[mistergreen]

I'm going to try to raise these guys. They're aquatic worms akin to tubifex but much smaller. I bought that little bit for $37 online. Most of the expense was on the shipping. Hopefully they'll breed and make the fishes happy.

 

[payluder]

Wow man thats expensive risk for that small portion of worms. How are they compared to grindal worms? I recently culture them and now expended to 6 tubs of them which is like endless supply of fish food.

 

[mistergreen]

Wow man thats expensive risk for that small portion of worms. How are they compared to grindal worms? I recently culture them and now expended to 6 tubs of them which is like endless supply of fish food.

yeah, it's an expensive risk for sure.

They're a little longer than grindals. The benefit is that they live in water so they won't die quickly and spoil in the water.

 

[wispfox]

Where did you get them? I'm hoping to get some of them and some daphnia monia to culture together (evidently they culture decently together).

 

[mistergreen]

Dero, Freshwater Annelid, Living | Carolina.com

You can buy other critters too but shipping is too expensive. Dero is hard to find so they were my only source.

 

[mistergreen]

Just a little update. The worms survived in my plastic container with a simple diy sponge filter in the basement with temperature around 68F. Population looks to be the same, maybe a little more. They're consuming half a hikari bottom pellet every week. They're pretty small in general, about the size of grindals, perfect for micro fish and growing fry.
Hope to have a good population in 6 months.

 

[Yukiharu]

Very interesting. I've been looking for live food for my fish as well.
Do they do better with or without substrate?

 

[mistergreen]

Very interesting. I've been looking for live food for my fish as well.
Do they do better with or without substrate?

They probably do better with some sort of substrate but I'm not using one so I can keep an eye out for growth.

 

[Yukiharu]

Another question. After some searching I have read that dero worms are prolific and will grow out in aquarium substrates if they are not all consumed. What do you make of this?

 

[mistergreen]

Another question. After some searching I have read that dero worms are prolific and will grow out in aquarium substrates if they are not all consumed. What do you make of this?

Yeah, that's a possibility of any aquatic worms. But with fish in the tank, they'll hunt down any that are visible especial bottom dwellers like Cory cats or loaches. They will actually big a little to get the worms.


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[GrampsGrunge]

Some images of Dero and other Aquatic Oligochaete worms..

Worms: Annelid Worms: Oligochaetes. Text with photomicrographs.

 

[mistergreen]

I found this article saying they'd multiply faster with no aeration!

Live Foods - Microfex / Dero Worms Culture

I guess lower O2 stimulate them to multiply faster but you'd have to worry about ammonia like most critters.
I'll keep my sponge filter and see. I they don't take off, I'll unplug it.

 

[Clinton Parsons]

If they live in water, wouldn't they be good to add for detritus clean-up and maintain their own little population and serve for a continuous source of live food, or do they only like cooler temps?

 

[mistergreen]

If they live in water, wouldn't they be good to add for detritus clean-up and maintain their own little population and serve for a continuous source of live food, or do they only like cooler temps?

Fish would eat the population. They're tolerant of temperatures (68F-77F).

 

[ichthyogeek]

I didn't know that Carolina had dero cultures! I have to get my hands on some asap...except that I'm a college student who spends a maximum of 3 months home in a year. Good luck on the cultures!

You're probably familiar with what's in here, but I figured you might want to take a look-see at this:
Urban Aquaria: Live Foods - Microfex / Dero Worms Culture

 

[mistergreen]

I didn't know that Carolina had dero cultures! I have to get my hands on some asap...except that I'm a college student who spends a maximum of 3 months home in a year. Good luck on the cultures!

You're probably familiar with what's in here, but I figured you might want to take a look-see at this:
Urban Aquaria: Live Foods - Microfex / Dero Worms Culture

If you want to wait a few months, my culture should be a good size and maybe save money on shipping with 2 day priority.

 

[ichthyogeek]

In a few months, I'll probably be back in college, stuck with an animal-less planted tank...but maybe I'll take you up on the offer next summer. How much did Carolina make you pay for shipping?

 

[mistergreen]

In a few months, I'll probably be back in college, stuck with an animal-less planted tank...but maybe I'll take you up on the offer next summer. How much did Carolina make you pay for shipping?

$28 I think.


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[mistergreen]

Update:
They're eating a whole small wafer a week now. The population tripled, perhaps more. They reproduce pretty fast as long as there is food.

The sponge filter is on low flow and I guess it's doing its job.

 

[flukekiller]

just a thought,, not sure if you are looking for smaller worms or not but why
not culture live black worms? i am currently doing this, plus i get 1 LB of live
black worms shipping included for <$50... i started my culture months before
i got my fish since i knew they would eat a ton(10 discus and 2 stingrays).
in 4 months i probably doubled my worms and possibly could have tripled, if
not more, if i kept them in a pebble substrate.