24hrs LFS?

[Blue Whale]

I wonder how do those LFS keep their stock of Tubifex worms alive over such long periods? I observe most of them just use a shallow pail, water & an airstone...

1. Use planted tank water.
2. The water have to be aerated.
3. It will last 1 week or more.

Seaview uses 2ft with chiller water, aerated as I could tell from last visit.

[tetrakid]

I think the secret lies in feeding them properly. Commercially, they are fed with either gu sai or ter sai, chicken sai etc (like with boons). I fed them with the sai of my fish whenever I siphon the bottom during water change. But my experiment is only in the early stage. I just want to keep them going as long as possible so I don't have to freeze them, since a packet is a lot.

My container has shallow water about 2" depth and aerated with bare airtubing (no stone) near the water surface without disturbing the worms integrity as a clump.

I wonder how do those LFS keep their stock of Tubifex worms alive over such long periods? I observe most of them just use a shallow pail, water & an airstone...

@tetrakid, may I know how you are aerating your worms' container? & are they in near-contact with your airstone, if any? Because last time I tried to keep them in a container with "aggressive" aeration, they managed to last longer but still barely made a week. Only thing I think may be causing the die-off is that I actually pile the worms on top of an airstone so that they are always tumbling through the water column.

[tetrakid]

Today, yet again, the mass of Tubifex worms has reduced a lot in size even before I do the water change. From this I can only conclude that the Tubifex worms EAT THEMSELVES, as whenever I did the stirring water changes, I did not notice any dead worms in the water.

One small tip about feeding with Tubifex worms for those who may wish to know. Using a dropper to suck some worms up for the fish is more convenient than using a stick or fingers. A droppers can be bought at pharmacies. Collect the correct amount of worms with the dropper into a flimsy plastic cup and wash this with a few times with tap water before feeding. By stirring the worms vigorously in the plastic cup with the dropper, they will separate and scatter into single worms, and I can either pour it all into the fish tank or use the dropper to feed a small amount at a time. Scattering the worms in this way is somehow better than feeding as one solid lump. And fish get enjoy the feast in a more lively manner.

[Blue Whale]

Today, yet again, the mass of Tubifex worms has reduced a lot in size even before I do the water change. From this I can only conclude that the Tubifex worms EAT THEMSELVES, as whenever I did the stirring water changes, I did not notice any dead worms in the water.

One small tip about feeding with Tubifex worms for those who may wish to know. Using a dropper to suck some worms up for the fish is more convenient than using a stick or fingers. A droppers can be bought at pharmacies. Collect the correct amount of worms with the dropper into a flimsy plastic cup and wash this with a few times with tap water before feeding. By stirring the worms vigorously in the plastic cup with the dropper, they will separate and scatter into single worms, and I can either pour it all into the fish tank or use the dropper to feed a small amount at a time. Scattering the worms in this way is somehow better than feeding as one solid lump. And fish get enjoy the feast in a more lively manner.

Use planted tank water, not tap water. The chlorine in the water will kill them.
Don't be guniang (girlish), use your hand will do...ha ha ha ha... If you can change a shitful filter with hands, you can do it with tubi as well. Normal feeding use toothpick or satay stick if you do not want to get dirty. No need to use turkey blaster to do it.

[tetrakid]

I use only very old aged water for the water changes. (I constantly keep a lot of aged water). The worms in my experiment were never washed with tap water. And also, I said I don't see any dead worms during the water changes. Normally, when I previously wash/rinse worms, I see a lot of dead worms in the mix.

I previously use a satay stick to feed the fish with Tubifex. But If I use the stick, I need to swirl the worms violently with the stick when I put it into the tank in order to scatter the worms. But doing that will harm the fish with the stick, since when they all come to snatch the food, they will all be wild and enthusiastic. I have been thinking how to solve this problem for a long time and the use of a small dropper is the ideal solution. (A DROPPER is not a turkey blaster. A turkey blaster is a huge thing used to blast big fat turkeys. And it is not even a turkey baster. A dropper is a miniature version of a turkey baster, if you will).

By the way, I am interested to scatter the worms finely rather than see the fish gobble from a lump because I think that how they eat is as important as what they eat. As an analogy, swallowing a chunk of meat is very different from savouring it properly.

Use planted tank water, not tap water. The chlorine in the water will kill them.
Don't be guniang (girlish), use your hand will do...ha ha ha ha... If you can change a shitful filter with hands, you can do it with tubi as well. Normal feeding use toothpick or satay stick if you do not want to get dirty. No need to use turkey blaster to do it.

[Marlinsons]

I use only very old aged water for the water changes. (I constantly keep a lot of aged water). The worms in my experiment were never washed with tap water. And also, I said I don't see any dead worms during the water changes. Normally, when I previously wash/rinse worms, I see a lot of dead worms in the mix.

I previously use a satay stick to feed the fish with Tubifex. But If I use the stick, I need to swirl the worms violently with the stick when I put it into the tank in order to scatter the worms. But doing that will harm the fish with the stick, since when they all come to snatch the food, they will all be wild and enthusiastic. I have been thinking how to solve this problem for a long time and the use of a small dropper is the ideal solution. (A DROPPER is not a turkey blaster. A turkey blaster is a huge thing used to blast big fat turkeys. And it is not even a turkey baster. A dropper is a miniature version of a turkey baster, if you will).

By the way, I am interested to scatter the worms finely rather than see the fish gobble from a lump because I think that how they eat is as important as what they eat. As an analogy, swallowing a chunk of meat is very different from savouring it properly.

What is the difference between feeding the fishes with dried food and tubiflex worms? Will the waste be worst? Not have tried this before. I only keep small fishes like tetras... will feeding tubiflex improve on their colour as well?

[tetrakid]

In fact, I had wanted to feed all my fish exclusively on dried food, with treats of live Daphnia (boon). I had wanted to avoid Tubifex altogether due to the parasites factor. But unfortunately, my group of proud Cory Sterbai wouldn't want anything else except Tubifex worms. I can't bear to see them starve thin, so I have no choice but to be into Tubifex. (There's no way anyone can make me do away with my Cory Sterbais).

It is believed that the danger of Tubifex lies in the contents of their gut, and as long as these contents are expelled, the danger can be avoided. Cultivating Tubifex is one way to prevent fish eating contaminated worms. Hence my current expeimentation with it.

What is the difference between feeding the fishes with dried food and tubiflex worms? Will the waste be worst? Not have tried this before. I only keep small fishes like tetras... will feeding tubiflex improve on their colour as well?

[icefire]

shows that the worms are dying and the rest of the worms are eating the dead worms.... LOL..

[icefire]

Use planted tank water, not tap water. The chlorine in the water will kill them.
Don't be guniang (girlish), use your hand will do...ha ha ha ha... If you can change a shitful filter with hands, you can do it with tubi as well. Normal feeding use toothpick or satay stick if you do not want to get dirty. No need to use turkey blaster to do it.

i personally am using tap water to wash them whenever i buy them from the LFS.. so far worms all look alive and fishes met no problems whether externally or internally so i can just assume that the chlorine kills the microorganisms and parasites.. been feeding maybe once or twice sometimes more per week.. doing so for past 1year plus...

[tetrakid]

Yes, that is exactly what I am trying to establish, but so far I couldn't find any confirmation about that. Since the reduction in mass is quite substantial each day, the dead worms have to have gone somewhere. But the worms in my experiment are always lively, just that the volume is much decreased.

@blue whale
Rinsing Tubifex with tap water does not kill them quickly. But many will die soon after the exposure to the chorine, especially the weaker or sickly ones. This is why a lump bought can survive for a few days even with tap rinsing.

shows that the worms are dying and the rest of the worms are eating the dead worms.... LOL..

[icefire]

Yes, that is exactly what I am trying to establish, but so far I couldn't find any confirmation about that. Since the reduction in mass is quite substantial each day, the dead worms have to have gone somewhere. But the worms in my experiment are always lively, just that the volume is much decreased.

@blue whale
Rinsing Tubifex with tap water does not kill them quickly. But many will die soon after the exposure to the chorine, especially the weaker or sickly ones. This is why a lump bought can survive for a few days even with tap rinsing.

i rinse per feeding lol(normally get 2-3 dollars) ... better to be safe than sorry IMHO

[tetrakid]

If you have many fish to feed and have a lfs or market stall lfs nearby, it is better to buy every other day rather than keep the worms for a few days, since the lfs will know all the tricks to keep the worms in good condition.

[icefire]

too far plus i'm lazy lol... btw LFS tubi they wont keep more than 3 days for most as they do not know how to take care of the tubi...

[darylets]

What is the difference between feeding the fishes with dried food and tubiflex worms? Will the waste be worst? Not have tried this before. I only keep small fishes like tetras... will feeding tubiflex improve on their colour as well?

Usually for me as a betta breeder, since we do not have live blood worms available in singapore anymore, live tubiflex, boon aka daphnia are the only viable substitutes which are more readily available. The benefits for fry, feeding live food helps to encourage faster growth as compared to dried food. For those who only keep say adult fishes, my advise is to minimalise feeding live food, especially tubiflex worms,firstly as said from the other bros : the source in which they came from and what they are fed with is not exactly clean, secondly,if you overfeed your fishes and there are leftover tubiflex, even after say you cultivate them, they would still clump up on your fishes "poop" and then it becomes toxic again.
This is probably why many choose dried food instead of tubiflex because of the uncertainty if your fish will fall sick from feeding.

[darylets]

Today, yet again, the mass of Tubifex worms has reduced a lot in size even before I do the water change. From this I can only conclude that the Tubifex worms EAT THEMSELVES, as whenever I did the stirring water changes, I did not notice any dead worms in the water.

One small tip about feeding with Tubifex worms for those who may wish to know. Using a dropper to suck some worms up for the fish is more convenient than using a stick or fingers. A droppers can be bought at pharmacies. Collect the correct amount of worms with the dropper into a flimsy plastic cup and wash this with a few times with tap water before feeding. By stirring the worms vigorously in the plastic cup with the dropper, they will separate and scatter into single worms, and I can either pour it all into the fish tank or use the dropper to feed a small amount at a time. Scattering the worms in this way is somehow better than feeding as one solid lump. And fish get enjoy the feast in a more lively manner.

Hi Tetrakid,
maybe you would want to look into a thread which has already touched on your topic and has seen some results.

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...-tubifex-worms

hope it helps!

[tetrakid]

@darylets
Ah, thank you very much for pointing me to the thread. Much appreciated.
Hope the Mods can delete for me all posts about Tubifex in this thread. Thanks.

[icefire]

@darylets
Ah, thank you very much for pointing me to the thread. Much appreciated.
Hope the Mods can delete for me all posts about Tubifex in this thread. Thanks.

dont need delete haha.. it also serves as another experience for us to learn more on breeding tubi

[tetrakid]

I suppose you are right. In any case, having some Tubifex handy all the time can also save us the trouble of going out in the middle of the night just to get Tubifex for their supper.

dont need delete haha.. it also serves as another experience for us to learn more on breeding tubi

[prodrive]

Polyart at Clementi ave 2 blk 328. Affirmative after talking to uncle there

[Bieffe]

Abit OT I see. 24hr very good for me as I work dame odd hours.

By the way where is this Aquastar? I searched and see Yishun and Elias. So where r they? Ppl say 3 units but looks like 1 small unit only leh.