# Other Aquarium Forums > Fish Care, Nutrition and Water Management >  How to keep tubifex worms for more than one day

## chand72

Does anyone know how to keep TB worms for more than one day?

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## vinz

What are TB worms? Tubifex?

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## chand72

Oh yes tubifex worms.

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## vinz

Then call them tubifex worms... if we keep inventing shortforms, the forum will become harder to search. Title edited.

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## vinz

To keep tubifex worms alive for more than one day, you need to use a water drip. Put a tray of them under a dripping tap. The edge of the tray needs a small notch to allow the water to overflow. Slow drip is enough, a drop a sec perhaps. Change the water once a day.

This is what my dad used to do and we kept the worms alive for a week at least. Great waste of water though... I have a dripping tap at home and we can collect a quarter pail a day. We save the water for laundry and watering plants.

I wonder though... the worms just need fresh water, so I guess a filtered tank is probably a good solution... but probably larger than what we are willing to spare for "mere" worms.

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## zyblack

What I do with my tubifex worms when I get them home is to first "clean" them up. The cleaning process involves running them under tap water to remove debris that sometimes accompany the worms. Then next, I add a small quantity of mouthwash like "Listerine" to some tap water and swirl the worms in the solution for a couple of minutes. This will help disinfect the outer surface of the worms. Another round of flushing under the running tap water will remove traces of the "cleaning solution" and TA DA! Clean worms  :Smug: 

What I do next is to immerse the tubifex worms in water taken from my tank. The water in my tank has already been treated for chlorine and chloramine and is in a way "matured/aged". *Chlorine is deadly to tubifex worms if they get immersed in it for too long* so this method ensures that no chlorine gets to them. 

Next thing to do is to suppy loads of oxygen. Get an airpump and make sure the water gets loads of aeration. Just by this method alone I can keep the worms healthy and red for over 2-3 days.

To get them to survive longer, I need to feed them. Feeding them can be done by either dumping old ketapang leaves into the water or adding ketapang solution which I made from boiling ketapang leaves in water treated with anti-chlorine and anti-chloramine. The ketapang solution can be kept for some time in the fridge but I found out that the "Miracle Leaf" from Ocean Free (which is actually ketapang leaf tea bag) lasts much longer since it contains presevatives. 

This is the way I keep the tubifex worms for the past 1 year. So far so good.  :Wink:

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## chand72

Thank you very much for the valuable advise, sorry for using the short form too.

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## raglan

has anyone tried keeping them in the toilet tank ?

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## scarnhost

no i will not do it as is gross when you flush the toilet
bowl and worms come out.

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## raglan

> no i will not do it as is gross when you flush the toilet
> bowl and worms come out.


Bad if you have a bidet, huh ? :Laughing: 

I guess they use some fine netting around the container to prevent that ! I've never tried it, myself.

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## scarnhost

I managed to keep them alive for a week by changing the water 2 times a day and feeding them fish poop when i change the tank water

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## CK Yeo

Vinz is right about filtering the water. Nobody will consider an equal amount of bioload in such a small pool of water if they were fish. The trick is to keep the water fresh. Running water dilutes the ammonia produced.

ck

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## scarnhost

but dripping water from the tap contains chlorine that would kill them

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## freshfish

keeping worms in the toilet good one ! :Laughing:

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## raglan

> keeping worms in the toilet good one !


I googled chlorine and tubifex and got this.

I wouldn't mind getting some from a farm , as it sounds as though these come from. but that is Australia.

http://www.wormborough.com.au/tubifex.html

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## Viper007

> What I do with my tubifex worms when I get them home is to first "clean" them up. The cleaning process involves running them under tap water to remove debris that sometimes accompany the worms. Then next, I add a small quantity of mouthwash like "Listerine" to some tap water and swirl the worms in the solution for a couple of minutes. This will help disinfect the outer surface of the worms. Another round of flushing under the running tap water will remove traces of the "cleaning solution" and TA DA! Clean worms


Wah Listerine will not kill the worms meh?? :Shocked:

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## zyblack

> Wah Listerine will not kill the worms meh??


Nope. Even other brands of mouthwash also won't. But I think if you leave them in the mouthwash overnight should be able to kill them all.  :Razz:

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## Viper007

> Nope. Even other brands of mouthwash also won't. But I think if you leave them in the mouthwash overnight should be able to kill them all.


Hahaha thanks buddy!  :Smile:

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## tetrakid

Anyone keen to revive this neglected thread? 

I notice many lfs these days have stopped selling Tubifex. This is the only food that my group of Cory Sterbais think of.  :Smile:

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## DestinyRider

some of the tubifex worm survive in my tank as i have gravels.

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## mobile2007

This used to be a hot topic at another forum also. One of the method is, putting the worms in ketapang water. The worms will died slower and lesser smell. 

I tried, sometimes work, sometimes not.  :Embarassed:

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## mobile2007

Let's gather some facts about the worms based on the worms' living condition

1. They live in filthy water
2. They feed on chicken manure or pigs waste material

- From 1, they dont require clean water like your fish
- From 2, they can tolerate high nitrate or ammonia
- From 1+2, they can survived in low oxygen level
- From 2, the water is acidic but not too extreme

Any disagreement on the above ??

*Stage 2*

- From 2, the water contains lots of waste material, their food ???

*Final Conclusion*,

- water not that critical, but the "food" in the water sustained their lives

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## tetrakid

From what I have gathered so far, Tubifex's needs are:-
1. *Good oxygen supply*. This is perhaps why they thrive well in shallow running streams/waterways.
2.* Appropriate food supply*. In their 'natural' habitats, they feed on decaying matter and/or animal faeces .
3. *A suitable substrate*. They naturally dig into and stay in soft mud.
4. *Good clean water* (regular water changes).

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## mobile2007

I am not so sure on your 1 and 4. I used to collect tubifex from the drains around the pig farm near my house, the water there was stagnant and full of pigs waste. 
But i agree that good flowing water will be helpful, but not that critical.

Mainly I am speculating that the worms will thrive in water full of "food" - decaying matter/faeces. Most of the people dont feed them "appropriately" as they keep them in "clean" water. 





> From what I have gathered so far, Tubifex's needs are:-
> 1. *Good oxygen supply*. This is perhaps why they thrive well in shallow running streams/waterways.
> 2.* Appropriate food supply*. In their 'natural' habitats, they feed on decaying matter and/or animal faeces .
> 3. *A suitable substrate*. They naturally dig into and stay in soft mud.
> 4. *Good clean water* (regular water changes).

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## tetrakid

Somehow the Tubifex can tolerate the extreme conditions in their 'natural' habitat, namely dirty stagnant water, but when we keep them at home without aeration, they will die and rot. This is something to think about. At the moment, I have no problem keeping them alive for a few days. The only problem I face is knowing how much and how often to feed them, since food left uneaten will only cause more rot. Once I have an idea of how much food to feed them, I will start to experiment with different types of food, eg egg yolk, etc.

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## mobile2007

Also, the other thing is, i had seen them surviving without water, on moist mud substrate. 

Yah, the question of how much and how often.

I would say try those extreme rotten food or fine particle stuff like spirulina, yeast or soya bean powder. Most likely they seive those food particles from the water. 




> Somehow the Tubifex can tolerate the extreme conditions in their 'natural' habitat, namely dirty stagnant water, but when we keep them at home without aeration, they will die and rot. This is something to think about. At the moment, I have no problem keeping them alive for a few days. The only problem I face is knowing how much and how often to feed them, since food left uneaten will only cause more rot. Once I have an idea of how much food to feed them, I will start to experiment with different types of food, eg egg yolk, etc.

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## Blue Whale

The best info might have already been on the forum.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...-tubifex-worms

Article 2.
http://www.discusnews.com/article/cat-01/tubifex.shtml

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## tetrakid

Yes, that is true. They can survive well for a long time even without much water when they are just moist, as in most lfs which sell them in a tray just keeping them moist.

But I do believe they can be cultivated for long periods, only that they require the right conditions in which to live and grow. I see many baby worms in my 'culture' too, which will take maybe weeks for them to grow big. I also see some very big ones occasionally, maybe they are not Tubifex, but maybe they are.

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## Blue Whale

> Yes, that is true. They can survive well for a long time even without much water when they are just moist, as in most lfs which sell them in a tray just keeping them moist.
> 
> But I do believe they can be cultivated for long periods, only that they require the right conditions in which to live and grow. I see many baby worms in my 'culture' too, which will take maybe weeks for them to grow big. I also see some very big ones occasionally, maybe they are not Tubifex, but maybe they are.


Wikipedia tells you there are not just 1 type of this kind of worms. But the section isn't developed well enough to provide more information, hence you can use Uncle google to supplement the rest of the information required.

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## mobile2007

Yes, bluewhale, most of the info i got from the web and the 2 threads too. 

I am sure that cultivating tubifex is not that tough, but simply to many it's "dirty" and "unhealthy" to their pet fish.  :Smile:

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## Blue Whale

> Yes, bluewhale, most of the info i got from the web and the 2 threads too. 
> 
> I am sure that cultivating tubifex is not that tough, but simply to many it's "dirty" and "unhealthy" to their pet fish.


Main supply is still your LFS. But the main thing here is E.g. People go Y618 buy a big packet $1-2 tubi and cannot finish in 1 day, so they would want to learn how to keep the tubi alive until they finish off their stock. I do not think the main thing is to culture or even "breed" them. Since they eat dead stuffs, they eat dead worms as well, hence feeding is actually not required. If there is a ball of tubi, usually the center ones would always die off first (from past observation), before feeding, you would want to "wash them" first. But during our times in Kampong, we do not really wash them that much. Instead we use hand to pick out the live ones to feed the fish. Water Change is always conducted twice daily even without the dripping treatment. They are kept under the Tray of fish tanks and of course aeration is being provided. But water level is not high as well. If you consider the small amount of water change everyday, it isn't your regular one bucket full of water actually. So that is something for you all to ponder upon. Sometimes, buying 40cents worth weekly is sufficient as a treat for the fish. We can still supplement them with other food.

This is to train the fish to get used to different type of food in case of shortages. You don't expect our import to be always efficient. Occasionally during Festival Seasons, shortage of fish food is normal. Just last wednesday we have the earthquake from Indonesia, now follow that earthquake, several other places are being hit by earthquake as well. Just this week Monday sulaweisi, tuesday another hit again elsewhere. Now we cannot track all the natural events, even with modern tech. But you can assume one of these days, one of the supply chain can be affected by violent weather such as thunderstorm, Tsunami, etc. Should this happens, there are other food sources but your fish is not trained to eat them, they can actually die of hunger. So this is a thinker point for you. Singapore survived on land, sea, air imports. Such transportation is also at the mercy of mother nature. My advice is - Start training today to prepare for tomorrow. Even culturing algae water or green water whatever you call it, would help you too one day.

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## tetrakid

Actually, that is the reason why many hobbyists would like to cultivate it themselves, so as to have a constant supply of clean Tubifex. This is because of the fear of parasites, etc. But then, many people also fear hum (cockles), yet many people love to eat hum and consider it a delicacy.

Self-cultivated Tubifex will be free of disease-carrying germs.
.



> Yes, bluewhale, most of the info i got from the web and the 2 threads too. 
> 
> I am sure that cultivating tubifex is not that tough, but simply to many it's "dirty" and "unhealthy" to their pet fish.

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## Blue Whale

> Actually, that is the reason why many hobbyists would like to cultivate it themselves, so as to have a constant supply of clean Tubifex. This is because of the fear of parasites, etc. But then, many people also fear hum (cockles), yet many people love to eat hum and consider it a delicacy.
> 
> Self-cultivated Tubifex will be free of disease-carrying germs.
> .


How can you be sure? Always wash with Listerine? lol....we always assume we are right, and most of the time we are not right. Fish can still die you know?

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## mobile2007

Actually the most important reason people always trying to cultivate the tubifex is, the "wild" tubifex worms are full of harmful parasites and many have suffered casualties while feeding tubifex to their pet fish ( especially those into apisto ). Then why people still feed worms? Itchy backside obviously as it has very fast growth rate.

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## Blue Whale

> Actually the most important reason people always trying to cultivate the tubifex is, the "wild" tubifex worms are full of harmful parasites and many have suffered casualties while feeding tubifex to their pet fish ( especially those into apisto ). Then why people still feed worms? Itchy backside obviously as it has very fast growth rate.


In that case, won't grindal worms be a better food since they can eat gardenia bread for 3 months? Ha Ha... :Laughing:  Uncle Ron would be very happy if you want to buy a culture from him.

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## mobile2007

Well, i am kind of phobia of worms, especially one whole lump of tubifex worms. haha. Else i would have started cultivating the tubifex. I had grow brine shrimp from baby to adult. 





> Actually, that is the reason why many hobbyists would like to cultivate it themselves, so as to have a constant supply of clean Tubifex. This is because of the fear of parasites, etc. But then, many people also fear hum (cockles), yet many people love to eat hum and consider it a delicacy.
> 
> Self-cultivated Tubifex will be free of disease-carrying germs.
> .

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## mobile2007

Well, quite true also. But i guess mainly people are full of curiosity and love challenges. Also, tubifex is a better choice for adult fish due to it's size. 

For me, i am kind of phobia to worms. haha. best is pellet or brine shrimp, or frozen stuff which i dont need to lay my hands on it.




> In that case, won't grindal worms be a better food since they can eat gardenia bread for 3 months? Ha Ha... Uncle Ron would be very happy if you want to buy a culture from him.

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## Blue Whale

> Well, i am kind of phobia of worms, especially one whole lump of tubifex worms. haha. Else i would have started cultivating the tubifex. I had grow brine shrimp from baby to adult.


All in the name of fish bro, I used to be scare of cripies crawlies too. Flying cockroaches is the No. 1 see must terminate with extreme violent. Ants not so bad. I ate them alive (fat black type) back in Thailand, my man got a shock....ha ha. Okies, this is not to promote heros (zeros), so idea here is to let them live until the stock depletes. I don't think have to go deeper than that. Unless you have a huge Tubi farm say 2ft size and you are willing to endure the stinky smell, tubi is still call sludge worms. No matter how "clean" they might go through...they are still agents for intestinal diseases. They are branded Bad worms, Nasty worms, for a reason. BUT....you still can try. Hopefully you would have successful story. As for me, I ain't keeping them. Occasional treat I might still entertain.

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## tetrakid

Many people handle Tubifex worms with their fingers. They will pull off a small lump from the bundle and put it into the fish tank. Some may swish around the water with their fingers to scatter the worms for the fish.

But there's another way to handle Tubifex worms. My way of handling Tubifex is as below.

I have bought some droppers (also known as eye droppers) from Guardian Pharmacy. Whenever I feed my fish, I use the dropper to carefully suck up some worms from the side of the big bundle of worms in my worms container. I then release them into a disposal-type plastic cup. 

After taking enough worms, I will then rinse the worms a few times with tap water and by stirring with the dropper. At the last rinse, I will leave about half cup of water with the worms in it. At my fish tank, I will stir the worms in the cup to scatter them all apart. As soon as the scattered worms settle again on the bottom of the cup, I will use the dropper to suck up some and feed it to the fish. 

In this way, the worms will not be in lumps, and fish will eat it in an orderly manner. If the worms are dropped into the tank in a lump, fish will greedily gobble it up in big chunks and are then likely to spit it out again after chewing for a while, due choking on the uncomfortable bulk.

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## mobile2007

Usually i used a pincer to handle the worms.

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## tetrakid

I have used many methods to handle Tubifex worms. 

Long ago, I started off using my fingers to handle the worms, which is, urghh!!!. Then I used toothpicks when these were widely popular after a dinner meal. After that I used satay sticks. But when the satay club later closed down, I stopped using them. Then I used chopsticks when I was inspired by some singer on TV. I never knew chopsticks are so practical for worms too. 

But lately, for the purpose of good rinsing and to disentangle the worms to scatter in the fish tank, I've been using the _dropper and plastic cup method_ which I had mentioned earlier. And I think I shall be sticking to this method.  :Smile: 




> Usually i used a pincer to handle the worms.

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## Blue Whale

> I have used many methods to handle Tubifex worms. 
> 
> Long ago, I started off using my fingers to handle the worms, which is, urghh!!!. Then I used toothpicks when these were widely popular after a dinner meal. After that I used satay sticks. But when the satay club later closed down, I stopped using them. Then I used chopsticks when I was inspired by some singer on TV. I never knew chopsticks are so practical for worms too. 
> 
> But lately, for the purpose of good rinsing and to disentangle the worms to scatter in the fish tank, I've been using the _dropper and plastic cup method_ which I had mentioned earlier. And I think I shall be sticking to this method.


Ice cream stick.

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## tetrakid

Ooh, I forgot, I've also used those disposal plastic forks, which are very handy for such operations too.  :Smile:

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## allblacks

I am also attempting to cultivate live tubifex worms at home with expired fish food and occasional leaves that float on top of my aquarium.

Usually, the worms require daily "bath" with de-chlorinated water , otherwise the ammonia smell is overbearing , even with oxygen pumped into the water.
Lifespan so far with this method = around 3 to 5 days.

Currently using a long coffee spoon to handle them ; very useful when I drop them into the feeding cup. The underwater friends now associate the yellow coffee spoon+my presence near the right corner of the tank with worm snacks :Laughing: 

Still contemplating having a specific tank with filter to maintain them alive. Y618 (That Aquarium at Yishun Ring Road) and K.S. Aquarium in Chong Pang are my sources of live tubifex worms.  :Smile:

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