Glassworms

by Nick Ternes

If you made it into the box sale room at the show in November, you saw 1 cup portions of glassworms for sale. I picked up a portion to try out in the fishroom. Most of the fish loved them. A few didn’t like them much (Rivulus xiphidius and Epiplatys bifasciatus much to my surprise) and some fish would eat them well for a couple of days and then ignore them for a couple of days. (This group included Aphyosemion congicum and Scriptaphyosemion geryi) For the fish that eat them daily, they’ve been a great conditioning food and alternative for blackworms or frozen bloodworms. For the fish that eat them sporadically they are nice because they are slow to pupate (they are midge larvae) and stay in the water column.

My 1 cup portion lasted me 10 days of feeding my 65 tanks before they were gone. I ordered a gallon in January. Keeping glassworms alive is very simple. They like it cold. I keep mine in the fridge. Large quantities can be kept in the garage. I had some surplus in the garage here and they froze last week. I thawed them and very few had died. It’s a good idea to rinse them and give them new water one or two times per week. These are much easier to care for than blackworms! ...