| Every successful breeder of tropical fish knows | | | | It is a good idea to bury the piece of bread in the |
| that feeding live foods to their charges is one of | | | | medium when first starting a culture to prevent |
| the best ways to maintain healthy and active fish. | | | | mold from occurring. Allow the worms a week to |
| Live foods are overall high in protein. They | | | | establish before feeding them. Check on them on |
| stimulate spawning, and help to intensify coloration. | | | | a daily basis to insure that they are eating the |
| Live foods enhance the natural tendencies of fish | | | | bread. |
| to forage for their food as they would in their | | | | White worms will need to be housed in a cool |
| natural environment. | | | | dark place, free from insects. We use an |
| White worms (Enchytraeus albidus) are a great | | | | apartment sized refrigerator with a temperature |
| source of food for the aquarium. They are about | | | | control sensor that maintains the temperature at |
| 70% protein, 14.5% fats, and approximately 10% | | | | 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit. |
| carbohydrate. The white worm in size is | | | | One of the best foods for white worms is |
| approximately 3/4" to 1 1/2", somewhere | | | | Gerber's Baby Oatmeal. Add a pinch of active dry |
| between Tubifex and Grindal worms. Fish love | | | | yeast to the mixture. The trick is to feed the |
| them, and they are appropriate for a large | | | | worms enough to insure they thrive, but not so |
| variety of carnivore fish, even the smaller cichlids. | | | | much that it will begin to mold. A good rule of |
| Nick Lockhart, breeder for King Discus feeds | | | | thumb is to feed only what they will consume in |
| white worms twice weekly to our breeding discus | | | | three days. A little trial and error work is needed |
| and juveniles. His goal is to provide a wide variety | | | | here. If mold occurs, simply spoon it out of the |
| of food to keep the fish interested and feeding to | | | | medium, and replace the food, using less the next |
| stimulate breeding. | | | | time. |
| White worms are easy to raise. A plastic shoebox | | | | White worm cultures will "crash" if the population |
| from the dollar store will meet the needs of most | | | | becomes too large. This can be noted by the |
| aquarists. As worms need to breathe, the | | | | worms attempting to crawl up the sides of the |
| container shouldn't be air tight. Cutting a small hole | | | | container. Simply dump the medium onto a sheet |
| in the lid and placing a piece of breathable foam in | | | | of newspaper, separate the medium into two |
| the hole will suffice to allow enough oxygen to | | | | parts, and you have another culture to fall back |
| reach the worms. | | | | on if the first crashes. Get another shoebox, top |
| Fill the container about 3/4 full with peat moss as | | | | to 3/4 full with dampened peat moss, and you |
| the medium. The peat moss should be wet, but | | | | have the insurance of a supply of white worms. |
| not soaked. Test by squeezing a bit of the | | | | To harvest white worms, simply wait until a nice |
| medium in your hand. If a few drops emerge, | | | | clump of them are underneath the sheet of |
| then you have it right. If water emerges from | | | | plastic, pluck them out with tweezers or your |
| the mass in a stream, you have it too wet. | | | | fingers, and clean appropriately before feeding to |
| Add your starter culture of worms. Finding a | | | | your fish. rinsing with dechlorinated water, by |
| suitable starter culture can at times be difficult. A | | | | pouring from one container to another will do the |
| good source can be from auctions at local fish | | | | trick, removing any soil or left over food. You can |
| clubs, or from a fellow enthusiast. Also, looking in | | | | then feed the worms to your fishes. |
| the classified in the back pages of magazines like | | | | The biggest thing to remember about growing |
| Aquarium Fish Magazine or Aquarium USA can | | | | white worms is to never let the medium dry out. |
| sometimes lead to a good resource. | | | | It is also a good idea to have two cultures |
| Place a piece of wet crustless white bread on top | | | | growing at the same time, in case one of the |
| of the medium for compost. Cover this with a | | | | cultures "crashes." Keep an eye out for mold, |
| sheet of plastic the size of the slice of bread. The | | | | feed the worms appropriately, and you will have |
| plastic aids in keeping the bread from drying out. | | | | happy, vigorous fish! |