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Blackworm questions..

ForestDave

Member
Joined
12 Nov 2020
Messages
292
Location
Forest of Dean
Hi.
I bought some blackworms to culture and feed to my fish the other day. I'm now wondering if they're the right type of food for my fish and whether they would take over the tank and live in there if they don't get eaten. I've only got small-mouthed fish as I didn't want them eating my shrimp and suckerfish who wouldn't be interested in worms. Would these fish be interested in blackworms please and do the worms take over your tank if not eaten?
Tank inhabitants-
15 Cardinal tetra
8 Neon rainbows
4 Red robin gouramis ( who went, and stayed a skanky orange-brown colour within days of getting them!?).
2 Bristlenose
6 Ottos
7 Armano
2 armoured shrimp
1 bamboo shrimp
+200 RCS

Thanks!
 
I have kept and fed blackworms to my fish, and they have all loved them. My tetras, sparkling gouramis and apistos all LOVE them, even when the fish were very small they are always excited by some lovely blackworms. I'm sure your tetras, rainbows and gouramis will really enjoy them.

It's best to use them as a treat food I find, as the worms don't reproduce extremely quickly. Any that aren't eaten up go into the substrate and live, until a foraging fish comes along and gets a tasty treat! They won't take over your tank, the fish find them too irresistible.
 
My blackworm culturing attempt didn't really succeed, so others will be able to give a better answer. The issue I had is that they don't tend to reproduce sexually in aquariums, instead relying on division but where I placed them made it difficult to disturb them enough to cause division.
As the fish you have are mostly quite small and don't tend to dig, I imagine this will work to your advantage. I'm thinking if your fish are able to get hold of a worm the buried end of the worm might get lucky and win the tug of war, while the exposed end won't be so lucky, thus you'll get division naturally occuring and hopefully sustainable population in your substrate.
 
I have kept and fed blackworms to my fish, and they have all loved them. My tetras, sparkling gouramis and apistos all LOVE them, even when the fish were very small they are always excited by some lovely blackworms. I'm sure your tetras, rainbows and gouramis will really enjoy them.

It's best to use them as a treat food I find, as the worms don't reproduce extremely quickly. Any that aren't eaten up go into the substrate and live, until a foraging fish comes along and gets a tasty treat! They won't take over your tank, the fish find them too irresistible.
Thanks Shangman! That's really useful.
Sorry for delayed reply, I've been away and had no phone reception.
 
My blackworm culturing attempt didn't really succeed, so others will be able to give a better answer. The issue I had is that they don't tend to reproduce sexually in aquariums, instead relying on division but where I placed them made it difficult to disturb them enough to cause division.
As the fish you have are mostly quite small and don't tend to dig, I imagine this will work to your advantage. I'm thinking if your fish are able to get hold of a worm the buried end of the worm might get lucky and win the tug of war, while the exposed end won't be so lucky, thus you'll get division naturally occuring and hopefully sustainable population in your substrate.
Thanks ScareCrow.
I'm trying to culture them in a bucket of rainwater with old leaves in, as Darrel mentioned in a post that he did. I put some gravel in as well, as someone else mentioned that they seemed to do better with some gravel, potentially because they tore themselves apart whilst crawling through it? Either way I thought it sounded like a fun thing to do!
Sorry for delayed reply, I've been away and had no phone reception.
 
Hi all,

Have a look at <"Blackworm and Asellus bucket ">.

cheers Darrel
Thanks Darrel, I did read that as well as other sources when setting up my culture. I think the problem with mine was that they were in a section of the tank barely big enough for me to fit my hand and so catching them was almost impossible. I'm going to give it another go but taking inspiration from one of your other ideas. Keeping daphnia in a water butt but also adding Asellus aquaticus and blackworms. For the substrate I was thinking leaves and maybe some flint gravel. Then in a few weeks add some daphnia. My thinking is that the Asellus aquaticus and blackworms will generate enough waste to feed infusoria and the infusoria will feed the daphnia. Do you think this would work?

I put some gravel in as well, as someone else mentioned that they seemed to do better with some gravel, potentially because they tore themselves apart whilst crawling through it?
I did the same. I think it gives them something to burrow into and if you stir it up, it will help split them like you say.
 
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