Re: Aquatic Foods Blackworms

[Kate Breimayer <kate@munat.com>]

I haven't had problems with blackworms myself but I wash them well, 
store in aged water with a little salt, and change the water daily, and 
if it looks nasty I toss the batch. I do sometimes toss the batch in 
other cultures where it often regroups and becomes viable. I have them 
growing in a few tanks and remove them by placing a pad of filter 
material over their hangout, they crawl into and on it so then I move it 
to the fish tank and let them hunt away. Some stores have better storage 
than others and may sell worms that are way past viability. Overfeeding 
is also bad, they can cause bloat. And I suspect some species are more 
suited to them than others. Feed a mostly vegetarian species heavily and 
you will probably make the fish sick. My killies breed better on them 
and when I ran out the angels started eating their babies. Could be a 
coincidence.but I have about 50 baby gularis to show for it... I think 
rinsing them and changing the water daily is critical, storing in the 
fridge is probably too cold IMO as I raise them with almost no mortality 
at 72 degrees. I keep the feeders in the unheated part of the basement 
directly on the floor, it's probably 60 degrees or less. I think they 
use less oxygen at the lower temps so that is why they say put them in 
the fridge, but when I do that tons of them die and also I am at risk of 
spilling them, which is nasty. All in all I would say earthworms are 
cheaper and easier on the mind so if you are so inclined go with the 
earthworms and save yourself the money and the trouble.White worms are 
great too but earthworms seem to be the easiest overall, if you can 
handle the slicing and dicing...not my cup of tea. I just use blackworms 
when I feel like I need more fish breeding, and then skip it for a while.
Kate

welenofsky@comcast.net wrote:

> Thanks Sandy for the warning! I've also been feeding my fish worms whenever I 
> find them after it rains, with no problems. Sometimes I pull the big ones apart 
> or chop them up in the sink, then rinse the dirt out of their guts in a 
> colindar. I even cooked them once because I read that it stopped the slime 
> production, but it smelled horrible, and the fish didn't like them at all that 
> way.
>
> Susan
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