How to culture black worms?

[Mississippi fish guy]

I’m considering starting a black worm culture but I know nothing about them except that they are good for fish and reproduce by segmentation. I was wondering how to culture them? Can I keep them with my moina? If so can they live in high ammonia (8ppm or higher). If not can I just use a plastic container with a filter? Also what should I feed them? I will not need to culture large numbers of black worms, just enough to be a treat for some fish or to be used for conditioning.

[clownbaby]

I wouldn't house them with moina. Even though moina are bigger than most microfauna organisms, blackworms are opportunistic and will eat your moina. 

A plastic tub is sufficient -- blackworms can be cultured in a tub or aquarium.

They don't need very deep water; 12 inches or so is plenty. You can go lower if you need, too. Place gravel or small river rocks as a substrate, and fill will water. Use dechlorinated if you're using fresh from the faucet, but ideally use "old" or established aquarium water: this will have lots of bacteria and infusoria as well as other micro animals that will serve as food for your blackworms!!

Blackworms primarily eat microscopic animals but also eat detritus. You can go down to a local stream and find some old rotting leaves and throw one or two of those in there. Or pebbles that have algae or aquatic mosses attached! You could also add in plants like Java Fern: the old leaves will provide food once they decay, and infusoria.

You can use an airstone or a sponge filter. Aeration yields best results!

Change 50% to 75% of the water once or twice a week. Don't worry about being gentle when adding in new water. In fact, it is good to kick up or directly mix the rocks: you could even just use your hand and stir the rocks around during water changes. This will end up segmenting a lot of the worms and cause them to reproduce asexually. 

They do like a little bit of light but it's not super important. Keep temperatures about 65 to 74 degrees F; 78 degrees is considered an absolute maximum. 

They aren't too difficult to culture, especially if you have experience culturing other critters. Best of luck!!!!

On 8/31/2024 at 6:23 PM, clownbaby said:

I wouldn't house them with moina. Even though moina are bigger than most microfauna organisms, blackworms are opportunistic and will eat your moina. 

A plastic tub is sufficient -- blackworms can be cultured in a tub or aquarium.

They don't need very deep water; 12 inches or so is plenty. You can go lower if you need, too. Place gravel or small river rocks as a substrate, and fill will water. Use dechlorinated if you're using fresh from the faucet, but ideally use "old" or established aquarium water: this will have lots of bacteria and infusoria as well as other micro animals that will serve as food for your blackworms!!

Blackworms primarily eat microscopic animals but also eat detritus. You can go down to a local stream and find some old rotting leaves and throw one or two of those in there. Or pebbles that have algae or aquatic mosses attached! You could also add in plants like Java Fern: the old leaves will provide food once they decay, and infusoria.

You can use an airstone or a sponge filter. Aeration yields best results!

Change 50% to 75% of the water once or twice a week. Don't worry about being gentle when adding in new water. In fact, it is good to kick up or directly mix the rocks: you could even just use your hand and stir the rocks around during water changes. This will end up segmenting a lot of the worms and cause them to reproduce asexually. 

They do like a little bit of light but it's not super important. Keep temperatures about 65 to 74 degrees F; 78 degrees is considered an absolute maximum. 

They aren't too difficult to culture, especially if you have experience culturing other critters. Best of luck!!!!

Adding on: they can reproduce sexually! It just takes a long time for them to reproduce, and then a long time for the offspring to reach adulthood, which is why most cultures prefer using segmentation for reproduction, as it will yield larger numbers of blackworms a lot faster.