Sharkey18 July 1, 2014 July 1, 2014 So I ordered two whiteworm starter cultures a while ago. They took so long to arrive that I forgot I ordered them. I suspect he delay was due to proper prep and the weather. But, they arrived last week. At first it didn't seem like there were many worms in there, or maybe they had all died. But I watered and fed and gave them a flat surface to crawl on like the inter web says to do and just a few days later I have a LOT of worms. I started by feeding dry cat food but the little buggers ate it really really fast. I watched a you tube video of a guy who feeds bread and yogurt and switched to that after the second day. Glad I did. They seem to really thrive on that. I harvested some yesterday and the fish seems thrilled with it, however, I don't really have enough yet to be feeding regularly. Also MANY of the worms were quite small and they are skinny little buggers. I bought two bigger containers and am going to transfer the two cultures into one larger container, wait for them to multiply and then set up a second large bin. I"m happy to share some worms when I have a few more. Anyone know what a reasonable sharing portion is? These are the containers they arrived in: Here's some worms and the flat thing I put the food under. And here are my bunches of worms and some yogurt bread stuck to the cover.
Coral Hind July 1, 2014 July 1, 2014 That is cool and gross at the same time. Do you have to keep them cool like black worms? What is the brown media they are in?
morgan175 July 1, 2014 July 1, 2014 Can you tell me where you got them from. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sharkey18 July 1, 2014 Author July 1, 2014 The media they are in is dirt. Most people use organic peat or soil to avoid any fertilizers. needs to be loose so they can breathe so peat is best or a soil peat mix. They do well in cool dark conditions, but I am keeping them in a drawer in the fish room which is usually a little warmer than avg. room temp. Possibly a little cooler in the dark drawer. I read that warmer increases the metabolism so you can get better growth than cooler, however faster growth means faster waste products and that yogurt bread gets gross really fast at 80 degrees. But the worms don't seem to mind. With black worms when you keep them cool you are trying to slow down metabolism to keep them alive longer, but they aren't multiplying. Blackworms don't even multiply fast enough at room temp to feed constantly. White worms are different because you CAN culture enough of them to constantly feed your fish because they multiply pretty readily. What I don't know is if they are more or less nutritious than black worms. I ordered from http://www.fishgobble.com/product/white-worm Keep in mind it took weeks to get them. Most places aren't even shipping now because it is too hot and all you will get is dead worms.
Sharkey18 July 1, 2014 Author July 1, 2014 I like what this guy is doing.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhWPNhI8iiU
morgan175 July 2, 2014 July 2, 2014 How long will all those worms last in his tub with water. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sharkey18 July 2, 2014 Author July 2, 2014 A few minutes at least. Long enough to walk to the tank and dump them in for the fish
monkiboy July 2, 2014 July 2, 2014 thanks for sharing laura. eager to see when you have a larger grow-out and set up in place!
DaveS July 4, 2014 July 4, 2014 That is cool and gross at the same time. Exactly my thoughts. Funny that you use an MP40 base cover to help grow the worms... LMK how they go. I need something small and nutritious for my baby chromis.
Sharkey18 February 20, 2015 Author February 20, 2015 So it's been 7 months since i last posted on this and my white worm culture has exploded. I transplanted the starter cultures to two larger containers. One culture did well, the other culture has always been anemic and declined to just a few worms over time. The culture that was doing well has exploded over the past 2 weeks. Here is a picture from yesterday. Yummy. I harvested a fed a lot of the worms. I also took a bunch and re-seeded the 2nd culture to see if I can get it to do better. I feed bread with yogurt every few days and remove anything that gets moldy. I also took them out of the refrigerator and now they sit on top of the frig. This means I pay more attention to them, which may have resulted in the worm explosion. I doubt it will keep up at this pace but it is exciting while it is happening and the fish are well fed.
paul b February 20, 2015 February 20, 2015 My culture is a few years old. I give them mashed potato flakes and matzo's for the Jewish worms.
dave w February 20, 2015 February 20, 2015 I'll bet they are doing really well for both of you in these cool temperatures. My question is where you grow them in hot weather. Sharkey it looks like you keep them in the fridge in the summer, yes? How long have you had them on the fridge top now? I'd like to grow them in quantity and wonder what temperature to keep trays at. If I put them in water would they disperse evenly or clump together? It would save some time to feed a lot of fish of they disperse evenly in the water. Or do you just feed them by hand?
YHSublime February 20, 2015 February 20, 2015 They would disperse. Paul b will attest to that they kick longer in saltwater than black worms. I know someone that keeps the on the HVAC during the summer when the ac runs. And cooler somewhere else in the winter. They are easy. I was putting selcon on unsalted saltines when I was working with them, you are what you eat.
YHSublime February 20, 2015 February 20, 2015 Oh, and you have to rinse and strain them out of the dirt.
paul b February 21, 2015 February 21, 2015 If I put them in water would they disperse evenly or clump together? It would save some time to feed a lot of fish of they disperse evenly in the water. In freshwater they clump together, in saltwater they just squirm and look like they are doing the macarana but they live almost all day in salt water and a few days in freshwater. I don't know how long they would live in beer.
AlanM February 21, 2015 February 21, 2015 I tossed my culture because I could never get rid of the gnats that lived in it. Even after flooding and drying a few times they kept coming back. The worms had been doing well, though.
YHSublime February 21, 2015 February 21, 2015 I tossed my culture because I could never get rid of the gnats that lived in it. Even after flooding and drying a few times they kept coming back. The worms had been doing well, though. I put a lid on mine, fixed that issue.
Sharkey18 February 21, 2015 Author February 21, 2015 They disperse really well in salt water. My biggest problem is the bread going moldy. I had some fruit flies and gnats in the summer which is one of the reasons i put them in the refrigerator. I think they like cooler temps, but I am not convinced they need it as cool as in the refrigerator. They are currently in the laundry room which is generally much colder than the rest of the house, but not refrigerator cold. The toughest part is separating them from the dirt. With them crawling up the walls like this it is much easier to harvest.
rtelles February 21, 2015 February 21, 2015 This is both disgusting and kind of awesome. I recently started feeding black worms to my tanks and everything goes absolutely bonkers for them. But as Paul B. noted in a forum post back in '87, the black worms don't live long enough for my mandarin to pay them any mind, so it looks like white worms are the way to go. For some reason, the sight of white worms eats at me a bit whereas black worms don't bother me in the least. That's an awesome culture, though, Sharkey.
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