handling tubifex worms

[valice]

where in the west can i find fresh tubifex?
the ones i see at polyart looks real dark...

also the worms come in pretty big packets even for a 50cent pack... so how to store the rest?

[Justikanz]

That is a big packet?? I always think that cost too much! Redhill got 1 stall sells double of that for the same price... Heh heh... But I got lots of stuff to feed the worms to...

But, agree, really not easy to find worms on the west side, except Redhill market. Or your neighbourhood small LFS... If I get to go home early, the LFS at Gek Poh Shopping Center (@Jurong West) will have tubifex... But your side at Jurong East / Bukit Batok ah? Maybe Stormhawk can direct...

Ok, what colour you wnt the worms to be? Reddish? Actually, you can add the worm to fresh water and run an air pump... The worms will look red after a while... In fact, they usually turn red in my tank while in the feeding cup...

To keep them alive for a few days, you will need fresh, running water over the worms. Dun have to be really running, in fact, it can be just dripping from the tap. Alternatively, you can place them on a plate and spread them as thinly as possible... Make sure that they recieve fresh air and stay very humid... they breathe thru their wet skin... Oh, make sure they stay cool too...

[valice]

That is a big packet?? But I got lots of stuff to feed the worms to...

i only got 1 tank, so TAT is a big packet liaoz... hahaha...
can i juz put them into a tau way tub and leave it in the open? then use them to feed over a couple of days?

[Justikanz]

Oh, if you put them in stagnant water, prepare to have the tub SMELL pretty bad in 1 day... Open or not...

If you REALLY have to have them in the tub, try to have only enough water to just cover the worm mass that had been spread across the bottom of the tub. NEVER cover the worms if the water is stagnant or non-oxygenated. The water is just to keep them wet.

[elmike]

I have arrived at a stage in fishkeeping where I'll have no such thing as wriggly worms in my house! No way!

I regressed from flakes, dried-frozen, and all non-live to live blood worms, then "progressed" from life worms to frozen worms (cubes). When I was doing the Hikori frozen tubifex, there was always this fear that my daughter might mistake it for her chocholate bars and help herself to it. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed one day and it hit me that I'd to completely de-worm my fridge. I'd since done away with all frozen food even. It's not practical, if hygienic!

All water conditions being equal, a fish raised purely on flakes, dried worms will never be sicker than one on live food. Whether you eat raw meat or cooked meat, it's still protein, right?

Still no space for new fishes.

[Justikanz]

Well, there are some fish that will rather starve to death than take food that is not wriggling... So, no choice for some of us...

My badis and darios, for example, will NOT eat the dry stuff... So, not to say we are not progressing by not feeding dried food... In fact, we still have dried food and quality ones, too, for the other fish that don't mind taking them...

[XnSdVd]

An alternative, if somewhat unorthodox meathod would simply be to pour the whole lot into the tank.

And now, a lesson brought to you by the AQ guinnea pig:

Tubifex are not "dirty" animals as many of us believe.
They are in fact, a species of aquatic earthworm. They are simply farmed in a "dirty" environment. The "shit smell" that comes from them doesn't come from them at all. It's simply the smell of the water they come in.

But it's important to note that tubifex will happily subsist on a diet of dead plants and fish shit. In fact, I find the detritus in my tank has cleared up ALOT faster since I've cultured tubifex IN my tank. And by culture I mean dump the whole lot in and let nature take it's course. The advantage of this is that your fish will have a constant supply of food. Waste matter will be broken down into fertiliser faster and your plants will grow better as a result. Tubifex also irrigate the substrate making it easier for plants to spread their roots.

The one disadvantage is that tubifex will dig your baseferts to the surface and possibly cloud your tank. But this is only true if you have a huge population of worms compared to fish. And of course if there are no baseferts then this problem won't happen.

As a rough guide, assume that 1 sqft of substrate, 2inches deep(they don't usually go deeper than that) can support 1 teaspoon of worms.

[GaspingGurami]

They also helped clear the BGA under the gravel of my tank.

One way to keep tubifex alive for a week is to put it in a coffee strainer and put that strainer in the HOT filter where water can flow through. I've managed to keep them alive for 5 days or more this way.

[K11]

Very informative on the tubi worms, i also always had trouble keeping them alive, putting them in a tau huay tub of fresh stagnant water jus kill them in a few hours time, now i know how. Erm what about live blood worm? same methods you guys mentioned above?

[Justikanz]

Don't try to keep blood worms alive hor... Unless you want a room full of flies! I learnt that the hard way... I overfed and thought that the worms might either die or be snapped up in the next day... Wah! After a couple of days, I can see a couple of smallish insects flying about! That's also the reason why some LFS dun stock blood worms... If they cannot sell, they morph!

But, if you are interested, blood worms can be kept alive in similar conditions too... But they should be able to tahan stagnant water much better cos they have external breathing apparatus that water-based insect larvae usually have...

Back to tubifex... Once you noticed the worms are dying or turn shitty, you can minimise the damage or try to revive them by constantly changing the water they are in or run some air thru their water for some time... Usually, they will turn red again in 30 mins... But quite ironical... Saving them so they can be fed to your fish... Very *Duh*...

You can use this method to 'freshen' up the tubifex that you bought before you feed them... Or as XnSdVd mentioned, just dump the whole lot into the tank... But I dun particularly recommend that for small tanks. Unless you know what you are doing... Cos it may bring about a lot of damage in terms of sudden increase in the bioload....

[Justikanz]

I agree with XnSdVd and Gasping Gourami... The Tubifex worm had been blamed too much for being dirty and introducing parasites etc... I personally find them the most useful... Fish that fed on them look happier... And their size is smaller than blood worms, thus can fit into the mouths of smaller fish that refuses to eat dry food.

Also, they can be useful to keep the substrate aerated, like earthworms. They will also clear the uneaten food, decayed plant matter etc... In fact, I usually will try to establish a population of tubifex in my tanks...

[elmike]

Its sounds all too all familiar.
Before, I was like many other enthusiastic aquarists...want the best stuff for their fish.
I would think that after a while, many would lose the stamina to hatch or go buy live worms. By then, I would be happy if I get fed on a regularly basis...that is, if I were a fish.

In the meantime, I would advise all ye fishes to eat as much live worms as ye can.

[ranmasatome]

On a side note, Blood worms are actually young of flies in the familiy chironomidae. Commonly they are known to be midges...more importantly non biting midges. Biting midges are categorised into mostly family mycetophylidae. They are NOT to be confused with Mosquitoes..which fall in the family culicidae.

[andrewtyr]

ranma, u are saying tubifex will become flies?

[Justikanz]

Andrew, Ranmasatome is talking about bloodworms.

Tubifex are worms. They DUN become flies.

Bloodworms are the larvae of the midges (Thanks, Justin). So, they will become the midges (small flying insects) after some time...

[andrewtyr]

haha...I was cracking a joke there. lol

Anyone knows how tubifex breathe? I think they just diffuse oxygen though a thin layer of water on their body. If this water is void of oxygen, they suffocate and you get a big mess. Hence, running water is to continously supply oxygen to them.

Anyone tried air stone and giving them lots of water?

[Justikanz]

Like I mentioned earlier, running water or air stone in water will keep them fresh and nice...

Incidentally, I recalled an article teaching how to remove the worms from the dirt that they come from using milk powder and yeast or something like dat... Apparently, the worms hate that cos the oxygen is supply is depleted rapidly and take 'flight', leaving the dirt for cleaner water thru a net...

The worms should be able to breather thru their skin but I think the primary breathing function is thru their rear end, which is the one protruding out of the substrate and waving about. The waving about is to get more oxygen, incidentally...

[XnSdVd]

Justikanz is right to a degree, They actually breathe through their skin. And they wave their rear ends in the water above the substrate so more water passes over the skin. If there is sufficient oxygen in the water the tail end simply sticks up over the substrate. Like a field of tiny pink hairgrass

[stormhawk]

With tubifex, a strong current caused by increased aeration is not good. They don't quite like it. A shallow volume of water, good rinsing and the tubifex will stay alive for days. Just need to rinse them every now and then to get rid of the unwanted particles and dead worms. That's what I do every time.

OR, the best way, buy enough worms to last for a feeding. I buy 50 cents worth of worms and they're barely enough to feed all of my tanks.

[K11]

Think next time I'll use tubi instead of blood worm cause at least they won't become flies if keep alive for too long.