Blackworms

[Kombat]

What happens to blackworms if they don't get eaten. I bought a culture at the lfs recently and fed some to the fish. In my betta tank I put one in and the betta gobbled it up right away. I put two more in for the ADF and the betta didn't see them and the frog didn't go after them. When they got to the bottom they wriggled their way into the substrate. Is this bad? I assume there is enough "stuff" in the gravel to sustain them. Even if they start breeding would regular gravel vacuuming keep them under control?

In my main tank, a ball of them fell to the bottom. The gouramis went down and started munching on them, but some may have gotten into the substrate in that tank as well.

Is my gravel gonna start moving and wiggling in a few weeks or am I worrying about nothing?

Thanks,
Karl

 

[wendywc]

I wouldn't worry about it. They'll probably just die and you can gravel vac them later.

 

[Synirr]

They can live in your gravel for quite some time, but whenever they rise to the surface your fish are going to pick them off, so I wouldn't worry about it. I have this one betta who is a little... slow... and sometimes blackworms get into the gravel in his tank and stay there until the weekly water change, and they are still alive and well when I rinse them down the sink. They're not going to die and pollute your water, nor do I think they'll reproduce like mad or anything like that, so basically no worries