Live BlackWorms: Best Fish and LPS Food Ever?

SDguy said:
IME fish are often kind of spooked by them. They don't really look like anything we normally feed. But once they try them once, they are usually hooked.
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Ah yes - fish heroin

What are the advantages to keeping them in your fridge or on a counter? It seems both Peter and twelvejewelz get about 2.5 or 3 weeks out of them.

Do you have to rinse more doing one or the other?
 
SDguy said:
:lol: Best thing about my schedule is I finish work at 3pm.

And I will be buying blackworms today right after that, since the LFS here gets them in today. Nice fresh, fat, and squirmy!
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SD GUy... What LFS carries them?
I have yet to find on here int he OC that does... so I may have to head down south (heading to Oceanside on Sunday anyway).
 
ShellsSD said:
Ah yes - fish heroin

What are the advantages to keeping them in your fridge or on a counter? It seems both Peter and twelvejewelz get about 2.5 or 3 weeks out of them.

Do you have to rinse more doing one or the other?
Click to expand...

My guess would be simple metabolism: faster when warmer, slower when colder. So, it would stand to reason that their nutritional content would decrease slower, in the fridge, than ifon the countertop. Also, I would assume they produce waste slower when cold, so the water won't get dirty as quickly. But as Paul pointed out, you can't feed them in the fridge either.
 
der_wille_zur_macht said:
I'm wondering if it depends on the "freshness" and what they're fed before/after purchase by a hobbyist. In other words, can you "gut load" them by feeding something nutritional before adding to your tank?

Though, Paul's obvious success feeding them on paper towels kind of throws that theory out the window. :lol:
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I just wonder even about this. Live brine is often used to get fish feeding too, and is an empty diet, even when gut loaded, for all but juvenile fish. Dont get me wrong, I love blackworms, and do feed them. I just dont know if theyre the elixir of life that may be construed from this conversation.

Besides, they are especially wonderful when then get out of the container in the fridge and end up on your pizza below. Dont ask me how I know that.
 
I think I am going to try my hand at them again (since I now know the whole rising thing) really stunk last time :eek2:

Besides, never hurts to stop by Vet Pets on my way home and see what new fishies they have

Round container
Rinse daily
Don't put above Pizza

got it
 
Shelly, I just keep a 1g jug of RO/DI water in the fridge next to them. It's best to rinse them with same temperature water, IME. Just be sure to refill the jug as needed so that you have cold water ready to go next time you rinse them. I keep them in a large plastic tub (like the kind you get with potato salad at the grocery store). Works well for up to 10 portions. Any more than that, and I'd definitely recommend a larger container.
 
Thanks Peter. Chris just got a new batch in today so I will stop on my way home and pick some up there. My fishes and corals will be so happy.
 
Another noticed by product of using these to feed LPS as well. My freaking annoying cleaner shrimp would always pilfer mysis dropped on my LPS. Didn't matter how much I spot feed him, he's always interested in ripping mysis straight out of the polyps of my acans and scolys. The cleaner isn't interested in blackworms at all, allowing me to feed my LPS without having to chase him off with my turkey baster every few minutes.
 
A couple of questions
Are the worms kept in fresh water?
How do you perform the rinse that is mentioned in previous threads
Is fresh water cycled like salt water?
Thanks
 
yetiman said:
A couple of questions
Are the worms kept in fresh water?
How do you perform the rinse that is mentioned in previous threads
Is fresh water cycled like salt water?
Thanks
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Yes, these are freshwater worms. They die almost instantly when they hit salt water.

If keeping them in the fridge, you just keep them in a container so that the worms are no more than 1/2" thick layer, and the water over them is no more than an additional 1/4". When I rinse them with refrigerated pure DI water, I like to pour the water into the container from a decent height. This causes the worms to tumble around, giving them a thorough washing. The live worms tend to intertwine with each other, so the vigorous pouring helps break the mass apart.

The live worms sink pretty quickly, while debris and dead worms do not. Simply pour off the water, slowly, as soon as the live worms have settled. Repeat if necessary. Again, leave no more than 1/4" of water above the worms. After a few tries, you'll get the hang of it.

Rinse daily! Even if they "look" like they don't need it.

HTH
 
I just dont know if theyre the elixir of life that may be construed from this conversation.
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Yes they actually are. They have the oils fish need to get into breeding condition.
You need to feed other things also as these are too rich.
I only add a few each meal along with other things like fresh clam, mysis etc.
They are the best food available.
You can not gut load them as they subsist on products of decay from paper, flakes or anything organic. They will not eat the flakes directly. Also don't put them in a container with sharp corners unless it is at least 2" over the worms. They can bunch up and climb up in a corner.
 
Paul B said:
You need to feed other things also as these are too rich.
I only add a few each meal along with other things like fresh clam, mysis etc.
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I feed my fish in order of least favorite to most favorite (actually, it's more like most favorite to mostest favorite :D ).

dry > frozen > blackworms

This way, they don't overfill on the worms.
 
Avoiding my previous post, I condition my FW fish for breeding by feeding live blackworms. I know FW=/ SW but they have been doing it for a long time and it works.

When I was more active in the industry and I am an avid fisherman I was wondering why someone has not come up with a SW equivalent - I just caught a huge striper on a worm I dug up this morning!
 
I do find some comfort in the idea that I can feed "live" food without any risk of disease introduction.
 
Paul B said:
Yes they actually are. They have the oils fish need to get into breeding condition.
You need to feed other things also as these are too rich.
I only add a few each meal along with other things like fresh clam, mysis etc.
They are the best food available.
You can not gut load them as they subsist on products of decay from paper, flakes or anything organic. They will not eat the flakes directly. Also don't put them in a container with sharp corners unless it is at least 2" over the worms. They can bunch up and climb up in a corner.
Click to expand...

Not to be argumentative, but how can you make this claim if, by your own admission, you dont know the nutritional value? What is this "correct oil" you are speaking of? That will get them to "breeding condition"?

Again, I am not trying to be argumentative, but I would like to understand what it is your making claims to. And if it is so, why these havent become WAY more popular as fish feed.

Also, FWIW, my "blackworm pizza" incident didnt have to do with square corners. It had to do with someone else knocking over the container and not noticing. And, for the record, it IS a cardinal sin to ruin a perfectly good pizza in such a manner.
 
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