Live food cultures

[Sarpijk]

I've been messing around with live food cultures a lot last year. Had microworms (3 spp) (on oatmeal), no problems, but didn't need them anymore so neglected (and lost) cultures. I've had vinegar eels but didn't manage to keep those longer time.
Hyalella mexicana: ( aka scuds) finaly got a culture going ( bought starterpack in Germany). They are easy now, i put them in just a small tank, but also had them in all kind of tubs. I feed them cucumber. These i collect for my big tank mainly, the scuds are a bit to big for most small fish (apisto and smaller). The non eaten ones stay alive in the tank and are eaten when they are noticed. I've tried them in large quantities in a smaller tank ( breeding, so all sizes where in it), to see how self sustaining they where, but they harassed/ tickled a pair of apisto's that much in the night they jumped out of the tank (at least i guess that happened). These can be in lower numbers and probably sustain themselves in a densly planted lightly stocked tank.
Enchytreae en grindal worms: soil based cultures tend to crash every now and then, and i have mites on them ( these could originate from feeding bread). When i started them on clay granulate (Seramis) they are much more stable. When a culture starts to smell i can just rinse it in tapwater, carefully so the worms don't wash out, and feed them again. Mites are having a far harder time on granulate, and removing them after the food is gone is 1) easier and 2 ) more effective . I am sure i can get rid of them eventually. I feed the worms with soaked dog kibble, (soak in hot water for 30-60 mins, squash them onto the surface) , refeed when it's gone. I put a plastic card on top of the food, the worms will crawl onto that an i can brush them of with a wetted brush and dip that in the tank. I have found that the worms will need a bit of air, so leave a corner open or use a non- airtight container. Due to the high quality dogfood i believe this is a good food. I've used these exclusively on fish during a long time and ketp them healthy, and not to fat.
I've tried, and failed on Moina. but i want to try those again.
Brineshrimp: i've done those, but always found them to be a bit tedious. I am trying the daphnia dish right now (by Hobby)
grindal/enchytraeen

20170922_120057 by Ed Prust, on Flickr

Hyalella mexicana

20170922_120258 by Ed Prust, on Flickr

Hi Edvet, I like the idea of using clay for grindal cultures. Do you reckon I could use some Seachem Flourite- which clay based- mixed with some gravel?

 

[Edvet]

Seramis is inert, don't know that on the product you mentioned. As far as i know all soils will get mushy eventualy. You don't need sand. Seramis won't compact and stay moist easily. In time some foul slush will gather at the bottom, due to the wetness of the food and the metabolism of the worms. Scooping of the top half and transfering that to a new batch will solve that. The bottom half can be rinsed and reused if you want. You can even save the worms if you do it carefully.