Aquatic Worms

CATWITHOUTHAT · Post by **CATWITHOUTHAT** » 01 Apr 2003, 21:16

just curious as to everyone elses take on feeding live blackworms/bloodworms/glassworms etc...is doing so truly as bad as some people claim...if so should it simply not be done...or is there a way to truly be sure you shouldnt inroduce disease into your tank...i know opinions vary and I tend to feel that offering live food does increase vitality/color and overall fishy happiness, but the drawbacks...ie dead fish are tough to overlook...i mentioned straining them in clean tank water in another post...does anyone else do so...

...they are a great source of true nutrition is there anyway to surpass the dangers??

ben

Post by **Silurus** » 01 Apr 2003, 21:49

I thought the only problem with diseases was feeding live tubifex worms to your fish. The others (black-/blood-/glassworms) seem to be OK.

CATWITHOUTHAT · Post by **CATWITHOUTHAT** » 01 Apr 2003, 22:41

yeah i thought that was the case as well...i was told otherwise by some people...i was just wondering if anyone else has heard such

Post by **Coryman** » 01 Apr 2003, 22:41

Any food stuffs that are aquatic carry potential dangers to both our fish and even to us. Both Tubifex and blood worm are collected from the foulest of places and should be cleaned before offering to fish. Hands should be thoroughly cleaned after handling. All sorts of bacterial infections can be contracted.

The bigest problem to the fish would be the parasites these worms harbour. With regard to glass worms I don't think they hold many problems as they tend to live in cleaner water and usually near the surface. I don't know black worms unless they are known here in the UK by another name. Daphnia I like although there are a number of undesirables that can be introduced to your fish at the same time. I always screen Daphnia from a new source untill I am sure it's clean.

The best and trouble free live food are the non aquatic worms. White worm, Grindal worm, Micro worm and my favourite Earth worms.

Ian

Post by **Dinyar** » 02 Apr 2003, 03:45

I dunno where you guys buy your blackworms from, but most around here (NYC) are grown commercially in large ponds. I've fed them for years and never had a problem. A pain in th ass to store and clean when you have them in large quantity, but there's no food that fish like better than live worms.

Note that ALL the food we AND our fish eat are riddled with microorganisms. An article in today's New York Times reports that there are 500-1,000 different SPECIES of microbes (most undescribed) that inhabit the human gut. Fish don't eat flakes in the wild.

Dinyar

CATWITHOUTHAT · Post by **CATWITHOUTHAT** » 02 Apr 2003, 19:05

you know i have always fed blackworms and never thought much of it but recently heard that they too might be a disease carrying worm as well...albeit not from a totally reliable source but i thought what the hell ill put it on the board and see what everyone else thinks...however i have spoken to some people who i absolutely respect and they have all agreed that 1=it depends upon your source, 2=make sure they are clean, 3=if you keep them for more than a few days you should rinse them and offer them a grain of rice or two, and thats about it...so i guess this whole rumor i heard has no merit

ben

Post by **Rusty** » 03 Apr 2003, 00:45

CATWITHOUTHAT wrote:if you keep them for more than a few days you should rinse them and offer them a grain of rice or two

They should be washed and their water changed EVERY day! (Pain in the butt. I let my Dad do the dirty work.) Larger quantities (e.g., 1/8 lb and up) are best kept in a mesh tray suspended in water. They don't need to be fed, unless you're going to be keeping them for more than a week.

Rusty

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 03 Apr 2003, 01:53

Coryman; blackworms are also known as black mosquitolarvae; they're the larvae of the gnat/mosquito: Culex pipiens. A very good food, recommended, because it often stimulates spawning, and they're most abundant in small volumes of water, where fish don't dwell (such as the rainbarrel). Collected from the rainbarrel, or any old bucket lying in the garden filled with rain; they're VERY SAFE.

I nearly always use frozen food, because it's a lot safer than live; how many times I've found fairly huge leeches in with live bloodworms, white mosquitolarvae or even daphnia's....
not to mention planaria's, hydra's etc etc.

And most waters -even small ones- over here are polluted and packed with fish (for the rod-swinging league) so all the fish-parasites are quite abundant too. That's what happens if you put in 400.000.000 fish every year to satisfy them.....

haven't seen many frogs or newts in years

Post by **Dinyar** » 03 Apr 2003, 03:21

In the US, "blackworm" refers to Lumbriculus variegatus, a freshwater oligochaete. They are cultured commecially and perfectly safe (if you give them proper care).

Dinyar

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 03 Apr 2003, 13:22

Those ##$#@# common names again!
never heard of that particular worm anyway. It's related to Tubifex, I think (another miniature lumbricus); can you post a pic or info?
too bad I can't get them here.