Live Black worms

[Paul B]

I know I talk alot about blackworms, (I know I talk a lot anyway)
But I have been feeding these things to my fish since Nixon was President, (just after Lincoln)
They are filled with the correct oil our fish need and I personally would not be able to have a tank of breeding fish if it were not for them. Any fish I want to get into breeding condition in a couple of weeks I just feed it live worms. (Blood worms are not worms and it will not work) Live worms are cheap and available in most pet shops, on the east coast anyway.
They only live about ten seconds in saltwater so they need to be target fed.


But another use for these fantastic oil filled creatures is for feeding corals. I feed these to bubble corals and any type of cup coral that normally will eat. A couple of worms on their disk causes the animal to slowly close up. Of course the fish gobble up the worms fast so I have to trick the coral to close by touching their outer rim. When the coral closes enough so that there is only a small hole left, I shoot 15 or so worms in there. Then the coral closes fully and re opens in about 45 minutes with a big smile on his face. Well somewhat.
Here he is just after a meal.

This is the same animal, but this picture is old, the coral is almost twice this size now which is about 9" across.

Of course one of these helps greatly and I could not have a reef without it.

I also feed Bubble corals with this method. I just shoot a few worms between some large bubbles and some tentacles start to emerge. Then I shoot a few worms in a few different places. The corals open larger and much better looking.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Cool Paul, thanks for the tips. I was talking with Bill the other night at AO and seems like you have a bunch of us hooked on the idea. Will let you know how it works out. Appreciate the participation here you really added a lot to the board in your short time here.

 

[Paul B]

JRwohler, thanks. Whats AO?

 

[MadReefer]

Paul,
I remember as kid feeding live black worms, blood worms, tubifex(I know) and one other that slips my mind to FW. Now these are hard to come by now. I bought a package of frozen blood worms the other day and the fish went nuts for them. More so than the reef plankton I was feeding. Will have to check the LFS for them

Mark

 

[JRWOHLER]

JRwohler, thanks. Whats AO?

Aquatic Obsessions...one or our favorite local fish stores. They have a couch where you can often find Bill.

 

[MadReefer]

I believe the seat is on permanent reserve for Bill.

 

[mnat]

If you reefers who live in central jersey don't want to go all the way up to AO, I know Tropiquarium stocks black worms. I may pick some up this weekend and try it out.

 

[blange3]

Hey Paul,

I discovered that the corals love them as well. My hammers and frogspawns gobble up all the leftovers and love them.

 

[Paul B]

Blange, did you see the picture I posted above of that large cup coral after eating black worms? I feed them to it almoat every day and the thing has grown immensely since I have been doing that.
I may start eating those worms myself
Well, maybe I will stick to fish oil pills. ;D

 

[DaveK]

Yes, live black worms are a fantastic food.

I have also use them to feed mandarin gobies and scooter blenies. Both fish usually require a large pod population to support them, so I don't think you could feed black works in place of that.

The only downside is that live black worms die quickly in SW. Make sure what ever you are feeding actually eats them.

 

[duijver]

I just picked up my first batch of black worms a few days ago. I have to agree that my fish LOVE them.

Question though. They were like $4 at my LFS for a really small container. This is probably fine since they claim they will only last a week max before they die.

They told me to just wash them off once a day and throw them in the fridge in a cup. Is that pretty much it or would I be better following something like this article to breed them in one of my spare 10g tanks? http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/foods_nutritions/livefood_cultures/blackworms_cultures.shtml

Thanks!!

 

[JRWOHLER]

Fed them for the first time. Mamma Mia they loved them ... I used the fork method. Will have to get some more for sure. I also have some caviar in the fridge...will have to sneak some to the fish while the wife isn't looking.

 

[blange3]

More converts!

Thanks for the culture tip Ben. I have towels, tank, airstones and worms.

I'll be setting that up tomorrow!

 

[duijver]

I was sold on giving it a try when I originally read this article, but I just never got around to getting to the LFS. But, once I saw your clowns spawning (Bills' clowns) I had to give it a shot to see if I could get mine going. Call me crazy, but the two clowns seem much more active today and it has only been 3 days of feeding.

I just drop a few in (small pinch) and they chow down. My skimmer is not great so I want to minimize the pollution.

Tell me how the breeding goes. I may give it a shot as well, but I'm a little concerned about the temperatures (76-83). Plus, with only 5 fish I have to see if it's worth it.

 

[Paul B]

Hey Paul,

I discovered that the corals love them as well. My hammers and frogspawns gobble up all the leftovers and love them.

I have been telling people about these things for 20 years. How come no one believed me?
Just feed something else besides blackworms or you will be sorry. The fish may not eat anything else. A fish like a copperband can and should be fed them every day. Thats what they eat. Worms

 

[Dave]

Just feed something else besides blackworms or you will be sorry.

Can you expand on what you mean?

 

[Paul B]

Fish like blackworms so much that they may refuse any other type of food. That happened with my Bangai Cardinals. They get spoiled and only want worms, so I always feed something else first.

 

[mnat]

The only problem I have had with blackworms so far is swatting away my cleaner shrimp and hermits from stealing them from my corals. My LPS and dendro love the black worms and look great. My fish took a second to figure it out and then started pulling them out of the baster. Even my cleaner goby grabbed a large one and took his time eating it.

 

[Paul B]

This is my new and improved blackworm keeper.
It holds many more times the volume of water and is operated with a tiny powerhead.

 

[mfisher2112]

For those of us "down south", Aquarium Center in Blackwood does have blackworms.

Picked some up tonight.

Fish went NUTS for em.

Every single fish.

May just try my luck at the butterfly again. Thanks Paul!