Live White worms

[Larry L]

I haven't had any luck with putting plastic canvas or a flat piece of plastic on top of the soil, but when the population gets going I harvest plenty of worms just by running my finger around the inside of the box, just above the soil line.

What I still don't have a good feel for is how wet to keep the soil. Usually I think it's too dry and keep adding water a little at a time, and next thing I know it's a soggy mess. If anybody has any good rule of thumb for that I'd appreciate hearing about it.

 

[Paul B]

It should be more soggy than dry, but not with a puddle on the bottom. If you squeeze it a little water should come out.
They can live submerged for days. Stir up the soil every few days to get some air down there.

 

[Jimmyneptune]

Just got my culture a week ago split it into and we are off to the races for my all organic tasty treats for my little buddies from the reef.
I already see some growth in the cultures I had one inside and one in my garage but moved that inside due to stupid Chicago weather and getting cold enough to snow twice this last week.
Both cultures were good but the one from the garage were moving a bit slower.;Cold

 

[SDK]

I haven't had any luck with putting plastic canvas or a flat piece of plastic on top of the soil, but when the population gets going I harvest plenty of worms just by running my finger around the inside of the box, just above the soil line.

What I still don't have a good feel for is how wet to keep the soil. Usually I think it's too dry and keep adding water a little at a time, and next thing I know it's a soggy mess. If anybody has any good rule of thumb for that I'd appreciate hearing about it.

The plastic needlepoint grid with holes about 1/8” works great, but the worms go where the food is. Put needlpoint grid down on the soil and food on top of the grid. Then cover that with a flat piece of plastic. You should get a lot of worms on the plastic. Just use the grid as a barrier between the soil and the plastic so you get less mess.

Thank you. I understand how to breed and keep the colony going. What I’m referring to is can they be harvested say weekly or biweekly? If so how would you keep them.

You can harvest a couple of days worth using a Blackworm keeper, which you can get on Amazon.

Amazon product

Put the White Worms in the keeper with enough water that it’s just touching the mesh so they stay moist. Then throw it in the fridge or a cool spot. I will harvest twice a week so I have them handy on busy weekday mornings.

I have a couple of these keepers because I buy black worms 1/4 lb at a time. They stay alive and fresh for months in the fridge and I alternate between the two.

 

[ReefHog]

You can harvest a couple of days worth using a Blackworm keeper, which you can get on Amazon.

Amazon product

Put the White Worms in the keeper with enough water that it’s just touching the mesh so they stay moist. Then throw it in the fridge or a cool spot. I will harvest twice a week so I have them handy on busy weekday mornings.

I have a couple of these keepers because I buy black worms 1/4 lb at a time. They stay alive and fresh for months in the fridge and I alternate between the two.

So white worms can live partially submerged in water or just on top of the water? How long will they survive in fridge this way? I have a keeper already which I don’t use because a months supply is too many black worms for it. And I find as long as I change the water with RO water every four days they do just fine for a month or more. Here’s what remains of my last batch I bought two weeks ago.

 

[ReefHog]

It should be more soggy than dry, but not with a puddle on the bottom. If you squeeze it a little water should come out.
They can live submerged for days. Stir up the soil every few days to get some air down there.

@Paul B Just seems like a lot of extra work stirring up soil, rinsing worms, rotating and restarting cultures, feeding weekly not to mention having a place to store two or more containers to keep it going. Is there a nutritional difference/advantage between black worms and white worms?

While on the subject, Can black worms be the only food source for fish? I ask because I have a pair of clowns that got hooked on black worms in quarantine ( Yea, I know ;Stop ) and now won't eat anything else. I can't put them into the main DT until they start eating mysis, clam or pellets or they won't get enough food in there. I guess I'm gonna have to let them starve for a few days so they have no choice.

 

[SDK]

I use cold bottled water that I keep in the fridge with the same results. I’ve gone close to three months with blackworms.

Correct on the white worms. I do “just wet but not submerged“ and keep them just a couple of days this way. My culture is large and down in my basement, so it’s a pain to get worms out of every day.

It’s possible that submerging them slightly and/or keeping them longer than three days is possible. I just never tried either. Might be worth fooling around with if you want to try....

 

[Barrnone]

How long does it typically take to get the culture to a size you can start harvesting?

 

[Paul B]

@Paul B Just seems like a lot of extra work stirring up soil, rinsing worms, rotating and restarting cultures, feeding weekly not to mention having a place to store two or more containers to keep it going. Is there a nutritional difference/advantage between black worms and white worms?

It beats all that work quarainining.
I only rinse them every couple of months and my last culture was many years old. I feed when there is no more food just like I feed myself.

I would not use fresh water worms as the total food source as I am sure it is missing a lot of nutrients and I always feed something else first because fish like worms so much, they won't eat regular food if they see worms.

There is a reason some of my fish are 29 years old and it ain't luck :cool:

 

[hans4811]

I would not use fresh water worms as the total food source as I am sure it is missing a lot of nutrients and I always feed something else first because fish like worms so much, they won't eat regular food if they see worms.

Wait...what !? Are fresh water worms that you mention the same as these white worms we're talking about here ? As I was planning on start feeding my fish just these white worms and some clams .... is that NOT a good idea now ? I didn't want to use the blackworms as someone said it'll dirty up your display and that you have to do a water change or something to that effect , which I don't really want to get into as I just dont see me doing that.

 

[Rybren]

Wait...what !? Are fresh water worms that you mention the same as these white worms we're talking about here ? As I was planning on start feeding my fish just these white worms and some clams .... is that NOT a good idea now ? I didn't want to use the blackworms as someone said it'll dirty up your display and that you have to do a water change or something to that effect , which I don't really want to get into as I just dont see me doing that.

No the the white worms are a good food source, as are black worms. Black worms don't mess up the tank, but they die relatively quickly after hitting the salt water. White worms will live longer in the tank.
I prefer black worms but can't get them any more.

 

[Larry L]

I was planning on start feeding my fish just these white worms and some clams

No the the white worms are a good food source, as are black worms.

Yes they are good food, but I think the point @Paul B was making is that these worms should not be the sole diet for your fish, because they are not saltwater aquatic worms and are not nutritionally complete for saltwater critters to eat. White worms live in soil, and black worms live in fresh water. It's similar to why you shouldn't feed lionfish a diet made up solely of goldfish or other freshwater feeder fish.

 

[Rybren]

Yes they are good food, but I think the point @Paul B was making is that these worms should not be the sole diet for your fish, because they are not saltwater aquatic worms and are not nutritionally complete for saltwater critters to eat. White worms live in soil, and black worms live in fresh water. It's similar to why you shouldn't feed lionfish a diet made up solely of goldfish or other freshwater feeder fish.

Agreed. I was just pointing out that they are, indeed, a good food source and not something to be worried about.

 

[hans4811]

So how often do you guys feed your fish these white worms then, if not every day ?

And @Rybren, you might want to look here for some blackworms. I haven't ordered any from these guys, but found them while searching for something on the east coast, as I live in Fla.

 

[Aqua Man]

My Google foo must really suck because I can’t find anywhere to buy white worms.

One possible place on Amazon called them Grindle worms, they had terrible reviews though.
Anyone have a good source for white worms? Please and thank you!

 

[sreefs]

Aqua Man where do you live?
I could maybe hook you up.

 

[sreefs]

Aqua Man where do you live?
I could maybe hook you up.

 

[Larry L]

I can’t find anywhere to buy white worms.

I recently got a really nice starter culture from Ebay seller "whitewormman", he also posts to YouTube as "White Worm Man".

 

[hans4811]

My Google foo must really suck because I can’t find anywhere to buy white worms.

One possible place on Amazon called them Grindle worms, they had terrible reviews though.
Anyone have a good source for white worms? Please and thank you!

Just google...live whiteworms...ebay has em among others.

 

[MichaelReefer]

I just fed my tank Clams, mysis, LRS and live whiteworms which I have aprox a million.
I honestly have no idea how people stay in this hobby without feeding live worms. I have been using worms since they were invented by probably Ralph Nader a long time ago. ;Smuggrin

Whiteworms stay alive in salt water for almost 5 days, Like Duh...Whats not to like. Everything except pipefish eat them, I almost ate them myself a few times when I was really hungry. ;Drool

You buy a starter culture for like $15.00 and from then on they are free except for a little dry cat food or bread and yogurt. But they grow 10 times faster on cat food but I don't think you can feed the worms to cats.

You probably shouldn't feed live worms if you quarantine because if you wanted to quarantine the worms for 72 days they would hate you. But for the other 18,000,000 people in the hobby, live worms are the best thing since Face book
(which I feel is the stupidest thing they invented for people with a face, or a book)

The worms do not bury themselves in the substrait in salt water, I am not sure why. But they stay there and just kind of do the Macarana dance inciting the fish like they have a death wish. Mandarins, scooter bleenies copperbands and just about everything else goes nuts for them and they are a perfect food, especially if you are trying to get your fish and keep them immune from everything except global warming and maybe Kim Kardashian. ;Bucktooth

Here are some Jewish worms eating a Matzo.

@Paul B

How "Nutritious" are the worms for fish? Compared to PE Mysis and etc? I have considered doing this but didn't know how beneficial they are versus other food.