By Tom Cook
After several years of tinkering and lots of reading and experimenting, I have finally come up with a “no mess, no hassle” formula for raising whiteworms. But fist, I’ll describe the traditional method of raising these little critters.
White worms are terrestrial worms that grow to about 1-1.5 inches in length and live in the soil near leftover food sources. They grow and breed very rapidly, so in a matter of about 6-8 weeks you can have a good culture going to start feeding to your meat eating fishes. long ago, aquarists found that you could raise whiteworms in a box of soil, and if kept fed, there would be an almost endless supply of live food available for their fishes.
The traditional method of raising them is as follows: Take a small container and fill it with garden soil, some peat moss or leaf loam and mix it thoroughly, making sure that it is light and airy. Moisten the soil so that it is damp but not muddy. Get a starter culture and feed it with a slice of potato, some leftover fruit, or even some bread or cereal. Remember, they are just getting started, so feed very sparingly. Either put a layer of soil over the food or place a dish or piece of glass on top of the food. The glass is a better idea since you can see how much food has been eaten. If you overfeed the food will spoil and ruin your culture. If the food is gone you can tell when to feed again. After about six weeks the container should be loaded with enough worms to start feeding your fishes. Many people recommend starting new culture about every six months to avoid having the soil go “sour.” Whiteworms do best if they can be kept cool (55-65F).
There are two major drawbacks to this method of culturing whiteworms.
The first problem comes when you try to get the worms separated from the soil. I have tried sifting them out, but the soil is usually too damp for this method to work. I read somewhere that you can wash them to get rid of the dirt, but it was very difficult to get them separated from the dirt without losing a large percentage down the drain.
The second problem I encountered trying this method was an infestation of mites. After a few months the culture always seemed to have more mites than worms, and if I tried to start a new culture, some mites always seemed to go along with the worms. I have been told that if you keep the culture surrounded by water that the mites can’t get to them, so that is a possible solution to this problem.
The method I have used recently has made me much more successful in raising whiteworms, and it’s also a lot easier as far as I’m concerned.
First, get one or two plastic shoe boxes and some sculptured foam rubber (such as is used for packing material). Cut the foam to fit the inside of the shoebox, and put about 1/2″ of cool water in the box. Get some whiteworms and add them to this box, feeding lightly with some dry baby food oatmeal (very cheap), and cover. Keep in a cool place. I have an extra refrigerator in which I moved the temperature probe from the refrigerator section to the freezer section, so that I can set it to about 60F). Check the culture every three days or so to see when the whiteworms need more food. I also drain the water and replace it with fresh water every couple of weeks to remove the ammonia (the worms need fresh surroundings just like the fish do) and any other harmful byproducts.
When the food starts being eaten in about a day, there should be enough worms to start using them. Removing the worms is a simple matter of draining the foam, placing it on the shoebox lid and shining a light on top of it about 4-6″ away. The heat from the light will drive the worms down to the bottom of the foam and out onto the plastic lid. I then use a tweezers to gather large masses of the worms and put them in a glass jar with water to feed as needed to each of my tanks.
By the way, after a few months the worms eat a lot of the oatmeal, so make sure you don’t underfeed them. The food is above the waterline so it doesn’t spoil nearly as fast as it does in dirt. Since you will be changing the water regularly, I have found no need to start new cultures, and my first one is still going strong.
— G.C.K.A. Newsletter – September 1996