Ordered some Blackworms to feed with! What's your opinion?

[Maacc]

I just leave them whole turn off all the pumps and spot feed with a Julian Sprungs thing. I drop a few worms on each coral that can eat them.

 

[lake985]

How long do they survive in saltwater?

Usually less than a minute...long enough for the wiggling to entice a hungry fish!

 

[Larry L]

@revhtree Besides blackworms, I've heard people have good success with Easy Reefs Masstick when trying to get finicky copperbands to eat. Can stick to the glass, but maybe better stick it to an old coral skeleton so they can pick it off.

 

[JasPR]

Yep, black worms are the KEY acclimation trick for bring copper bands around. I feed twice a day in the beginning until they get nice and fat. I add live fresh frozen clams on the shell after a few weeks in quarantine. You can also house two in a 50 gallon breeder tans during acclimation ( separated by an egg crate divider-- it REALLY keeps feeding impulse high due to a sense of competition). after 4 weeks you can feed live black worms once a day and frozen thawed blood worms and eventually frozen thawed mysis with the blood worms-- you will notice that some will refuse such things and stay hooked on live black worms-- but 80% will wean off them and onto frozen and clams over time. I currently have two copper bands ( separate tanks) one takes ANYTHING offered and the other needs some live black worms along with frozen blood worms-- and he will take the occasional mysis but not enough to live on.

 

[jd371]

My fish get fed twice a day. The morning feeding is just a cube of either reg Brine shrimp or Spirulina Brine shrimp. The evening feeding starts off with Black and White worms followed by LRS reef frenzy. I bought the Black worms to feed my CBB when it was in the QT last year, he would only sparingly eat some Mysis. All the fish in my tank eat the worms, my Spotted Dragonet knows when they are coming and hangs out on the sand below while the rest of the fish circle the water surface waiting for them, he picks off the worms that make it to the bottom. Recently my Rainford's Goby who've I had for 6 months now and would only sift the sand and eat some algae off the rocks has started to eat the Black worms. He used to be timid when the other fish were being fed and kept his distance, not any more after eating the Black worms, he gets into the mix with the other fish now, this is the type of reaction the Black worms bring out in most fish.
I cultivate the White worms so that if the lfs is ever out of the Black worms I have some live worms on hand to give to the fish. They are very easy to cultivate, just a couple of inches of moist soil in a Tupperware container and a piece of wet bread to feed them every few days and that's it. The White worms don't die right away in the salt water like the Black do.

 

[revhtree]

I now have worms......ehhh

 

[foxt]

I feed my cbb blackworms 2x a day, and it is all the fish will eat. I watch it eat, probably takes 15-20 worms at each feeding. I need to try the masstick that has been mentioned.

There are options for keeping your worms fresh. The same place that sold you those worms also sells a keeper. It is a two piece container, the top part being where the worms sit, with a screened bottom, and that sits in the bottom part that holds water. The worms stay submerged, and you easily remove the bottom part to change the water. I keep mine in the fridge, change the water every two days or so.

Second option is to build a small habitat for the worms, they will even multiply for you. Paulb has a great thread on his setup, and most are a variation of his.

I find that all of the other fish love to eat worms, including my mandarins. Buying enough worms mailorder every month gets expensive, so I built a habitat and am trying to ramp up enough production to stay self sufficient.

 

[revhtree]

Well first feeding the CBB was all interested and would not eat any of the worms but would eat the LRS food. It been getting about 5-8 little chunk bites per feeding.

 

[Potatohead]

@revhtree Besides blackworms, I've heard people have good success with Easy Reefs Masstick when trying to get finicky copperbands to eat. Can stick to the glass, but maybe better stick it to an old coral skeleton so they can pick it off.

 

[paphater]

+1 on Masstick. My copperband and moorish idol go nuts for it. The MI actually gets so aggressive trying to defend the masstick he barely gets any.

I add black worms to my home made frozen food. Does anybody know what the larger white maggot looking critters are in the black worms? I wasn't too worried since they were going to be frozen but I've always been curious what they are.

 

[vetteguy53081]

As a former pet store owner, blackworms uneaten were bad news in fresh not to ention saltwater aquarium. They are a great enticer for CBB as they also represent aptasia but can decay in a tank quickly. I have never had a problem getting a CBB to eat. try seaweed/nori on a clip which should get your butterfly to start eating as well as live brine shrimp and mysis shrimp

 

[Sherman]

+1 on Masstick. My copperband and moorish idol go nuts for it. The MI actually gets so aggressive trying to defend the masstick he barely gets any.

I add black worms to my home made frozen food. Does anybody know what the larger white maggot looking critters are in the black worms? I wasn't too worried since they were going to be frozen but I've always been curious what they are.

My MI and regal also love the massstick

 

[cracker]

+1 on feeding the your new CCB. Revhtree . Just how big/long are these worms? All I can find here in town are freeze dried. I suppose I could dehydrate in Vita chem or something healthy & feed that way. What's the dewormer You soak food in?
Oh Ya! Can We see a pick of the new Aussie? I understand they have a slightly different coloration. Thanks !

 

[revhtree]

My CBB is now really tearing up the LRS food and doesn't want the blackworms. I guess once you start them on the best they don't want the rest! HA!

 

[revhtree]

Oh and now I have a ton of Blackworms that I need to give away. LOL!

 

[ReefFrenzy]

My CBB is now really tearing up the LRS food and doesn't want the blackworms. I guess once you start them on the best they don't want the rest! HA!

Awe thanks Rev! We do add live blackworms to our Fish Frenzy® frozen blend, as well as our fish eggs and polychaete worms for finicky feeders. We distribute that Masstick food and folks have had good results mixing it with water, LRS, or even fish eggs.

You can see a bunch of videos feeding various foods to finicky eaters on the Larry's Reef Services Youtube channel. This is the most recent:



I am glad you had such an easy time acclimating him! Now you just need to make him eat it out of your hand!

 

[puffy127]

My fish get NLS pellets 2x day, nori 1x day, frozen mysis or LRS 1x day, and live blackworms 1x day. I keep them in the wormkeeper in a dedicated mini fridge. 3 portions from my LFS will last me maybe 2 weeks.

 

[wowkingjames]

Following.....

 

[David S]

It has been quite awhile since I fed any of my fish live food, mainly because most of LFS's don't carry them.
But I did find out that Petland carries Blackworms and I picked some up yesterday.
I was really expecting a feeding frenzy from my Yellow Tang, Flame Angel and Melanurus but when I tried feeding the worms to them the Wrasse chowed down while the Tang and Angel gave looks as if "am I supposed to be eating this?".
Tried again today and same thing, except the wrasse wasn't as keen for it.
Did notice that one of the worms drifted over to a Rock Anemone which quickly devoured it.

 

[puffy127]

I use about this much for my 125g FOWLR:



Here's their 5th meal of the day: