Grindal Worms

[red99cat]

I'm feeding one group of betta fry grindal worms now, and am wondering if anyone has tips on culturing and collecting them for feeding. I have one culture in coconut fiber and another one in potting soil. I use a cut piece of a poly-top from betta containers and place it on top of the culture. Whatever worms are on the poly-top I dip in the fry tank. I midst the culture daily, and feed them with a sprinkle of fish fry food.

Any suggestions to improve on culturing and collection? I would like to increase the daily yield.

 

[BigC]

Grindalworms (Enchytraeus buchholzi) are small worms related to whiteworms (Enchytraeus albidus), but much easier to culture any much more productive. Culturing them is simplicity itself. Fill a plastic box (any size from margarine tub to large Tupperware container) with potting compost (you can use garden soil, but potting compost gives much more reliable results. Add water equal to half the volume of the compost, distributing it evenly to wet all the compost. Add worms, feed and cover with a piece of glass large enough to leave a 1 cm gap around the edges of the container. Pierce some holes in the container lid to allow the culture to breathe and not go stale. Keep the container containing your cultures at a temperature of around 20˚C - 24˚C. Keep the compost wet and do not let it dry out.

As the worms grow, they crawl up onto the glass and can be washed off. It's a good idea to wash them a once of twice before using to remove excess food and soil. Many different foods can be used to feed the worms, but the simplest and most reliable is powdered oatmeal, e.g. RedyBrek (this is vitamin and mineral enriched and adds to the nutritional content of the worms). Grindalworm cultures respond positively to being harvested frequently, i.e. on a daily basis, but can survive for several weeks without any attention. Lift the glass plate, sprinkle a little oatmeal on the surface of the culture, wash the worms off the glass and replace it on the culture.

Fry as small as 7-8mm will start taking the smallest grindalworms, and each culture lasts for many months, but eventually starts to smell and becomes less productive. At this point, start a new culture using some washed worms from an established culture as an innoculum. It is sometimes said that excessive feeding of grindalworms or whiteworms leads to the buildup of fatty deposits in fish which can kill them. While this could possibly be true if fish were fed grindalworms exclusively.
Regards
BigC
P.S. I am experimenting culturing them over filter foam in chinese takaway cartons, so far so good. And its much cleaner than potting compost. Only just started so I don't know what the yields will be like yet.

 

[red99cat]

BigC, thanks for the informative reply. One more question: How many grindal worm cultures do you have going at a time?

Grindalworms (Enchytraeus buchholzi) are small worms related to whiteworms (Enchytraeus albidus), but much easier to culture any much more productive. Culturing them is simplicity itself. Fill a plastic box (any size from margarine tub to large Tupperware container) with potting compost (you can use garden soil, but potting compost gives much more reliable results. Add water equal to half the volume of the compost, distributing it evenly to wet all the compost. Add worms, feed and cover with a piece of glass large enough to leave a 1 cm gap around the edges of the container. Pierce some holes in the container lid to allow the culture to breathe and not go stale. Keep the container containing your cultures at a temperature of around 20˚C - 24˚C. Keep the compost wet and do not let it dry out.

As the worms grow, they crawl up onto the glass and can be washed off. It's a good idea to wash them a once of twice before using to remove excess food and soil. Many different foods can be used to feed the worms, but the simplest and most reliable is powdered oatmeal, e.g. RedyBrek (this is vitamin and mineral enriched and adds to the nutritional content of the worms). Grindalworm cultures respond positively to being harvested frequently, i.e. on a daily basis, but can survive for several weeks without any attention. Lift the glass plate, sprinkle a little oatmeal on the surface of the culture, wash the worms off the glass and replace it on the culture.

Fry as small as 7-8mm will start taking the smallest grindalworms, and each culture lasts for many months, but eventually starts to smell and becomes less productive. At this point, start a new culture using some washed worms from an established culture as an innoculum. It is sometimes said that excessive feeding of grindalworms or whiteworms leads to the buildup of fatty deposits in fish which can kill them. While this could possibly be true if fish were fed grindalworms exclusively.
Regards
BigC
P.S. I am experimenting culturing them over filter foam in chinese takaway cartons, so far so good. And its much cleaner than potting compost. Only just started so I don't know what the yields will be like yet.

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[clover]

sorry to buy in but just like to say grindal ore the best fry food lol and i have 7 cultures going at one time