Worms as food

OP
OP
Paul B

Paul B

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
18,658
Reaction score
64,235
Location
Long Island NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
No you can not. Worms will squeeze through the finest net you can find and if you try a coffee filter, it will clog in ten minutes. The worms know this and don't want to make it to easy for us.
 

Eckolancer

LED GURU
View Badges
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
1,916
Reaction score
312
Location
Carrollton
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Want to start out with saying this sounds like something I may need to try out. I have been in the hobby almost 15 years and have seen and read a lot. One thing I'm wondering about your tank is how does your tank still hold water after all these years? Did you switch tank? Reseal tank? If so how did you do the swap?
 
OP
OP
Paul B

Paul B

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
18,658
Reaction score
64,235
Location
Long Island NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My present tank is only about 38 years old. I had a smaller tank in my old home and when I moved here in 1979, I got this 100 gallon tank and I put everything from the 40 gallon into this tank. I just had to add more rocks and gravel which is dolomite.
I never did anything to it to seal it.
 
OP
OP
Paul B

Paul B

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
18,658
Reaction score
64,235
Location
Long Island NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Not so far.
 

Reg100

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
cumbria
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi there sorry to but in I have just ordered some white worms after reading this thread and I was wondering how you all feed them to your fish. I mean do you just drop them in or do you have some kind of feeder. Any help would be appreciated before my culture arrives. Thanks.
 
OP
OP
Paul B

Paul B

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
18,658
Reaction score
64,235
Location
Long Island NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I never just drop anything in my tank. I always use one of these.
 

ETORRES477

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
153
Reaction score
9
Location
Staten Island, NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Just got my culture today! I placed them in a wicker box with some top soil, made sure it was wet but not too wet, popped them in the basement fridge where I keep my portions of live black worms, and gave em a few milk soaked cheerios. Question Paul, how long do u think I'll have to wait until I have a large enough colony to harvest from, 2-3 weeks?
 

Reg100

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
cumbria
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi just got a culture mysef. Is it ok to keep them in the fridge as I'm just new to keeping these worms myself.
 
OP
OP
Paul B

Paul B

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
18,658
Reaction score
64,235
Location
Long Island NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
how long do u think I'll have to wait until I have a large enough colony to harvest from, 2-3 weeks?

You will wait forever as the refrigerator is to cold for white worms. About 70 degrees is fine. A couple of degrees cooler is nice but I have mine at about 70 and they have been there over a year. They multiply like crazy but can't do subtraction or division very well. It should take a month or so if you feed them before you get enough to harvest, then when there are enough adults, they keep going. I give them instant mashed potatoes or matzo's that I put a little fish oil on but they will eat almost anything.
 

Reg100

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
cumbria
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks for you advise I thought the fridge would be to cold but I wanted to be sure. Thanks again.
 

ETORRES477

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
153
Reaction score
9
Location
Staten Island, NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Yeah thanks for the info Paul. I took them out of the fridge and put them in a styrofoam cooler with an ice pack, my fish room gets a little hot this time of year.
 

NanaReefer

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 9, 2011
Messages
7,212
Reaction score
1,686
Location
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Paul- I only have 2 fish. A Royal Gramma & Bi-Colored a Blenny. Found a sight that sells Micro Worm cultures & White Worm cultures. Which size would be best? I've tried the black worms and they were to big and to hard for me to keep. ATM I'm feeding only Reef Frenzy which is loved by both fish.
 
OP
OP
Paul B

Paul B

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
18,658
Reaction score
64,235
Location
Long Island NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
White worms would be the correct size for those fish but you need to keep them in some wet dirt and feed them as I mentioned. With 2 fish the worms will last you forever but they are very good food. I would suppliment them with some clam or mysis but give some worms every day.

I took them out of the fridge and put them in a styrofoam cooler with an ice pack,
That would be better, put a Readers Digest in there for them to have something to read.
 

dre7606

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 4, 2013
Messages
27
Reaction score
3
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Paul - I know you feed both white and black worms but I can't find any black worms locally. Would you order the black worms or just feed the white worms if you could not purchase the black ones locally?
 
OP
OP
Paul B

Paul B

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
18,658
Reaction score
64,235
Location
Long Island NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If I personally could not get black worms locally I would build a worm keeper and cycle it for a month so I would have a continuous supply of blackworms. The fish don't seem to care that you can't get the food that is best for them and they don't have much of a sense of humor. Whiteworms are great but they are a little smaller and kind of hard to separate them from the soil although I am working on a way to do that more easily.
If I could not get any worms, I could not be in this hobby as I find them the most important thing in my arsenal of fish devices.
 

dre7606

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 4, 2013
Messages
27
Reaction score
3
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thank you sir..that was what I wanted to know...so worms..worms and more worms for me
 

NanaReefer

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 9, 2011
Messages
7,212
Reaction score
1,686
Location
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
White worms would be the correct size for those fish but you need to keep them in some wet dirt and feed them as I mentioned. With 2 fish the worms will last you forever but they are very good food. I would suppliment them with some clam or mysis but give some worms every day.[Quote


Thanks again Paul. Reef Frenzy has the clams plus shrimp, squid, fish and Pro-Biotics :)
 

TOP 10 Trending Threads

WHICH OF THESE CREEPY REEF CRITTERS IS MOST LIKELY TO GIVE YOU NIGHTMARES? (PICTURED IN THE THREAD)

  • The Bobbit Worm

    Votes: 50 66.7%
  • The Goblin Shark

    Votes: 4 5.3%
  • The Sea Wolf

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Giant Spider Crabs

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • The Stargazer Fish

    Votes: 5 6.7%
  • The Giant Isopod

    Votes: 9 12.0%
  • The Giant Squid

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • Other (Please explain!)

    Votes: 5 6.7%
Back
Top