Blackworm culture yellow water.

[Miami Reef]

Hello. I have a heavily stocked black worm culture. I did 2 90% water changes today (12 hours apart) but the water STILL is yellow.

I don’t have any filtration. Only an airstone. I need to completely change the water 4 times to get it temporarily clear.

How can I make a clean system? This culture will crash unless I do daily water changes.

This picture is right after a water change. It’s freshwater. Not salt. I feed spirulina wafers (I think that’s the problem).

I also stir the worms up to cut and make them reproduce.

How can I get better filtration?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hello. I have a heavily stocked black worm culture. I did 2 90% water changes today (12 hours apart) but the water STILL is yellow.

I don’t have any filtration. Only an airstone. I need to completely change the water 4 times to get it temporarily clear.

How can I make a clean system? This culture will crash unless I do daily water changes.

This picture is right after a water change. It’s freshwater. Not salt. I feed spirulina wafers (I think that’s the problem).

I also stir the worms up to cut and make them reproduce.

How can I get better filtration?

Hello - Glad to meet a fellow wormer! things we do for our fish

The bioload ratio worms to water I'm running (and you, based on photo) on my cuture is H.E.A.V.Y. and I've no filtration with only an airstone for flow and oxygen so I expect frequent water changes. I also daily dose cycle bacteria because unlike your photo I'm bare bottom. I am being cheap using TopFin RediStart Nitrifying Bacteria Starter because its freshwater and its worms (and it keeps getting poured out with water changes daily...).

I've also got a black worm culture, and I'm doing 90% water change after each feeding of PE flakes (its what I had on hand... its just worms so only once I run out of food I wouldn't feed my fish regularly will I get wafers.. and those sound like good wafers because keep in mind - what we feed worms does feed our fish!)

I am not following recommended space, but Eastern Aquatics gave me a ratio that a pound of refrigerated blackworms needs space about equivalent of a catbox pan... worms on top can crush bottom worms otherwise... I think live worm culture being fed needs even more space. My culture tank (but a bucket works too) is large enough that there is space for worms to spread out though they like to pile on top of each other.

Like you, also just using airstone. Chatted with someone using sponge filter, but they have BIG tank with gravel, few worms and I'm not ready to commit that kind of space (and don't have that kind of space).

Hope this info helps you

 

[Miami Reef]

Hello - Glad to meet a fellow wormer! things we do for our fish

The bioload ratio worms to water I'm running (and you, based on photo) on my cuture is H.E.A.V.Y. and I've no filtration with only an airstone for flow and oxygen so I expect frequent water changes. I also daily dose cycle bacteria because unlike your photo I'm bare bottom. I am being cheap using TopFin RediStart Nitrifying Bacteria Starter because its freshwater and its worms (and it keeps getting poured out with water changes daily...).

I've also got a black worm culture, and I'm doing 90% water change after each feeding of PE flakes (its what I had on hand... its just worms so only once I run out of food I wouldn't feed my fish regularly will I get wafers.. and those sound like good wafers because keep in mind - what we feed worms does feed our fish!)

I am not following recommended space, but Eastern Aquatics gave me a ratio that a pound of refrigerated blackworms needs space about equivalent of a catbox pan... worms on top can crush bottom worms otherwise... I think live worm culture being fed needs even more space. My culture tank (but a bucket works too) is large enough that there is space for worms to spread out though they like to pile on top of each other.

Like you, also just using airstone. Chatted with someone using sponge filter, but they have BIG tank with gravel, few worms and I'm not ready to commit that kind of space (and don't have that kind of space).

Hope this info helps you

I think I found the problem. I’m WAYYYY over feeding. I feed like 4-5 spirulina wafers a day because they finish it so fast.

Im going to switch back to fish pellets, leaves, or brown paper bags. I’m also going to purchase some poly filters and let them float on the surface to absorb organics.

My worm bioload is extremely heavy. My overfeeding was causing the issues.

I love my culture and I wouldn’t ever give it up. It’s so sustainable and my culture is producing at a faster rate than what I can feed.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

I think I found the problem. I’m WAYYYY over feeding. I feed like 4-5 spirulina wafers a day because they finish it so fast.

Im going to switch back to fish pellets, leaves, or brown paper bags. I’m also going to purchase some poly filters and let them float on the surface to absorb organics.

My worm bioload is extremely heavy. My overfeeding was causing the issues.

I love my culture and I wouldn’t ever give it up. It’s so sustainable and my culture is producing at a faster rate than what I can feed.

I want to get where my culture produces at same or faster rate than I feed - YOU ROCK!!!! I've been incrementally increasing food but haven't yet found that balance. Thanks for giving me hope.



EDIT: FYI small worm quantity only lasted about week after that photo, and then had another pound shipped to me from Eastern Aquatics so I'm back to having nearly whole bottom of tiny tank filled with worms, though upon initial arrival had so many worms also went into 5 gallon buckets each with own airstone. Over time (feeding fish helps) was able to consolidate worm buckets into tiny tank shown

 

[Miami Reef]

I want to get where my culture produces at same or faster rate than I feed - YOU ROCK!!!! I've been incrementally increasing food but haven't yet found that balance. Thanks for giving me hope.



EDIT: FYI small worm quantity only lasted about week after that photo, and then had another pound shipped to me from Eastern Aquatics so I'm back to having nearly whole bottom of tiny tank filled with worms, though upon initial arrival had so many worms also went into 5 gallon buckets each with own airstone. Over time (feeding fish helps) was able to consolidate worm buckets into tiny tank shown

The trick is the gravel. I drain the water to the same level as the gravel and use a hard plastic tube to mix it and break the worms up. I do this about every time I do a water change. Maybe 5-6 times a week.