I ordered 2lbs of blackworms for my aquarium. I was wondering if it would be ok to rinse them off and put them all in my aquarium. I have a teacup ray along with a fire eel and some SA cichlids so they would be eaten frequently. On the website where I purchased them it states they would live in the sand until eaten. I have been reading conflicting info with some people saying that they will contaminate the water and others saying they will do fine and actually help clean the tank by eating excesses. Anyone who has tried this or can offer any input would be greatly appreciated.
Blackworms in tank
- Thread starter kfiggy
- Start date
Two pounds of blackworms are a lot of worms. Putting that many in a tank will surely lead to problems. Better to keep them in a shallow container in the refrigerator. Just be sure to rinse them once a day. If you feed them (fish food) and rinse them, they will keep for weeks. You can also set up a separate tank for them.
I put in 1/4lb into my 40B every 2 weeks for my baby fire eel.... and another 1/4lb into the pool w/ my retics every week... as long as your filtration can handle the worms bio-load and you rinse them well ect before dumping them in I don't see why you can't/shouldn't.... may need to build up your filtration ( ie start w/ 1/2 lb then once you make sure your filtration is keeping up add more and work up to dumping 2lbs in on a regular schedule. Just like cycling a tank or increasing your stock)
Have you ever seen two pounds of blackworms? That's a lot of worms to dump into a tank at one time.
I have not but my tank is filled with pigs, lol. I put in 4 blister packs (8 cubes each pack) of blood worms a day and worry that my other fish eat all of it before my ray gets his fill. Yesterday I put in 40 minnows and 10 ghost shrimp which were all eaten in a matter of minutes along with the 4 blister packs of bloodworms. so I really liked the idea of food being able to live in the tank so he can eat when he wants. I just do not want to pollute my tank, right now I have perfect parameters and do weekly water changed and have 0 issues with water quality.
I maybe wrong but are black worms warm or cold water
If you put to much in and your rays don't eat them fairly fast won't they die from the warmer water
I don't know much about black worms as I have never used them but I do read people say put them in the fridge so does that mean they don't live lone in warmer water
Also won't the filter get full of them or get sucked up when you do a water change
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If you put to much in and your rays don't eat them fairly fast won't they die from the warmer water
I don't know much about black worms as I have never used them but I do read people say put them in the fridge so does that mean they don't live lone in warmer water
Also won't the filter get full of them or get sucked up when you do a water change
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putting them in cold water slows down their metabolism ( ie they don't need to be fed and they need high oxygenated water to thrive/survive. I have a very small colony already in my sump of worms that got sucked up and they help eat any bits and pieces.) But they normally are found in warm highly oxygenated water. probably why the ones in my sump are chunky and by all appearances thriving there.
as for piggys... YES! It's amazing to see how much juvi fish can and will eat. this is also why my retics probably have 10" disks at 2yrs old.
And yes I've seen what 2lbs of blackworms look like. lol it is impressive but as OP stated fish can and will consume much larger amounts of live vs pellets ime. and why I suggested not dumping 2lbs in right off the bat but seeing how much your filtration can handle.
Live foods ime require looking at as "stock" making adjustments w/ water changes and biological filtration. I imagine as well once you get a nice amount started you can add x amount per week to keep the colony stable.
It's just as much "work" as taking worms out and rinsing them daily... ect but its different mainteneces ect.. I "prefer" to give my juvi fish (1-2yrs old average species ect) free choice in live foods and supplement with pellets ect. Then try and monitor every feeding ( some juvies should be fed 3-5 times a day, I kept sw pipe fish years back and hated having to feed like that) Some people don't agree with my husbandry practices, which is fine. In the end we all do what we think is best for our fish. That being said as well I also treat for IP's every 4-6 months to inhibit parasite infections ect.. most fish keepers don't... So my routines ect aren't as cut and paste as they may appear. Even though I qt/rinse and otherwise take precautions feeding live it is just as much a risk imo to feed a processed diet exclusively or frozen ( vitamin stripped) diet... not to mention all the things we don't know yet about their feeding requirements.
Just like the rest of the aspects of keeping "higher level fish" we all have our "methods of madness" .. I over filter and do copious amounts of water changes... and while I keep a imo low stock level my live foods take the place of other stock ect... So in an overstocked, adequately filtered set-up keeping live blackworms may have a more negative impact on the whole system and therefor your pets... at the end of the day we are trying to replicate nature... Good luck to us my friends!
as for piggys... YES! It's amazing to see how much juvi fish can and will eat. this is also why my retics probably have 10" disks at 2yrs old.
And yes I've seen what 2lbs of blackworms look like. lol it is impressive but as OP stated fish can and will consume much larger amounts of live vs pellets ime. and why I suggested not dumping 2lbs in right off the bat but seeing how much your filtration can handle.
Live foods ime require looking at as "stock" making adjustments w/ water changes and biological filtration. I imagine as well once you get a nice amount started you can add x amount per week to keep the colony stable.
It's just as much "work" as taking worms out and rinsing them daily... ect but its different mainteneces ect.. I "prefer" to give my juvi fish (1-2yrs old average species ect) free choice in live foods and supplement with pellets ect. Then try and monitor every feeding ( some juvies should be fed 3-5 times a day, I kept sw pipe fish years back and hated having to feed like that) Some people don't agree with my husbandry practices, which is fine. In the end we all do what we think is best for our fish. That being said as well I also treat for IP's every 4-6 months to inhibit parasite infections ect.. most fish keepers don't... So my routines ect aren't as cut and paste as they may appear. Even though I qt/rinse and otherwise take precautions feeding live it is just as much a risk imo to feed a processed diet exclusively or frozen ( vitamin stripped) diet... not to mention all the things we don't know yet about their feeding requirements.
Just like the rest of the aspects of keeping "higher level fish" we all have our "methods of madness" .. I over filter and do copious amounts of water changes... and while I keep a imo low stock level my live foods take the place of other stock ect... So in an overstocked, adequately filtered set-up keeping live blackworms may have a more negative impact on the whole system and therefor your pets... at the end of the day we are trying to replicate nature... Good luck to us my friends!