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keeping Black worms


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#1 Guest_exasperatus2002_*

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Posted 22 December 2011 - 02:16 PM

I found a shop after much calling around & found someone who can order a 1/4 pound of live blackworms for me. Would I be able to put them in the tank to live in the substrate & the fish to forage for them or would that be to much in a 55 gallon? Also would they be ok in a sand base?

#2 Guest_frigginchi_*

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Posted 22 December 2011 - 03:30 PM

Once I had my colony of blackworms started I only fed my fish once a week or even less. Just make sure there are lots of plants and the tank doesn't get too hot.

I found a shop after much calling around & found someone who can order a 1/4 pound of live blackworms for me. Would I be able to put them in the tank to live in the substrate & the fish to forage for them or would that be to much in a 55 gallon? Also would they be ok in a sand base?



#3 Guest_Elijah_*

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Posted 23 December 2011 - 10:41 AM

I keep colonies of blackworms in planted tanks from 2.5g and up. I have to replenish them once in a while.

#4 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 23 December 2011 - 12:03 PM

They'll do well in there, but if you have very many fish they won't be able to form a sustainable colony. Fish will stop eating blackworms when the worms are gone. If there are only a few fish though you may end up with a very nice system.

#5 Guest_exasperatus2002_*

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Posted 23 December 2011 - 12:56 PM

They'll do well in there, but if you have very many fish they won't be able to form a sustainable colony. Fish will stop eating blackworms when the worms are gone. If there are only a few fish though you may end up with a very nice system.


Its a 55 gallon tank riffle tank with 8 darters, 10 juvenile rainbow shiners & 5 fatheads. I dont mind if they eventually wipe out the colony. I can buy more. Im more worried about my wifes reaction of a worm colony in the fridge if I couldnt put them all in the tank. reading on other threads Ive seen some people doing it. But they didnt say how much they had added or how they were maintained with the fish.

#6 Michael Wolfe

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Posted 23 December 2011 - 02:08 PM

Its a 55 gallon tank riffle tank with 8 darters, 10 juvenile rainbow shiners & 5 fatheads.


The worms don't stand a chance... you won't have to feed your tank for a week... but you will have to buy more worms in two weeks... or three
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#7 Guest_pam916_*

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Posted 06 April 2012 - 11:06 PM

I keep discus and used to feed them blackworms, I would order a pound at a time and keep them in a dish pan in my refrigerator. You just have to pour the water off of them daily and replace it with water of the same temp. My blackworms would last about 3-4 weeks. I tried to establish my own colony but never had any luck. The fish absolutely love them though. I finally quit feeding them because I kept getting warnings from the discus experts about them making my fish sick. I never had any problems. Here is a thread that was posted on the Simply Discus site that has all of the information on where to order them if anyone is interested. I think most of the blackworms sold in stores come from this source.

http://forum.simplyd...-Simply-Members

#8 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 09 April 2012 - 08:18 PM

I keep discus and used to feed them blackworms, I would order a pound at a time and keep them in a dish pan in my refrigerator. You just have to pour the water off of them daily and replace it with water of the same temp. My blackworms would last about 3-4 weeks. I tried to establish my own colony but never had any luck. The fish absolutely love them though. I finally quit feeding them because I kept getting warnings from the discus experts about them making my fish sick. I never had any problems. Here is a thread that was posted on the Simply Discus site that has all of the information on where to order them if anyone is interested. I think most of the blackworms sold in stores come from this source.

http://forum.simplyd...-Simply-Members

Hmm. This hyperlink takes me to a 'page not found' error.

#9 Guest_winniemagic_*

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 12:13 PM

When i was looking around for different kinds of cultures I found this. I think THIS is the site that Pam916 was talking about.


Is it considered good to have a culture of blackworms growing in your main tank?

Edited by winniemagic, 16 May 2012 - 12:47 PM.


#10 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 08:37 PM

Is it considered good to have a culture of blackworms growing in your main tank?

Yes. This is a happy fish: http://gallery.nanfa...hoto 3.jpg.html
http://gallery.nanfa...d crop.jpg.html
http://gallery.nanfa...er/034.JPG.html
http://gallery.nanfa...resize.jpg.html

Edited by EricaWieser, 16 May 2012 - 08:40 PM.


#11 Guest_winniemagic_*

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Posted 17 May 2012 - 10:37 AM

How do you start a culture in a tank? Cycle tank-->add worms--> add fish?

#12 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 17 May 2012 - 11:57 AM

How do you start a culture in a tank? Cycle tank-->add worms--> add fish?

Once the tank is cycled (which I define as ammonia being 0 ppm, nitrite being 0 ppm, and nitrate being above 20 ppm and steadily rising) you can add worms and fish in whatever order you want. I would periodically restock mine but eventually they were all eaten up. The biggest problem ended up being not the fish, but actually a blackworm eating species of leech that I think came in the bag with the blackworms. Separate your blackworms carefully before adding them to the tank. I thought I did but one leech must have made it through. The species that really ate all the worms was dark brown and eventually an individual grew to 6 to 8 inches long. They buried themselves under the kitty litter (pure clay) substrate and reproduced asexually by laying dark egg purses on the PVC pipe. That species is really what obliterated my blackworms.
youtube.com/watch?v=Jq1TKN4birQ
youtube.com/watch?v=LbAAlJkBVEM

Edited by EricaWieser, 17 May 2012 - 11:58 AM.


#13 Guest_winniemagic_*

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Posted 17 May 2012 - 05:46 PM

that's a gross looking flatworm.

Do picky fish usually eat freeze dried blackworms?




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