Big Bad Blackworm Tower – Culture Journal

[modified lung]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:32 AM, Mac Jank said:

Sorry to read that man. I’m going to be in the hobby as long as I possibly can. I just set up a 10 gallon with a suspended sponge filter and I will be making a couple of towers as soon as my mesh is delivered. I’ve got a lot of corys and plecos to breed! 

Nice. The secret for me was that they needed a lot more food than I expected, specifically protein I suspect. Blackworms can foul their water very fast so they needed more fresh, clean water and oxygen than I expected too. I think the biggest hurdle is finding a way to give them enough of what they need that's worth the time and effort for you.

I fed them any sort of vegetable scrap form the kitchen, the end crust slices of wheat bread that no reasonable human wants to eat, and biofilm I grew by letting a small amount of molasses sit in a gallon jar of water for a few weeks. They'll eat fruit too but too much will cause a bacteria bloom which can cause oxygen problems. Or if you're made of money they'll go through a pack if spirulina wafers in no time. 

And always have backup cultures. I lost most of my worms multiple times the last year I had them because a pump failed, sponge filter clogged, or I didn't have the energy to change enough water.

An extra tip... co-culturing daphnids with blackworms works really well. I'm not sure what they're eating but you don't even have to add any extra food to sustain a small population. Or if you want a larger population, feed spirulina powder. The daphnids eat the suspended power and the blackworms eat whatever settles to the bottom. 

[Mac Jank]

Awesome information! I have a guy about five hours from me that I can buy blackworms from but I’d rather culture my own in my fish rooms to have on hand at any time. I can figure out a water top off system that plumbs into my drain line and water system for my aquariums. 

[Mac Jank]

I’ve had my two towers in a 10 gallon with a HOB filter, two air stones and some floating plants in rain water for five days and once I put an algae tab in the top if each tower the worms moved in to them. Doing my first water change today. 
 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Mac Jank