Blackworm culture?

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jennandjuicetm

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Has anyone sucessfully kept a blackworm culture? I can't find too much about it other than one video of a 10 gallon tank, which is way more than I want haha.
 
Do you use a filter? How do you clean them?

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I use a sponge filter and they are on a drip overflow that changes out about 2 gallons of water a day.

I put down a brown paper towel for them every week or so and when it gets really gunky in there I just stir everything up and then siphon a bit, most of the worms settle to the bottom pretty quickly.
 
How much water are in the tanks? I thought they were air breathers and couldn't get oxygen from the water but it appears I was wrong about that. Is the filter for biological or mechanical filtration?

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The tanks are full. I have sponge filters on all of my tanks that have the drip overflow for added circulation. They do have sponges on them so I'm sure they do some biological and mechanical as well, since not all the tanks are planted.
 
The amount of water has to do with the stocking density. In a 10 gallon I'd start with 1/4 pound, it's an amount slightly larger than a golf ball. A sponge filter provides bio filtration, keep it suspended off the bottom, as they will go in there. You've got a small amount of worms in a large container of well oxygenated water, so O2 isn't an issue.

If you keep them in a refrigerator you can keep 1/4 pound in a sandwich size tupperware container, much smaller than a 10 gallon tank. You'll want to keep them in as little water as possible in this setup, so they do have access to O2, the surface where they contact air. The amount of water in this container would be measured in ounces, no where sufficient for that stocking density, and the refrigeration slows metabolism, nearly the same as pond fish work in the winter.

If you want to culture them there's no reason why you can't downsize the 10 gallon idea, a 2.5 gallon & 1 ounce will work. With a culture expect it to double every 4-6 weeks. This is commonly done by folks who don't have access to a shop or someone else selling live blackworms.

Seeing as I sell 50-75 pounds a month you can imagine the setup I'd need to cultivate them, there is no way I'm doing that. I keep 5 pounds at a time in 12"x22" food grade bins, rinsing & draining daily, no different from what you'd do with a small container & 1/4 pound. Get in 25 pounds, rinse & stack bins in a beater fridge in the basement, rinse daily & sell as needed. Here's a little info should you choose to go that route, or need to store some that you've cultivated; Organic Blackworms - Blackworm Care
 
:thumbup: i have mine in a shallow plastic container, its 2qt. I only need enpugh to feed four tanks (two 20s, a 75, and an oscar) twice a week. I just can't seem to keep them clean, but I haven't been using a filter. I will construct a tiny sponge filter and see if that helps any. The paper towels get so messy and are hard to separate after a while. Do you replace them before that?
 
Tolak, I kist saw your reply. Thank you! I can get them relatively easy from my LFS but I thought it would be healthier for my fish for me to culture them on my own. So even with the filter I should be doing a 100% wc a day? I can cut a square off the sponge in my filter right now and use that for the mini sponge filter. I can also get a taller bin if you think that would be needed, the one I have now is shallow. Am I correct in thinking I can feed them very small amounts of whatever I want? I was thinking of putting some plastic mesh for them to crawl in. I also have some java moss in there.
 
Heres what it looks like now. (The water isn't yellow, its from the flash.)
 

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When I messed with culturing them I used peat moss, as I had a big bale in the garage, and have used it in the past for a substrate. The filter should help keep them clean, and the java moss sure won't hurt. You only need to rinse them daily if they're kept in the refrigerator, the amount in your pic would easily fit in the mentioned sandwich size container if refrigerated.

It won't take much of a filter to keep them going, but at room temperature they will need to be fed. Any fish food will do, flakes, pellets, it doesn't matter much. In that container with that amount of worms you'd need to do a 50% water change weekly, no different from a fish tank.
 
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