Black Worms:Where to Buy Them and How to Keep Extras Alive

[Steensj2004]

Like the title says, looking for a good source to buy Black Worms( no local source) and If I order some excess how to keep them alive? Thanks in Advance!

[Neebles]

You could try http://www.aquaticfoods.com/worms.html

[Steensj2004]

You could try http://www.aquaticfoods.com/worms.html

Thanks! Hai can I keep them alive?

[amphipod]

I got mine here and I don't regret my purchase one bit. http://shop.easternaquatics.com

I have my culture still running also

How to care for them

First get a 10-20 gallon aquarium, or plastic storage bin, I'd say plastic bin may be more advantageous. Bigger is better

No fliteration equipment needed but an airstone may be nice

Keep at around 70°F (don't listen to anything else, they will never grow unless they are warm!)

Obtain some algae and possibly hornwort it will help with the smells and co2 buildup

Don't fill more than 5 inches of water, if/ when they screw their water up they need passage way to the surface so put a slope in the substrate, I'd recommend sand

[amphipod]

they eat so many things, i feed mine egg crate from the crickets pen, dead crickets, dead aquatic plants, and occasionally fish food

there will be leeches coming with the order, kill them and feed them to your pets first as they will eat the blackworms over time, they wont hurt you either.

dont use a normal filter as they will be sucked up and killed

they will burrow in the sand i always scoop the sand and the worms make a defensive ball, i take what i need and return the rest

when they are in bad water they make a ball and try to get to the surface

i hope i helped, any questions?

[amphipod]

watch out also as there is much BS spreading around about these worms, one of them is to store them in a refridgerator, another is they need crystal clear water, another is sand hurts them, there are many more. also depending how much you feed them you can deplete a culture quite quickly, these worms are a lot like tubifex worms, only bigger. you can introduce them to freshwater aquariums just rember corydoras and similar sand sifters can exterminate them

[Lawnman]

watch out also as there is much BS spreading around about these worms, one of them is to store them in a refridgerator, another is they need crystal clear water, another is sand hurts them, there are many more. also depending how much you feed them you can deplete a culture quite quickly, these worms are a lot like tubifex worms, only bigger. you can introduce them to freshwater aquariums just rember corydoras and similar sand sifters can exterminate them

My LFS keeps them in the fridge. I don't know anything about them other than that.

[amphipod]

they dont grow bigger in the fridge, and they die easier stored that way

[Steensj2004]

they eat so many things, i feed mine egg crate from the crickets pen, dead crickets, dead aquatic plants, and occasionally fish food

there will be leeches coming with the order, kill them and feed them to your pets first as they will eat the blackworms over time, they wont hurt you either.

dont use a normal filter as they will be sucked up and killed

they will burrow in the sand i always scoop the sand and the worms make a defensive ball, i take what i need and return the rest

when they are in bad water they make a ball and try to get to the surface

i hope i helped, any questions?

Wow, nice write up man! Thanks! I am going to try this out. 5 Gallon tank will be big enough? What about shelf life if I order a few at a time, like 1/4 lb or so? OR will I just be better ordering a bunch?

[amphipod]

Wow, nice write up man! Thanks! I am going to try this out. 5 Gallon tank will be big enough? What about shelf life if I order a few at a time, like 1/4 lb or so? OR will I just be better ordering a bunch?

thanks . I bought ¼ pound and that was enough to load a 10 gallon safely without any plants or air bubbles or cycling of the tank. There ends up being a ton of worms even in ¼ pound there had to be thousands of worms in my bag. You may be able to make the 5 gallon work under the best of circumstances but I'd say go to Walmart and get one of those medium to large size storage bins, it will be easier and cheaper, trust me.

If you go big in the tank order a pound and you will get thousands of worms in a crawling ball, there is a ton, it doesn't sound like much but think of the size of a pound of frozen fish food how long it would last.

[Steensj2004]

thanks . I bought ¼ pound and that was enough to load a 10 gallon safely without any plants or air bubbles or cycling of the tank. There ends up being a ton of worms even in ¼ pound there had to be thousands of worms in my bag. You may be able to make the 5 gallon work under the best of circumstances but I'd say go to Walmart and get one of those medium to large size storage bins, it will be easier and cheaper, trust me.

If you go big in the tank order a pound and you will get thousands of worms in a crawling ball, there is a ton, it doesn't sound like much but think of the size of a pound of frozen fish food how long it would last.

Storage tub huh? You feed them paper? And the need substrate outside the water? Pics of your setup?

[Mariaface]

Whatever container you use, make sure the water line is at most an inch above them; like amphipod said they need access to air. Generally, the shallower the better. Worms at the bottom of the piles won't suffocate that way. You're going to notice that they love grouping up into clumps, too.

 

They'll eat pretty much any organic matter, but you'll want to look up what's best in order to make them a bit more nutritious. Other than that, they more or less take care of themselves if you don't overfeed and keep them decently clean. You can keep them in a container that you can pick up and rinse out, since they'll get blasted around, clump together again, and stay safe from the spillage when you tip the container. Any worms that keep floating after a couple of seconds are slow/weak/dead, more or less.

 

I'm lucky that I can hop down to the nearest petland discounts and get a portion for maybe $2 or so, about an ounce.

[Steensj2004]

Whatever container you use, make sure the water line is at most an inch above them; like amphipod said they need access to air. Generally, the shallower the better. Worms at the bottom of the piles won't suffocate that way. You're going to notice that they love grouping up into clumps, too.

 

They'll eat pretty much any organic matter, but you'll want to look up what's best in order to make them a bit more nutritious. Other than that, they more or less take care of themselves if you don't overfeed and keep them decently clean. You can keep them in a container that you can pick up and rinse out, since they'll get blasted around, clump together again, and stay safe from the spillage when you tip the container. Any worms that keep floating after a couple of seconds are slow/weak/dead, more or less.

 

I'm lucky that I can hop down to the nearest petland discounts and get a portion for maybe $2 or so, about an ounce.

Aweeeee lucky!!!

[amphipod]

I'll get them tomorrow, everything is closed for tonight so I'll show it tomorrow. I suggest storage tub since it is cheaper and you won't have the regret I have over the over high walls for the purpose after all the thing is only going to be a few inches deep. They need a pathway relatively close to the surface so they can reach for air if ever necessary. I usually stick with paper, unbleached. I dispose of cricket carcasses there though, it makes them grow quicker as a plus. Oh I forgot to mention I had pond snails start eating them after the leeches were all gone, I stopped feeding the tank making the worms go under the sand where the pond snails could not reach them therefore starving the snails after several months fixing my problem.

[Steensj2004]

I'll get them tomorrow, everything is closed for tonight so I'll show it tomorrow. I suggest storage tub since it is cheaper and you won't have the regret I have over the over high walls for the purpose after all the thing is only going to be a few inches deep. They need a pathway relatively close to the surface so they can reach for air if ever necessary. I usually stick with paper, unbleached. I dispose of cricket carcasses there though, it makes them grow quicker as a plus. Oh I forgot to mention I had pond snails start eating them after the leeches were all gone, I stopped feeding the tank making the worms go under the sand where the pond snails could not reach them therefore starving the snails after several months fixing my problem.

so if I wanted to keep a small amount could I do a 5 gallon with just some sand, keep 5 gallons of rodi to Rinse daily and order say 1/2-1lbof the suckers. And what, rip up pieces of brown eggcrate lie they use in cricket cages??

[amphipod]

No need for rodi water, aged tapwater is fine with 5 gallons I'd say 1 pound is good. as you said get an airstone, hornwort, some cricket egg crate, and give a water change when needed. Cycle the tank first though, it will save you more worms, and you from some smells you really don't want to smell.

They are priceless additions as food for the finicky eaters, nothing seems to refuse them.

[Mariaface]

so if I wanted to keep a small amount could I do a 5 gallon with just some sand, keep 5 gallons of rodi to Rinse daily and order say 1/2-1lbof the suckers. And what, rip up pieces of brown eggcrate lie they use in cricket cages??

 

You can totally feed them pellets of fish food, if you'd like.

[amphipod]

As I said yesterday I'd give pics, you don't see worms since they don't like bright light but you can see the whole setup.

[metrokat]

I buy live black worms from my LFS whenever I get a chance. They last me about 1 to 1.5 weeks in the fridge with daily water changes with RO water which I also keep in the fridge to avoid temperature shock. The worms will use their own body fat as food and usually die at the week to week and a half mark from starvation I'm guessing. I am not interested in culturing them so I keep them in the fridge.

[Mariaface]

If you can get them near you, do just like Kat said. I don't worry about RO water, but that's because I use the blackworms to feed in a freshwater tank and the plants can handle some toxins. The worms'll last a good while that way.

 

The emphasis for culturing is to rinse daily, and keep the water level as close to the worms as reasonably possible for air exchange (or, you know, air stone). Hey, maybe an air-driven skimmer!

[najluni15]

So if I'm understanding right I can get live blackworms and keep them in a pretty small plastic tub with just a little sand and clean water and then change the water every couple of days? And feed pellets or anything organic?

[amphipod]

So if I'm understanding right I can get live blackworms and keep them in a pretty small plastic tub with just a little sand and clean water and then change the water every couple of days? And feed pellets or anything organic?

pretty much, just make sure not to over crowd them, in the ball state they eventually suffocate.

I buy live black worms from my LFS whenever I get a chance. They last me about 1 to 1.5 weeks in the fridge with daily water changes with RO water which I also keep in the fridge to avoid temperature shock. The worms will use their own body fat as food and usually die at the week to week and a half mark from starvation I'm guessing. I am not interested in culturing them so I keep them in the fridge.

probably a mix of suffocation, starvation, and stress kills them in that time frame.