Feeding live tubiflex worms in a gravel setup

[blackmirror]

Hi,

I am currently running a planted tank with gravel.
I wanted to try feeding live tubiflex worms with the cone feeder
but my LFS adviced me not too.
I was told leftover worms will tunnel into the substrate and reproduce there.

However, I suspect if that does happen, my clown loach will weed them out just like the snails.

Anyone actually feed live tubiflex in a tank with substrate?
Any issues?

Thanks!

[eviltrain]

Actually the tubiflex can become part of the ecosystem in the substrate. For me, i find there's no problem with it. Unless you don't want unsightly worms crawling in your substrates

[blackmirror]

So any leftover worms that has fallen into the substrate will actually reproduce inside?

[eviltrain]

yesh. they will reproduce and become like 10 times larger.

[blackmirror]

Shucks.

Now Im not sure if i should try feeding live tubifex worms.

[Asgard]

I feed live tubifex too (for over 3 years now), and have no survivors in the gravel.
The dario dario's , rhinogobies and even (RCS & CRS) shrimps eat them.
In a small tank with only some killies I feed tubifex too, but not with a regular cone feeder. I made one myself from the small plastic cap of a sportsdrink bottle, burned a few holes in in with a hot needle, and mounted it on the glass with a suctioncup/steel tube holder. I place the bottom of the cup slightly below waterlevel, the tubifex will crawl out (hide from the light?) only one or two at a time, so it takes hours for the cup to empty. Fish have a "constant" flow of fresh food, works like a charm for me.
Bt.w. the shrimp will scavange/eat the cup empty if not chased away by the fish.

[blackmirror]

Right now, I have the following in my tank,

20 neon tetras
10 red koi swordtail
9 pink zebra danio
5 sterbai corydora
5 clown loaches
5 yamato shrimps

I am assuming any leftovers will be readily eaten by my fishes,
especially the clown loaches which dig the substrate so frequently.
(they cleared my tank of all snails in 1 night!)

Just worried if they are some worms that tunnel deep into the substrate and multiple,
it will be very unslightly.

[Stitch]

Wouldn't the worms go bad? No smell?

I feed live tubifex too (for over 3 years now), and have no survivors in the gravel.
The dario dario's , rhinogobies and even (RCS & CRS) shrimps eat them.
In a small tank with only some killies I feed tubifex too, but not with a regular cone feeder. I made one myself from the small plastic cap of a sportsdrink bottle, burned a few holes in in with a hot needle, and mounted it on the glass with a suctioncup/steel tube holder. I place the bottom of the cup slightly below waterlevel, the tubifex will crawl out (hide from the light?) only one or two at a time, so it takes hours for the cup to empty. Fish have a "constant" flow of fresh food, works like a charm for me.
Bt.w. the shrimp will scavange/eat the cup empty if not chased away by the fish.

[Asgard]

Why would they go bad and smell? they are live worms, they don't go bad until dead. The worms don't die in the cup, they 're on fresh flowing water for a few hours not days.

[Shaihulud]

yesh. they will reproduce and become like 10 times larger.

I wish mine would X10, then no need to culture them. Everything seems to eat them, even the snails I suspect!

[edwardchuajh]

well I have worms in my subtrate too, but I like how they pull and finish leftover food into the substrate where I presume breaks down and then gets absorbed by my rooted plants =)

[stormhawk]

To blackmirror,

This is what I used to do when I was still feeding live tubifex to my fish in a tank with gravel. I'd place a dish, preferably a clean clay dish or porcelain dish at the bottom of the tank, and then I'd place the cone feeder right above it. Sometimes the excess worms will come out of the feeder and sink slowly to the bottom of the tank, but in this case they land right in the dish.

But sometimes I'd take the easy way out and using a turkey baster/bulb syringe, I'd just squirt the ball of worms right on the dish. It works like a charm, and prevents them from tunnelling into your gravel.

Sometimes the side effect of using live tubifex in a gravel set-up, especially if they manage to escape into the gravel, is that other worms living amongst the tubifex will also start to proliferate in the gravel bed as well. I used to find some kind of a red ribbon worm in my gravel, after weeks of feeding my fish with live tubifex daily. Since then, I totally stopped using live tubifex in tanks with gravel.

It is so much less troublesome just to feed frozen bloodworm or some other frozen/dried food, that you can physically siphon out if uneaten, without having to worry about them running wild in your gravel.

[oiishi]

Hi, how to get rid of the live tubifex?
Just saw 1 today in my shrimps tank.....

[blackmirror]

I have tried feeding live tubiflex in my high bioload planted tank.

What I did was to get the cone feeder, put a small amount of tubiflex worm in it to ensure the fishes can finish without leftovers.

For my tank, the pearl gourami and red koi swordtails will start to feed from the cone. As the worms drop down towards the substrate during feeding, my pink zebra danios will race to eat them. My neon tetras seem to be clueless though. As the reach the bottom (although I havent seem any), I assume my clown loaches will finish them off.

So it was pretty safe.

[stormhawk]

Hi, how to get rid of the live tubifex?
Just saw 1 today in my shrimps tank.....

If it is in the gravel, you'll have to be fast with a gravel vacuum/cleaner. Chances are, the worm will burrow faster than you can react with the vacuum.

[erich willems]

Hello,
i too feed live tubifex in a gravel Aquarium setup - i only have graveled setups with real plants inside -.

I think there is no better food than live food and i try to feed live food that let's me hope, that the live food stays alive as long as possible.
So if there is a chance that any livefood is able to establish within the Aquarium i measure it as the better food than the live one which cant stay alive.

So i'm allways be happy if i see the worms established into the ground building a searchable source of food for the fish.

Another live food also staying alive long time i use are white mosquito larvae - i don't know the correct english term -.

So for example my gravled tank-setup i used to hatch Macropodus ocellatus in is contineously filled with live food of these two species so they can eat all the time and must work to get their food.

Exploding populations of these worms are not to be awaited as long as the tank isn's over-fertilised.

Bye
Erich

[Shaihulud]

As the reach the bottom (although I havent seem any), I assume my clown loaches will finish them off.

Loaches will get rid of them very fast, or corydoras. No chance for worms...Now if only we have a fish that eats flatworms.