CULTURING MICROWORMS
Ideal containers are margarine tubs with push on lids. You need to punch a few holes in the lid to allow your microworms to breathe. Your microworms feed on porridge oats(the kind you cook on cold winter mornings)mix some oats with warm water until the mixture is slightly drier than you would like to eat it, then carefully put 6-10mm in the bottom of your container being careful not to get any on the sides of the container. Using an old teaspoon (you won’t be using it in the kitchen again) spoon your starter culture onto the mix. Cover with the lid and leave in a warm place. The temperature should be no higher than 30degC. The warmer the culture the faster it multiplies. Top of your fishtank is ideal. After 2 days you should be able to see a shimmering movement on top of the culture(a bright light will help you see this) and a sort of creamy substance on the sides of the container, this creamy substance are your worms, literally thousands of them waiting to be fed to your baby fish!
HARVESTING YOUR WORMS
There are two ways of doing this both involve a paintbrush (kids/artist’s type)
1) Gently wipe your brush around the sides of the container, being very careful not to touch the oat mix (this will foul the water) and then swish in the tank with the fry.
2) Repeat the above step but this time rinse your brush in a small cup of (tank) water and pour the resulting mix into the tank(s), this method prevents diseases being spread from tank to tank. Your microworms do not carry any diseases.
Be sure to write the date your culture was started on the side of the container as after 4-6 weeks your culture will start to die off, it will darken and produce fewer worms. This is the time to restart your culture, simply prepare the porridge mix as before and place SMALL amounts of your old culture onto the mix to start all over again. The old culture can now be thrown away.
And finally a word of advice DO NOT OPEN your cultures in the living room, they have a strong yeasty, cheesy smell to them(a lot like very smelly feet) and a whiff of this is likely to make your wife/husband/child/pet start threatening divorce proceedings! A well ventilated area is recommended.
