Currently at its most optimal rate (ie. ample food and frequent water changes), the population can double every 3-4 days... but this requires constant work to do, as i need to check them regularly and feed more food as soon as they finish eating, and due to the high rate of feeding and growing (and waste production), i also have to change water frequently, at peak production i had to do 90% water change every day.
Speed of reproduction also depends on their starting numbers, each test culture i started with 20 worms (counted them individually), so it takes more time for them to multiply if starting with small quantities. Even with the population doubling every 3-4 days.... 20 > 40 > 80 > 160 etc, it still takes 2+ weeks of work to get enough worms to feed fishes, then each time i feed my fishes 80-100 worms, it drops the population of worms and i have to wait until they replenish again.
This sort of small culture is okay for those who only feed live food occasionally every few days (in my case its just for fun and watching the fishes eat). But for those who need a constant supply every day (ie. have many tanks or lots of fry to feed), will have to use much larger culture tubs and keep the culture going for many weeks and months until the dero worm population is much larger before starting to feed their fishes. That will need more space and more patience.
Their reproduction rate is highly dependent on food supply, the speed they grow is the speed they re-produce (since they multiply by fission). So if they are supplied food 24/7, they will sustain a high rate of reproduction... the only problem with feeding alot is the water quality drops faster, so have to do more water changes to keep up with the pace.
From what i've seen so far, dero worms can tolerate really crappy water quality (conditions whereby other creatures like moina and snails will die off, yet the dero worms are still alive), but their reproduction rate will tend to stall in such environments. An obvious sign is when the water starts getting stinky and the worms start to congregate in groups near the water surface. So they also do need good water conditions to sustain healthy growth rate and reproduction.
Basically the key is ample food + clean water = maximum reproduction rate, its all about balancing those 2 factors.
I'll be posting a more detailed thread with photos of my test culture, so there will be more info shared in that thread soon.
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