Microworms and related cleaning problems.

[RHS788]

I wrote about a week ago that I thought I had a mold problem. I think otherwise now, as I think I have a microworm problem.

I had been feeding microworms to some juvenile cacas in a clay pot base (kind of like the doggie dish). After a while the air was getting a little "musty" and I thought I had too many aquariums in the area and they needed cleaning. I noticed the gravel under the clay pot was black. When I removed it, it smelled basically like sewage. With that in mind I quit feeding the microworms and am trying to get things cleaned up to restore credibility with the home front.

Questions:
1) Do all microworms do that, or was I simply feeding too much?
2) Has anyone else experienced the same problem, and if so what do you do about it? I like feeding the microworms because it is cheap, live, and they seem to like it.
3) What can I do to feed these yet avoid the "smell".

Thanks,

Randy

 

[Jilly]

I use microworms a lot and never have had a problem like you describe. I usually scoop the microworms off the side of the pot with a child's paintbrush, then swish them in the water. You must take care not to get any of the oats mix on the brush. A couple of brush fulls should be sufficient.

It could be other debris is collecting around your pot and rotting. We use a sand substrate and when we do water changes we use a siphon and suck around the rocks and post et,c and there is always a load of gunk underneath them.

 

[Lisachromis]

How do you get microworms to stay in a pot? Generally speaking when my microworms hit the water they spread out.

 

[RHS788]

Thanks for responses. I use the base of a clay pot in the aquarium, and have a small baster-type tube. I collect the micro's from the middle, that way I understand I also pick up more of the smaller ones. I gently place them in the pot base. If there is a lot of turbulence in the tank, they will spread, that is why I keep them from the filters.

I also have found it is easy to simply overfeed, which I think is the root of what I was doing.

Some swipe the side of their micro growing container and in that case they do seem to go all over, again, the fish only need what they can eat in a couple minutes, which is hard to gauge.

I was also feeding frozen BBS, and I think that was contributing to the problem.

I have since began raising a new group of orange blaze. I have half of the tank, bare glass with sand on the other half. I put the micros on the bare glass side, and find it is easier to see and siphon off leftovers. I replenish the water, thus also doing somewhat water changes. This is in a 2.5 gallon for newborn fry with mother.

Thanks,

Randy