worm question

[kangster]

last weekend i fed my fish their first live worm
i have tried live brine shrimp before but wasnt able to find a store that sells worms and it turned out that i only didnt ask the clerk
so i came home happily with a container of worms and my fish loved them

from surfing the web it looks like they were tubifex worms (the store labeled them as bloodworms) although IDK if they are the same thing
some of the worms managed to escape and burrowed in the sand showing their "butts" in the water while burrowed in the sand...they are still alive on day 3 (when i shine my LED flashlight after the lights are off, they hide under the sand and after a while they reappear)

i actually think they are cool and it is a great addition to the tank as i try my best to mimic the nature the fish would live in the wild
im just worried that since the tank is a tropical tank, the temperature stays at 79F and if this is too hot for the worms and they might die under sand and rot
i think my cories are trying to dig them once in a while and that will keep the population of these creatures under control...
im just worried they might die and rot...fouling the water quality

 

[gzeiger]

Tubifex are worms, "bloodworms" are actually insects (larvae of chironomid midges if you really want to know).

I wouldn't worry about the worms surviving long. The fish will get them.

 

[kangster]

i was kinda hoping that a small colony would survive and make my tank more natural...oh well

 

[gzeiger]

They are capable of surviving in your tank in general, but they are a highly favored food and if you want a permanent colony you'd need to start with a huge number of worms, very few and small fish like neon tetras or something, and lots of ground cover.