They're like spaghetti, thanks PaulB (black worms)

immortl

New member
Finally got my black worm shipment this afternoon. They came up to MT from CA by way of TN and were delayed for a day in TN, taking two days to get here. Despite the extra day of shipping they arrived in what appears to be good health (and no die off stink).

I picked up a 1/4 lb of them and a keeper from Aquatic Foods in CA and it's way more than I'll need per month for my 29g Biocube.

The fish love them and slurp them right down like spaghetti. It's cool to watch. I am very happy to finally be mixing some live foods into the feeding regiment. For now I think that I'll be making these a staple. Next up clams... Hard to come by here in Northwest Montana. The two local grocery stores didn't have any.

Thanks,
Joe
 
Pictures?

I too wanted to place an order... Was wondering what 1/4 lb looked like. You could even go one step further and take a nice video of the container, and then the feeding to your tank. I would be interested!


Thanks!
 
I picked up a 1/4 lb of them and a keeper from Aquatic Foods in CA and it's way more than I'll need per month for my 29g Biocube.

Are you going to grow them or just keep them? I buy them from a fish store about an hour away, but they only last for about a week in the fridge.
 
MT eh? I've been considering ordering some as well. Once I get most of my fish in I'll probably place an order.
 
Do you have a picture of the setup? The drawing helps, but something a little more detailed would be great. I would love to get away from having to drive for an hour to buy some that only live a week.
 
Right now I have them in the keeper in the refrigerator. I rinse them 2 times a day or so and feed crushed up NLS every other or third day. I am considering making a more permanent keeper for them. I am curious how long they'll live for in the fridge this go around. So far I'm coming up on a week and they're all lively, not bad considering they were delayed for a day in shipping so they started out spending 48hrs in a plastic bag and box.

I am happy to hear everything in my tank will now live forever and am anxious to see some spawning behavior. The corals seem to do well with the worms as well. I'm nursing a sun coral back to health. It suffered a bit of malnutrition over the fall and early winter when I was traveling for work. Over a 3 month period I was only home for about 10 days.

I will work on getting some pics and video and will post them when I have them.

Yes, Flathead Valley up in Northwest MT. Not too much in the way of LFS here, just one that is hit or miss on saltwater stuff. I enjoy stopping at stores around the country when I travel for work. The best is when I was down in FL and surprisingly, ME. Nice little coral shop down the street from our Fairfield office.
 
pics and video

pics and video

The fish and corals are loving the black worms. One change I've noticed is with the ocellaris clowns. They primarily hang out in the Duncan coral these days and once they moved in, they developed brown spots. I researched this and concluded it was from the stings of the Duncan. Since feeding black worms, these brown spots have virtually disappeared.

Pics of 1/4 lb of black worms about 1 week after getting them. Still a ton left.

Top view
<a href="http://s375.photobucket.com/user/jeonder/media/BioCube%2029/24b1db98-80ee-452b-a573-edfc2bad16e3_zpset6kg1j2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo195/jeonder/BioCube%2029/24b1db98-80ee-452b-a573-edfc2bad16e3_zpset6kg1j2.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 24b1db98-80ee-452b-a573-edfc2bad16e3_zpset6kg1j2.jpg"/></a>

Side view to see the depth of them


Video of me overfeeding the tank a bit

Wh92B5HRnrc
 
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2 weeks and the black worms that are left are doing just fine in the refrigerator. No die off, about half way through them and the remaining ones are are still lively.
 
Paul, do you have any instructions anywhere on propagating black worms? Seems like I read something years ago, but now I can't find it.
 
I think I wrote an article on them but I am not allowed to link it here. I am sure I wrote about them on here a few times. I built a worm keeper so I don't have to keep them in the refrigerator. It is basically a shallow trough where the water flows fast and returns to a tank below. The small pump is in a smaller container in there and the water goes over the top because the worms don't swim and I don't want them in the pump. It's also in my book which i am not finished with yet
 
I have found that the worms keep much longer than a week. I am able to feed all of them without waste. The fish love 'em!
 
I guess I need to get some, at least for my freshwater fish.
Are they smelly? (my wife wouldn't like that)
And how long can these live in saltwater?
 
Not smelly unless their dying for some reason, or the water needs changed. Only live about 30seconds in saltwater
 
3 weeks and the remaining worms are doing great. They're all still alive, no die off, and no smell. I do not foresee any issues with at least a month of feeding my tank with the initial 1/4 lb of worms. I'm stoked and this will be my primary food, mixed in with some NLS and occasional fresh food from the grocery store. Mail ordering the black worms is definitely a feasible monthly expense.

Not sure if I mentioned it or not, I am on well water and am keeping and rinsing them with that. They do die pretty quickly in salt water as expected.

Thanks,
Joe
 
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