happy_pitbull
Aug 27th 2007, 03:17 PM
I use microworms to feed small fish, like guppies, or fry. Any smaller type fish usually loves these to snack on !! I have grown MW's for a few years now, and just thought I would give a run down of some tips on how I culture them successfully :
-A clear plastic container makes it a lot easier, as you can see when the worms are crawling up the sides...which is where you collect them from. Punch a few small holes in the lid. And try to get a few cultures going. I always have around 5 cultures going just in case one of them dies on me.
-Put one slice of dry whole wheat bread on the bottom of the container. Take another piece of Whole wheat bread and wet it with warm water...just enough so the whole peace of bread is wet, and let the excess drip out a bit. (Water right out of the tap is fine.)
-Place the wet piece on top of the dry piece, and then sprinkle instant yeast over top of this, around 1/4 tsp should do, or less. You want a light covering, not too much yeast.
-Then spread a spoonful of the worm mix from an established culture over top of this. Cover, and put in a slightly warm place. I keep mine on top of the fridge. (I dont recommend the top of your lights on tanks, as they get too warm there, and the bread almost seems to cook a bit lol)
-It may take a few days or more for the worms to start growing good enough so you can harvest them, up to a week even.
-To harvest them: They need to be crawling up the sides of the container, and you swipe them from there with your finger then dip your finger in the tank to feed them to your fish. (It took me a long time to ever get my worms growing good like this...I had used instant mashed potatoes as my media for the worms at first, instead of the whole wheat bread, and found that to not work well for me.)
-If they dont grow fast enough for you and you need worms right away...(Only do this if you can see tonnes of worms crawling on the surface (by holding under a bright light and observing them at an angel you will see the surface glistening with movement), but none are crawling up the sides of the container...)...you can very carefully dampen a coffee filter and gently lay it on the surface of your culture. Let it sit for a few moments, or longer, and lift of. Take this and swish it into the aquarium...viola..wormies! (see it is hard to collect them from the surface of the culture as you will also get bread and gunk..so it is best to harvest them from the sides of the containers..but the coffee filter method works well also, and does not pick up much, if any, bread)
-If you find the culture is getting dry add a few drops of water. If it is really runny, then it is time to make a new culture. All this liquid is caused by worm wastes, and if a new culture is not made they can die in this. Or, when my cultures get runny, I sometimes just break up a piece of whole wheat bread and mix it into the culture, then sprinkle some more yeast on it. ;) They last a long time like this for me !
Experiment around with other media if you wish, you may find a method that works better for you. But always be sure to have one safe culture going, or more, so they dont all die off on you.
Good luck !
Min
-A clear plastic container makes it a lot easier, as you can see when the worms are crawling up the sides...which is where you collect them from. Punch a few small holes in the lid. And try to get a few cultures going. I always have around 5 cultures going just in case one of them dies on me.
-Put one slice of dry whole wheat bread on the bottom of the container. Take another piece of Whole wheat bread and wet it with warm water...just enough so the whole peace of bread is wet, and let the excess drip out a bit. (Water right out of the tap is fine.)
-Place the wet piece on top of the dry piece, and then sprinkle instant yeast over top of this, around 1/4 tsp should do, or less. You want a light covering, not too much yeast.
-Then spread a spoonful of the worm mix from an established culture over top of this. Cover, and put in a slightly warm place. I keep mine on top of the fridge. (I dont recommend the top of your lights on tanks, as they get too warm there, and the bread almost seems to cook a bit lol)
-It may take a few days or more for the worms to start growing good enough so you can harvest them, up to a week even.
-To harvest them: They need to be crawling up the sides of the container, and you swipe them from there with your finger then dip your finger in the tank to feed them to your fish. (It took me a long time to ever get my worms growing good like this...I had used instant mashed potatoes as my media for the worms at first, instead of the whole wheat bread, and found that to not work well for me.)
-If they dont grow fast enough for you and you need worms right away...(Only do this if you can see tonnes of worms crawling on the surface (by holding under a bright light and observing them at an angel you will see the surface glistening with movement), but none are crawling up the sides of the container...)...you can very carefully dampen a coffee filter and gently lay it on the surface of your culture. Let it sit for a few moments, or longer, and lift of. Take this and swish it into the aquarium...viola..wormies! (see it is hard to collect them from the surface of the culture as you will also get bread and gunk..so it is best to harvest them from the sides of the containers..but the coffee filter method works well also, and does not pick up much, if any, bread)
-If you find the culture is getting dry add a few drops of water. If it is really runny, then it is time to make a new culture. All this liquid is caused by worm wastes, and if a new culture is not made they can die in this. Or, when my cultures get runny, I sometimes just break up a piece of whole wheat bread and mix it into the culture, then sprinkle some more yeast on it. ;) They last a long time like this for me !
Experiment around with other media if you wish, you may find a method that works better for you. But always be sure to have one safe culture going, or more, so they dont all die off on you.
Good luck !
Min