banded, today adding a pipefish. Coral banded will be going in another tank.

 

[Paul B]

The other thing that kept me from black worms was my fish are derpy and they were scared of them.

Your fish are Sissy, Mary fish.

The nauplii stays in the tube. Also the mandarin doesnt come closer to it. Any tips?

You need to add a little water to the tube to push them down. I can't tell from here if your mesh is the right size. When you add a little water to the tube you should see some shrimp coming through the mesh. If you don't see any, the mesh is too small and the shrimp can't get through so the mandarin won't go near it. You have to experiment with mesh size. Mandarins won't hardly eat from the water column and rarely look up. The shrimp will all go to the surface in a matter of minutes and will be lost to the mandarin.

As for the worms, the fish seem to like blackworms a little better than whiteworms but they still eat them. I never tasted them myself so I don't really know what they taste like.

 

[nanomania]

Your fish are Sissy, Mary fish.



You need to add a little water to the tube to push them down. I can't tell from here if your mesh is the right size. When you add a little water to the tube you should see some shrimp coming through the mesh. If you don't see any, the mesh is too small and the shrimp can't get through so the mandarin won't go near it. You have to experiment with mesh size. Mandarins won't hardly eat from the water column and rarely look up. The shrimp will all go to the surface in a matter of minutes and will be lost to the mandarin.

As for the worms, the fish seem to like blackworms a little better than whiteworms but they still eat them. I never tasted them myself so I don't really know what they taste like.

What i do is i take tank water itself, then pour it all again through bottle. They do come through, but some stay in the tube. Just added a pipefish too. Here are some pics of the mesh.

 

[Paul B]

From here that mesh looks way to big. I think your shrimp are just coming right through it. If you used that sieve for the mesh, pour water and shrimp through it. I bet all the shrimp go through. Stockings would be much better. That's why your mandarin doesn't go there, all the shrimp get right out.