# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Killifish >  'Healthy & Clean' indoor culturing of live tubifex worms

## gary35111

Hi guys, just want to share this with you all. Some of you may have already know.

I saw this web-site on culturing tubifex by feeding them dead decomposed fish or feaces *YAK*. This guy talk about getting his first 100 'healthy' tubifex and using this method and now having thousands and thousands of them.

My killies are now eating granulate and I have no wish of spoiling them with too much livefood. Nevertheless, once in a blue moon, I think as a good owner I should let them have a taste of this wiggling natural food. But I have very bad experience with live tubifex and so, I thought, if I want to feed my fish then I must feed the best...or rather "my own best".

I wanted to try culturing live tubifex but 'healthy and clean' one. And so this is what I did. I bought 50 cents of live tubifex then poured them all into a container with antiseptic mouthwash (suggested by Mr Loh in his killi website) then I got another container filled with clean water and lots of fish medication (the type that says it cure external bacteria infection). Much of the tubifex were killed in the first container (this is what I want actually), and I picked up like a hundred or so surviving and wiggling one and put them in the second container.

I am not sure if I have successfully eliminated most or any bacteria the worms have on their body but at least I tried. Next, I filled to a centimeter or so of water in a 20 by 10 cm fish tank and added some watersafe solution and a cube of ice (to cool the water). Finally, I picked the best 'healthy looking' worms into their breeding home. I picked about 90+ of them. The rest, to hell they go.  :Twisted Evil:  

As for foods, NO WAY am I going to feed them dead decomposing fish or faeces. Rather, I use flake foods and tablets (the going to expired one  :Very Happy:  ). And guess what? They eat! But rather than eating them straight away, they usually eat them after hours like when the foods are decomposing. I was like man, they still prefer eating decomposing stuffs but whatever it is, the fish foods are better than fish corpses and shits.

It's been a week and a few days and guess what? The worms have multiplied! They now formed much bigger balls around the decomposing flake foods and tablets. I believe that you are what you eat, no offense, but I feel that most of our fishes are eating corpse and shit (that is why they fall ill) when they eat conventionally cultured tubifex worms. But still, these are arguably the best and economical livefoods worm around. 

I want my worms to at least contain some vitamin from those flake foods at least better than dead bodies or shit. That is why I am feeding them and culturing them with such foods rather than the dead decomposing and shitty stuffs. As for water change, strangely, after days, my water still remain crystal clear and no foul odour, perhaps it is due to the small about of worms or the type of foods I feed them. But when they increase in amount, I do pour off a bit of the water and add a cube of ice. the ice just melted and become cool water for them. I thought some of the worms were freezed to death but after some times, they were wiggling and going after those flake foods again.

The thing is, :P I have not yet feed any of this worms to my killies. Maybe it is just with me but I have many bad experience with feeding my killies livefood especially tubifex worms. I still have my reservation and this culturing tubifex worms thing is really just for some cheap fun. But hey, it kind of work. At least, they survive and mulitplied.

I just want to share. Some of you may have know about this or have better way. My method is just something I thought of and it is the cheapest and I think cleaner compare to that other guy feeding dead fish and shit. I am not sure if you can culture a lot with my method but a little maybe. Their population in my culture tank have increased that is for sure (I always wonder how they can do that...how they mate...  :Question:   :Question:  ). Anyway, at least when I feed them to my killies the next time, I would feel better pyschologically that I am feeding something other than dead shitty fish. 

Gary

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## stormhawk

Interesting stuff Gary, but the problem with tubifex is that they need cool, running water to survive. Do you aerate your container or do you just rely on regular water changes?

I know tubifex feed on rotting flesh, I've seen it with my own eyes and they make short work of dead carcasses.

If possible, do post the URL of the website you mentioned. I'd like to take a look.  :Wink:

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## whuntley

Many years ago (50+?), we used to get Tubifex worms, probably from the sewer ditches of Mexico. The (mostly imagined) introduced disease problem got them banned in CA. Now Novalek brings them from E. Europe, and purges them well before packing in the mini breather bags.

Tubifex can have real junk in their gut, but a few days in clear running water purges all that as well as most surface bacteria. I observed that in the earliest days of Discus breeding, when one of the first pairs to breed in the US was housed at the Altadena Water Gardens in Pasadena CA. Those Discus were worth thousands of dollars, and were regularly fed copious amounts of Tubifex worms.  :Smile: 

Even after purging, Tubifex and Blackworms will quickly kill your fish, but not for the reasons you think. They are very rich sources of nitrogen, and their wastes are super high in ammonium, At high pH that can turn to deadly ammonia, and at lower pH the bacteria can quickly convert it to nitrite which displaces oxygen in the blood and causes "brown-blood" disease.

Salt can help the latter problem if your water isn't too soft. For either problem, the water needs to be cleaned by more frequent water changes and lush plant growth when feeding rich foods like worms.

We had highly chlorinated water when I was a student in So. CA. I just put an ounce or two of Tubifex in a quart canning jar and submerged it in the tank behind the toilet. It thus got several water changes a day, flushing out any dead worms and debris, but those were normally not visible in the toilet. It worked great and the worms never introduced any outside pathogens that I could identify. [Heavy feeding to condition breeders did give me the bad results above when I neglected a water change.]

Don't be afraid to feed worms, as their other byproduct is greatly improved egg quality and quantity. Just be aware that they are rich so you need to react accordingly.

It has cooled off, here, so I just ordered another pound of blackworms from Fresno. Blackworms have much less hemoglobin, so I cannot keep them in the toilet tank without drowning them. :-( I need to clear some refrigerator space for them.

Wright

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## gary35111

I can't find the address of the website anymore but if you typed tubifex worms in search engine, you should be able to get plenty of information. As for water change, I do not change them regularly. Maybe every 2 to 3 days when it get a little murky and with some dead worms (but the causality is very minimal. I usually just pick them up with a pincher about 3-4 of them).

I have since reduced the water level to like 0.5 cm and I add ice cube to keep cool. They do not seems to finish the "foods" as fast. It seems to take about a day or two for them to clear up all the decomposing flake foods. Personally, I find it weird that they take such a long time to finish the flake as compare to fish corpse when it is definitely much harder and usually bigger.

It's been like almost 2 weeks and they are still doing fine with no foul odour. Like I say, maybe it is with the number of them or the food I feed, I don't know. Haha, if I am successful, I may even consider patenting such worms and get $$$  :Laughing:  *No Lah* Just kidding. This is so simple stuff. Everyone can do it. And if this can be done, I really hope all tubifex farm or culturing for commercial purpose will do it this way, feed them 'healthier' decomposing stuffs. I mean, have you ever wonder why they are feeding these worms shit and then selling to us to feed our fish? There must surely be a better, cleaner and less stinky way. :P which is what I am trying to experiment now. 

Anyway, it is still too early to tell. I am keeping my fingers crossed. It's not even a month yet. Who knows when Singapore temperature soar, they would have all soar up to wormy heaven.

(One thing, the tubifex look pink though...)

Gary

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## timebomb

I'm amazed you can get the tubifex worms to not just stay alive but multiply by such a simple method, Gary. I've always thought without some kind of filtration system, it would be very difficult to keep tubifex alive for more than a week. Looks like I was wrong.

You should show us some pictures.

In the old days, there was a fish shop in the Havelock area that was well-known to have very fresh tubifex worms for sale. They do not keep their worms in trays like what most other fish shops do. They keep their worms on the concrete floor along the five-foot way in front of their shop. Besides that, they also have a constant flow of water running through the mass of worms. It's a terrible waste of water but the flow is slow. The cement keeps the worms cool and the flow of water removes all the scum. It's a good way to keep worms alive but I don't think they managed to get them to multiply.

Loh K L

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## stormhawk

Best information I found online was a university website showing how they maintained the worms in a flow-through system. The worms were fed a mash of vegetables and animal matter. However the amount of worms produced for harvesting did not make the effort worthwhile.

Given that the worms are plentiful in supply locally, I would rather buy a whole lot more and rinse it well rather than to culture them.

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## wcknight

Instead of tubifex, you may want to try raising and feeding Grindal worms. They are much easier to raise and less maintenance.

I used potting soil and feed them with oat bran. I have 3 or 4 containers, 10 x 20 cm. Keep the soil moist, feed once a day or every other day, and maybe restart a culture about once a month or every other month. The culture tend to get a bit funky after about 2 or 3 months.

Au Sul may have his cultures mature enough to supply some starter cultures.

They are not not as big as tubifex - only about one cm long, but the fish really go for them all the same, PLUS you can feed to younger fish without having to chop them up.

Wes

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## gary35111

My tubifex are still alive and no dead worm today. Actually, I am not sure the 'bigger' ball of tubifex is the result of their reproduction or growth. I think it is probably their growth. I fed a few of them to my killies and wow, they are so long compare to a week ago and when I first pick them for the experiment.

Anyway, for those hobbyists who only have a few killies and only feed their fishes livefood once in a while, I think my method is quite a good way of keeping tubifex growing and alive, clean and hygenic maybe even healthy  :Very Happy:  . 

I only have a few killies and they all love the granulates I have trained them to take so it is not a problem of insufficiency with my little colony of tubifex. I do not have the space and have not intention of trying a bigger culture. :P Maybe it is not even a culture. I have yet to see many small worms. Only a few which I am not sure if it is baby tubifex or remnant of tubifex I accidentally cutted with the pincher.

Gary

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## michael hsu

Hello, I was browsing through the site in search of information on culturing tubifex and came upon this one. One of the sites that I visited previously mentioned that I have to have the right amount of ammonia within the tubifex pond. It that really necessary? Please let me know. Thank you for your attention

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## stormhawk

No idea if they need ammonia much, but in fresh tap water they die within minutes. Since they do exist in polluted waters, it is likely that they are able to handle ammonia to a certain degree, before it reaches levels lethal to these worms.

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## kim m

I have a friend who cultivates tubifex in 90 litre containers.

He fills the comtainer with water, adds a lot of foam-cubes (filter foam) and an airline with an airstone. The he adds tubifex and feed them on carp/goldfish pellets. It works great for him.

I myself cultures a type of Lumbriculus (blackworm) that is native to Denmark. It tis similar to the Californian blackworm but a bit larger and more reddish. At my parents house there is also a pond where I can collect them in the thousands without too much trouble in the warmer months. I culture them the same way.

Live food is essential to me and all my fish get livefood at least 2 times a week. My "Rivulus" killies (mostly Anablepsoides now) are fed live food every day. BBS every other day and blackworms, daphnia, mosquito larvae etc. the other days. I collect daphnia and mosquitolarvae (at this time of year glass worms) two times a week. My Corys also get this food and I can clearly see an increase in spawning activity after a period of feeding live foods.

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## Shi Xuan

Kim,

You're very lucky to get assess to a variety of live foods. The only live food that most of our LFS in Singapore got to offer is tubifex worms, very much different as it was several years back when we can easily buy live bloodworms & daphnia. Now, I culture most of my live food & feed my fishes frozen bloodworms & live grindal worms almost exclusively. As for black mosquito larvae, we have to culture them discreetly & use it fast if we really have to do so because of malaria. 

It's really unfortunate that we couldn't have white worms, needless to say, the trip to Singapore would have killed them, else, it would have been a great food, saves the hassle to make endless trip to LFS for tubifex worms. 

Shi Xuan

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## kim m

White worms are good! Usually I have cultured them on coconut fibres, but I think the harvest was kind of time consuming, so now I've tried the same as I do for my micro worms; moist cereal with some spiruluna powder. Time will tell if it works better  :Smile:

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## Shi Xuan

Hmm... I don't have any option of culturing white worms but if their smaller cousin, grindal worms count, maybe you can try opting for synthetic culturing method, peat hassle free & cleaner, so it's easier to harvest the worms for feeding. 

I used cereals initially but somehow, the yield wasn't as great as cat food. Now, I have a few cultures going in case any of them crashes & I lose them all. :Opps:

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## kim m

Yes, I've seen them cultured on foam-mats...will see how the sereal-approach goes. If it's not a success I'll give the mats a go  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

My scrubber pad grindal box is still going strong. Been a year now and still producing.

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## michael hsu

Wow, all of you are so good with cultivating live worms. I'd like to ask a question. Let's say if I want to cultivate live worms by using mud, but am confused where to look for them. Is it alright to just use any mud we find anywhere, or do we have to take some steps to clean the mud before we can use them?

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## Shi Xuan

Hi Michael,

My understanding of culturing live worms is rather vague & deals specifically with one species of true worm, that is, grindals (_Enchytraeus buchholzi_). The culturing method only involves a media, some moisture & food, which is simple, easy yet efficient. I use a variety of food for the worms but friskies cat kibbles yielded the best result so far, & I'm able to harvest a lot of them twice daily.

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## stormhawk

Michael, I have no idea what worm you intend to culture, but mud is not exactly the best culture media.

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## michael hsu

I am trying to culture tubifex worm, and am looking for the best condition in which to cultivate them. What sort of media should I use, what type of condition is suitable for culturing tubifex worm, the right temperature, etc etc... If anyone have information on this, please let me know. Thank you very much. ^.^

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## darylets

> I am trying to culture tubifex worm, and am looking for the best condition in which to cultivate them. What sort of media should I use, what type of condition is suitable for culturing tubifex worm, the right temperature, etc etc... If anyone have information on this, please let me know. Thank you very much. ^.^


 same here, if anyone has good suggestions can pm me. thanks in advance !

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## stormhawk

This article will be helpful:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...lackworms.html

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## vannel

Just a side question..

How are you guys "cleaning" your LFS bought tubifex worms? How far do I have to go in terms of cleanliness? My current practice is simply rinsing the worms through with tapwater + antichlorine for a few times until the water is clear and the foul smell is no longer present. This process is repeated everytime before I do a feed in my tanks. I also feed the tubifex worms with abit of guppy food (maybe once every 2 days). Given this, I am only able to make the worms last 3-4 days before junking the leftovers into the toilet bowl. I don't really mind the drive down to the nearest LFS for tubifex every 4 days or so (perfectly valid excuse to go see the new stocks), but I'm more worried about the quality of tubifex I am feeding my fish with.

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## stormhawk

You need to let the worms stay in the container for about 48 hours so they purge their guts of their poop, which IMO, contains the scum that usually causes problems for fish. Ronnie gave me good advice the last time I visited him at home. As long as the worms are bright red with no visible black bits in their body, they are perfect for feeding fish. By bright red I almost mean wriggling insanely in the container in clean tank water. They should react and squeeze into a tight ball if kept properly. Some aeration in the container would be good during the storing phase.

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## vannel

Waa.. 48hrs before I can feed them..?

Actually, some LFS seem to have fresher tubifex than others. At least, whenever I visit my usual LFS, the tubifex seems to be as you describe, bright red and wriggling, reacting to movements and squeezing into a ball. The water in their packet also seems clean even after a day of sitting on the shelf, waiting for people to buy them. I have been to another LFS in my area that sells tubifex as well, but the tubifex are usually a dull shade of red and the water looks to be slightly murky, although they are probably packed on the same day as well.

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## stormhawk

I used to get my tubifex from Choong Sua Aquarium when it was still opened. When you buy the tubifex worms, the bag should not have that greyish muck that comes with most tubifex that are pre-bagged. That is their poop and the leftover bits of dead tubifex. They should be wriggling furiously and bright red in colour. It is a good sign that the water in the packet remains clean even after a day of sitting, so I guess you can try those.

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## RonWill

Anybody who wants to feed tubifex to their fishes but not willing to spend time cleaning worms thoroughly, should just stick to pellets and off-the-shelf prepared foods. Life need not be so complicated.

Most purchased tubifex (except for those lifeless mucky little bags) can be kept for at least 4 days, up to 2 weeks (if you know how), but it isn't easy to go past 3 weeks let alone culture them.

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## felix_fx2

I seldom buy them, but when I do I always flush and clean the dead away.
Also I do daily water change for the tubs I keep them in. Else it never last 1 week.

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## tetrakid

Maybe one of these days I will experiment culturing them in a glass marble medium with good aeration. Or perhaps with no medium but with a continuous water-dripping system, just to keep them wet and clean but not submerged underwater. I believe there must be a way to do it properly.  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

I'm doing an experiment now and it seems to be working. I left a small bunch of worms in a plastic tub with a layer of coco peat on the bottom, running off old aquarium water. They get aeration from an airstone. The container has 2-3 snails with a bunch of Moina and some floaters. So far the worms are still alive. I just squirt a little green water solution every now and then in the container. Currently having a Cyclops bloom.

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## darylets

> I'm doing an experiment now and it seems to be working. I left a small bunch of worms in a plastic tub with a layer of coco peat on the bottom, running off old aquarium water. They get aeration from an airstone. The container has 2-3 snails with a bunch of Moina and some floaters. So far the worms are still alive. I just squirt a little green water solution every now and then in the container. Currently having a Cyclops bloom.


 Hi Stormhawk, pardon me, but by green water solution, what exactly are you refering to? a product? or?

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## kidearth

was toying with the idea of culturing tubiflex worm and saw this thread. anyone knows if the following idea might work for culturing of tubiflex worm?

1 20x20x23 tank with simple filter
Some soil about 1 inch.


i recently bought some tubiflex worm from an LFS in hougang and fed them to my community tank. There were some left over and the worms burrowed in to the soil and seems to be living well at the bottom of the tank in the soil. Seems to be producing slowly and all pinky.

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## stormhawk

Green water is basically algae water. Suspension of free floating algae and small animals that feed on them.

They are tunneling worms much like earthworms, so a soil or gravel base will keep them happy. They feed on detritus and such, which is rich in most established tanks. In newer tanks they may die in the substrate. A circulating system with proper filtration helps in keeping them alive. I have them in my fry tanks where they are still alive after 3 weeks now.

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## darylets

ok thanks for clearing the air. With regards to the cycling system, do i have to cycle the tank like one does when you setup a shrimp tank?
and with that, not having any fry, what else can i put in my tank to keep mosquitoes from breeding

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## kidearth

> Green water is basically algae water. Suspension of free floating algae and small animals that feed on them.
> 
> They are tunneling worms much like earthworms, so a soil or gravel base will keep them happy. They feed on detritus and such, which is rich in most established tanks. In newer tanks they may die in the substrate. A circulating system with proper filtration helps in keeping them alive. I have them in my fry tanks where they are still alive after 3 weeks now.


hi stormhawk, how thick is the substrate in your tank?

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## kidearth

any photos you can share to get an idea?

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## stormhawk

Sorry I don't have any pictures.

I use a very thin layer about half a cm thick. They will form clusters in the substrate and turn them into small "hills" and balls. The container is quite small, around that of a mini plastic tank. Opaque on the sides but they are there wriggling. Water is a little brownish.

It's best to cycle the container with snails and other animals. A sponge filter also helps. The use of a Satellite box running off an established tank may be a better idea to deal with their filtration needs. Only keep a small amount and they will slowly multiply. You cannot keep a big lot alive unless you are very good with water changes.

The basic idea here to get a pond-like ecosystem going on. With some plants, worms, microscopic animals and some snails.

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## darylets

> It's best to cycle the container with snails and other animals. A sponge filter also helps. *The use of a Satellite box running off an established tank may be a better idea* to deal with their filtration needs. Only keep a small amount and they will slowly multiply. You cannot keep a big lot alive unless you are very good with water changes.


By that do u mean leaving them inside the satellite box? will my shrimps be affected?

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## stormhawk

They might, if they contain bacteria that might be lethal to your shrimps. They can survive in small containers with shallow water as long as it is changed regularly with aquarium water, never with tap water, even dechlorinated tap water.

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## darylets

shall give that a try. but with regards to the changing of water, do you remove the dead ones or just leave them inside? and as for feeding?, do we need to constantly feed the tubiflex worms?

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## stormhawk

You have to remove the dead worms and gunk that they produce. That is their poop and other dead matter. You can give them flake foods etc, nothing much. Just don't overfeed. I typically don't feed my worms. I just leave them as they are since anything leftover after 4 days to a week I just clear out. Some people use a sponge bed or a fine filter pad for the worms, which also works.

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## Emokidz

I don't culture tubifex intentionally. But I do notice that my tubifex worms survive for weeks (though I don't see them reproducing in large amounts) in aged KTP water where I grow my fry out. They just survive on organic matter / uneaten food in the tank. Same goes for daphnia in the same conditions. I normally introduced a squirt or too of daphnia / cyclops every two weeks and they seem to maintain their numbers for quite long. The fry, on the other hand, are constantly happy and full.

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## darylets

For me, I want to consider it as a new project for myself to try and see if culturing can be done by myself. If only culturing bloodworm was of somewhat similar, then that would be my first choice

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## Emokidz

I've had bloodworms in my grow out tank for a while too. They midge flies kept breeding in my grow out tub (since I kept a lid to ensure the air in the tub was moist). The bloodworms were annoying IMO as they made a burrow of silt/organic wastes each and made the whole tub look ugly and made them hard to harvest easily. Uneaten worms (which were quite many) became midge flies and started flying around in the tub.

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## darylets

> I've had bloodworms in my grow out tank for a while too. They midge flies kept breeding in my grow out tub (since I kept a lid to ensure the air in the tub was moist). The bloodworms were annoying IMO as they made a burrow of silt/organic wastes each and made the whole tub look ugly and made them hard to harvest easily. Uneaten worms (which were quite many) became midge flies and started flying around in the tub.


yup. Thats exactly what is happening on my side as well. Sigh... why cant they just be worms and reproduce... hiding is the problem. only pro farmers know how, by cutting off the oxygen supply and forcing them to come out of their hiding places then harvesting them

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## stormhawk

Bloodworm culturing can be difficult since you don't know what the adults feed on. They are probably pollinators of certain plants but I don't know what plants in particular. In any case, when they become an infestation, like what happened at Bedok Reservoir recently, it can be insanely annoying.

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## tetrakid

For Tubifex, I observe that they are clingers, their whole body must have something to cling on to. If there's nothing to cling, they will cling on to themselves. That is why when you separate them, they will quickly form a ball, a tiny ball if a few worms, a big clump if a lot. 

On my container, they cling fully on all the four sides of it, as there's a thin layer of algae-like substance there. All the worms are red and I assume from this that they are alive and well. Only very few turn white. Since they are natural clingers, I think using coco husk as mentioned by stormhawk, sponge, or other suitable material will provide them with a conducive envrionment to cling on to.

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## Trichopsis

It is commonly thought that adults of most midge species do not feed, living long enough only to reproduce. However, various species are known to feed on nectar, pollen, and honeydew (the excretions produced by sap-sucking bugs like aphids).

Another part of the problem with breeding midges stems from the fact that the emergence and reproduction of many species is linked to the phases of the moon and time of day or year. There is very little research on the taxonomy of midges in the region, let alone the reproductive biology of the various species. However, if it's possible for someone to attempt to collect some bloodworms from a drain or pond (bloodworms are usually the most abundant invertebrate in most freshwater bodies in Singapore), raise them to adulthood, and then try to get the adults to breed, it could potentially be a valuable contribution not just to fishkeeping and culturing of live foods, but also to entomological knowledge in Singapore.

There is a paper on how bloodworms were raised on farms in Hong Kong in the 1970s.

The swarms that emerge from places like Bedok Reservoir are mating swarms, and they probably occur year-round, just that the population of one species only explodes and turns into a nuisance in January. Oh, and there are several different midge species that form swarms at Bedok Reservoir, but only one particular species is involved in the swarms near the residential areas.

Here's more info on midges:
http://lazy-lizard-tales.blogspot.co...us-midges.html
http://lazy-lizard-tales.blogspot.co...of-midges.html

As an aside, I usually have thriving populations of tubifex worms in the gravel at the bottom of my aquarium. I think that might be the best way to ensure a long-term supply for the fishes, although it will be hard to get at those worms that have burrowed really deep into the sediment. Probably only kuhli loaches and spiny eels can access those.

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## stormhawk

I tested the Satellite Box method and it worked. A small amount of worms I used to feed a pair of my killies in the breeder box are still surviving in 3 separate balls. They form colonies in the detritus that accumulates at the bottom. Been that way for the past week or so and they are wriggling furiously.

Update on the "dirty" tub. The worms are still alive in the peat soup and detritus, along with a population of Moina and Cyclops. Has been that way for the past 2-3 weeks I think and still kicking.

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## RonWill

Ketapang tea, Satellite box and 'dirty' tubs will all work without much issues. My new target is keeping them alive for 2 months...

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## stormhawk

Ron, some of the remnants still alive after 1 month.  :Laughing:

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## RonWill

Remnants are for kids. I'm talking bulk!!  :Laughing: 

I've gone past the 1-month holding many moons ago. Keeping alive just that few worms doesn't justify my time and effort.

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## stormhawk

Took a video of my test "muck" pond with Tubifex and Moina happily coexisting together:




A full shot of the tub:



Pardon the dusty Eheim air pump. The tub gets about 12 hours of light daily from a Dymax 43 LED light that came with a second hand IQ5 I purchased. 
This used to be a green water tub but I was feeling the itch to experiment and dumped in a small amount of Moina. 
Over the weekend, I was given a pleasant surprise as the colony had exploded in size, given that I had squirted a very small amount of Moina into the tub.
Seeing as the green water was getting depleted, I decided to add in some Tubifex worms last Sunday to provide a source of nutrition for the Moina.
So far, the results are good.  :Grin: 

Other test container with peat as a substrate is still alive and kicking. I see Cyclops and Moina in that container along with the Tubifex.

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## stormhawk

4 days post inoculation:




Might be a little blurry, it's supposedly in the processing queue.

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## SirBest

Am amazed how far you guys will go prolonging the feed for your fishes. Kudos.

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## stormhawk

Update on the test Tubifex colony. It's been almost a month since the Tubifex have been living in the container. Right now it's fairly stable. I stopped feeding the snails altogether for almost 3 weeks now and still the same. Cyclops still in good numbers but no more Moina left.

This is one 3 "mounds" that contain balls of worms.

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## SirBest

One question here; are you trying to sustain the worms here or are you trying to reproduce them in numbers?

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## stormhawk

This is just an experiment to see how long I can keep them in an enclosed environment with little to zero water change.

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## SirBest

Thanks for the clarification. But one point to highlight, wouldnt not feeding your snail be a "bad" idea cause there is no waste generated by them to feed the Moina. Just my thoughts though.

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## stormhawk

They feed on the detritus and sometimes on the tubifex, which is normal for Ramshorns. I remove some snails every now and then to cut down on their population.

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## SirBest

Thanks for your explaination. But if your Ramshorns are feeding on the tubifex, then sustaining them for a much longer period of time would be much easier on your part since the numbers are decreasing; making the environment for ideal for the rest of the "not yet been eaten" tubifex.

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## tetrakid

Your worms will survive for a long time. As long as the worm tank's eco-system is maintained constantly balanced, it should survive indefinitely. And with not much water change, any tiny baby worms will have a greater chance of survival and thus increase the population. Overall, I see oxygenation as the most important factor to maintaining good health.



> This is just an experiment to see how long I can keep them in an enclosed environment with little to zero water change.

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## SirBest

> Your worms will survive for a long time. As long as the worm tank's eco-system is maintained constantly balanced, it should survive indefinitely. And with not much water change, any tiny baby worms will have a greater chance of survival and thus increase the population. Overall, I see oxygenation as the most important factor to maintaining good health.


This makes me ponder whether should I install a bubble stopper by Totto into my Tubifex holding tank to boost the level of dissolved oxygen in the water. I think the whole initiative about stretching the lifespan of the tubifex is only for times during Chinese New Year and other festive season when almost the whole Nation would be on holiday mood and our fishes will be on fasting mood.

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## tetrakid

Tubifex enjoy abundant oxygen. When you see then waving their tails and dancing happily in unison while they 
bury their heads in the mud, you can be sure they are thinking of nothing but oxygen in their little heads.
Therefore, they will welcome any means of maintaining good oxygen level in the water.  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

I did a test with the tubifex colony. Whenever I turn off the airstone, within 30 mins or so they'll start poking out of the muck. When it's on, you don't see them at all.

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## RonWill

> This makes me ponder whether should I install a bubble stopper by Totto into my Tubifex holding tank...


 Definitely YES! Increased O² doesn't benefit just worms alone but for fishes as well.

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## SirBest

> Definitely YES! Increased O² doesn't benefit just worms alone but for fishes as well.


Thanks for the pointer. I will start planning to make provision for a tubifex tank. I guess it will definitely not sit well with my other half who happen to patronize the same walkway in and out of the house.

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## tetrakid

I suppose when the water is agitated by the pump, they automatically react as though there's danger, especially after a period of calm.  :Smile: 

When the pump is off, they will be starved of oxygen _soon_, so they will stick out their long tails and 'dance' to grap for rare oxygen. Whereas with the pump on, oxygen is abundant in the water, so there's no need for them to do their dance thing, as they can relax and 'enjoy life' inside the mud, like most worms naturally do.  :Smile: 




> I did a test with the tubifex colony. Whenever I turn off the airstone, within 30 mins or so they'll start poking out of the muck. When it's on, you don't see them at all.

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## SirBest

I got to agree that tubifex do need a high amount of oxygen cause since the environment they are residing in surely sapped them off from the precious oxygen in the water.

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## Becka

I would like to offer my experience for you too. I just joined after reading some of these posts. I have been raising fish all my life. As a child and young adult, I lived in California. Then I lived in a few other states. Now I'm in Nebraska, and I'm having a real hard time finding any tubifex worm. I hate to have to collect them from the river’s edge to be honest. Anyway, I have always been very successful at setting up a mini echo system in an aquarium with my fish and the tubifex worm. I set up an under gravel filter in the middle of the aquarium and a flow filter on the back (appropriate to the size of the aquarium). I put growing plants around the back perimeter of the tank in pots, in the gravel, not on top of the under gravel filter. The worms grow and bread in this environment, help keep the gravel clean and feed the fish all at the same time. They use the under gravel filter as a breeding ground. They’ll spread from there into the gravel throughout the tank, and the lower parts of the plants too. The fish will eat enough of them to keep them from taking over. I have done this several times as I have moved and started over. It always works for me. I must note that you can NOT use black worms for this. It must be actual tubifex worms or it won’t work. I hope this helps some of you.

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## akillifan

Interesting idea to use a gravel filter as breeding ground for tubifex. Might just try it out when i can free up some space.

As for me, i have success in keeping tubi alive in a small 2 liter tank with a corner filter with activated carbon media and a fan blowing 24/7. The only issue is the number did not multiply fast enough.

Btw, what do you feed them? Just normal fish pellets? 

We can easily get tubi in LFS over here in Singapore but keeping/breeding on tubi will give some assurance they are clean and free from harmful disease.

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