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Value of Microworms

Sharpfish

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
87
Location
Carnegie, Pa 15106
With the talk and suggestions of live food recently. No one has mentioned Microworms. They are easy to produce, feed and small enough to feed fry. However, does anyone know what kind of nutritional values this food source has?
 

Bilbo

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
235
Location
Bulls. New Zealand
I use micro worms almost exclusively. The hassle of BBS and the expense of them is something I cannot justify for the moment.
I have done a lot of experiments with them to help improve them and now have settled on a recipe that never fails.
The nutritional value of worms depends on the culture so I don’t know how they compare to BBS.
An ice-cream container. I make up a 1/2 cup standard porridge recipe with 1/4 tsp sugar instead of salt. I also add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of spurilina powder and 1/4 tsp of multi vitamins. Over cook it slightly so its dry and really gluggy. Let it cool in the fridge so its gets quite dry in top. Sprinkle a little yeast and add drops of micro worms all over the top. After 2 days I put a damp strong paper towel over 1/2 the culture so I can scrape them off by the teaspoon full without getting any culture mix.

The fry grow fast and always look fat and healthy.
 

Sharpfish

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
87
Location
Carnegie, Pa 15106
I use an old Cool whip container. The substrate I use is Quick Oats, about 3/4" thick. Use warm water so not to kill the culture or Rapid Rise Yeast. I let the oats absorb the water for a few minutes before adding the yeast and culture. I have had the same culture running for at least 7 years. I have 3 containers and a new one is started every weekend.
 

Bev N

Apisto Club
5 Year Member
Messages
159
Location
York, PA
I use instant potatoes and yeast. I do the same with starting new cultures. I have three going at any given time.

I have been trying out brine shrimp from Taiwan. The hatch rate is virtually 100%. I got tired of all the eggs lying on the bottom and trying to seperate them. The growth rates have been just as good as with the other brine. I'm working on getting a deal on these by the case so I can offer them for sale here without the long wait for everyone.
 

oldschool

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
67
Location
florida
Bilbo,

I find your success very impressive. So you are saying you are able to raise your fry with no bbs? The quality of feed given to your micro worms makes them nutritious enough to be a complete meal for your fry? If this is the case I would very much like to experiment myself as this is news to me. This is something new for me as I never considered micro worms anything I could count on long term. Thanks for sharing your success I am sure many will want to try this out. Have you seen any effect on growth rate?


Bev,

How much do you think the Taiwan eggs will be by the pound? 100% hatch rate is soemthing I would be interested as well. I decapsulate my eggs anyway but 100% hatch rate is soemthing I find worthwhile.
 

leamos

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
27
Just scrap your finger around the side of the culturing container, rinse if you want or just swirl your finger in the tank. Microworms are also great at getting pair into breeding mode. After weeks of feeding up my cac's on frozen bs, micros and bloodworms, i feed nothing but microworms for 2 days and this morning my fem cac has taken up residence in the males caves and won't let him in:biggrin: Something about the abundance of fry sized food
 

electric eel

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
211
Location
camden,oh
by far the bulk of my experience in the hobby has been breeding angelfish and i have experimented with different feeding regimens to see what not only makes the fry grow fastest but also produces top quality fish.i think you will find that fry that are fed bbs early on will be significantly bigger at the 2 or 3month mark.i've found that soaking the bbs in boyd's vitachem for 5 minutes or so before feeding really improves growth.a guy in our club breeds tatia perugia(spelled wrong i think-the little wood cats) and a few other pretty tricky catfish and he swears by microworms(he is quite the expert on catfish)i always seem to let them dry out though.a kilifish breeder i met told me he kept his in the frig and that they produced slower but stayed fresh longer has anyone tried this?
 

Bev N

Apisto Club
5 Year Member
Messages
159
Location
York, PA
I think with shipping a one pound can was $35.00 or there abouts. They take about 2 weeks to get here which is why I am hoping to get them by the case so that there isn't that long wait. I was going to start decaping alll of mine till I found these. So much nicer and lots less work
 

oldschool

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
67
Location
florida
Electric eel,

That has been my experience as well, bbs makes fish grow faster. The one exception has been Cyclops. I use to be able to collect Cyclops from a local lake. I would shine a light at night time and then simply use a plankton net to swoop up more Cyclops then I knew what to do with. I found the fish grew best with the Cyclops. This was a very healthy lake with clear water great vegetation and it was spring fed. I wish I could grow the Cyclops myself but my attempts were not very successful.
 

oldschool

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
67
Location
florida
Bev,

Thats a good price with shipping. I was paying more for 90% eggs from Utah. Let us know when you have them I would like to give them a try.

On the subject of shrimp has anyone tried the freshwater fairy shrimp eggs that someone from SE Asia has been selling on Ebay and aquabid? I have been curious about them for a while but unwilling to get something from so far away without knowing if they work or not.
 

electric eel

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
211
Location
camden,oh
i think the fairy shrimp have to have a fairly cold environment.you can collect them in vernal pools around here in springtime but i don't think as it gets hotter but i'm not sure.do you collect mosquito larvae old school?i always put out containers for this in the summer but i know in some parts of the u.s. it is illegal(don't know about here)if you can get a scource for eggs with a good hatchrate bev i know some of the people in our club would be interested.decapping has come up a lot lately because of the poor quality of the last few harvests in utah.luckily i had 3 cans of 90% in the freezor.which will last me a little while.
 

oldschool

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
67
Location
florida
Electric eel,

These fairy shrimp are far Asia they are not the same North American species we know. As a kid I would see fairy shrimp in local lakes in New Jersey but these look very different. The fresh water shrimp in question are an Asian species.
 

Drammy

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
50
Location
Leeds, UK
I tried a culture of microworms once but found the culture smelt very bad (acrid vinegar smell). This put me off putting them in the tank and the missus had me abandon the project due to the smell.

Is the smell normal or did I perhaps have a duff batch???
 

Sharpfish

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
87
Location
Carnegie, Pa 15106
Usually, when it starts to smell the culture is crashing and should be changed and restarted. At the peak when using yeast it should smell like fresh bread dough. Try using multiple cultures start with a 3 culture rotation. Every week start a new one. After the third week the first one should be very dark and beginning to burn out. Take this one and start it over with a culture from it, and dispose of the rest. This will eliminate the horrible smell.
 

Drammy

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
50
Location
Leeds, UK
Hmmm that sounds more like it. The culture I received smelt the moment I opened the bag - from then on I couldn't shift the smell...

Anyone in the UK got some culture they'd be willing to send on (I'll pay for postage etc...)?
 

Bilbo

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
235
Location
Bulls. New Zealand
Another free food tip.

Bore a 6 - 10mm hole through a potato and bury in the garden for a week. It should supply you with a starter culture. After a week just dig it up wash the worms into a glass. You should go through at least 2 full cycles of cultures to ensure all extra's are gone before risking it on your fry.

I have been told this works great but I have never needed to try it.
 

georgedv

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
335
Location
South Carolina
Bilbo, can you explain that tip a little more. Are you saying that if I stick a raw potato in the ground with a hole...I will get microworms?

thanks

g
 

Bilbo

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
235
Location
Bulls. New Zealand
That's basically the idea, Yes. I have never tried it but know people who claim it worked for them.
Its an idea that comes from one of the really early fish books from W.T. Innes.

But if you can get them off someone first that is probably better because it will be a pure culture
 

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