White Worms
I have been culturing White Worms, , Enchytraeus albidus, in my fishroom for the last 2 years but with only medium success, hence the link at the bottom to hopefully someone who knows more than I do on culturing these.
I am using large 5 litre plastic sandwich boxes and coconut coir as the medium with a plastic mesh over the surface. The boxes are kept under the sink and on the floor of the fishroom for most of the year as this is the coolest place. The worms are regularly fed on Ready Brek with some added yeast granules, but only when the previous amount of food has all been consumed, which is very similar to how I feed my Grindal Worms.
I have to aerate the cultures on a very regular basis so maybe I need a much coarser material so that the medium does not pack down so much, but not sure what this should be. I tried a mix with potting soil for seeds but this was very sandy and the worms did not like it.
Production in 2 cultures are up and down, but normally get enough to feed my whole fishroom at least once per week. I keep trying to change things to see if I get any better results, and if I find an answer then I will definitely let you all know.
There is an excellent article on the internet about culturing white worms by Fish Laboratory and very well worth a read.
Now into 2020, and I have added small vertical plastic tube to my boxes (see photo below), inside which I place a rolled up paper towel, which wicks up the excess moisture and are replaced on a regular basis. Somebody had mentioned this idea on one of the Facebook groups, but unfortunately I cannot remember who this was, but I would like to say a big thank-you as it has improved my cultures a lot. I now get a lot more worms and the cultures are staying fresh and lasting a lot longer.
I am using large 5 litre plastic sandwich boxes and coconut coir as the medium with a plastic mesh over the surface. The boxes are kept under the sink and on the floor of the fishroom for most of the year as this is the coolest place. The worms are regularly fed on Ready Brek with some added yeast granules, but only when the previous amount of food has all been consumed, which is very similar to how I feed my Grindal Worms.
I have to aerate the cultures on a very regular basis so maybe I need a much coarser material so that the medium does not pack down so much, but not sure what this should be. I tried a mix with potting soil for seeds but this was very sandy and the worms did not like it.
Production in 2 cultures are up and down, but normally get enough to feed my whole fishroom at least once per week. I keep trying to change things to see if I get any better results, and if I find an answer then I will definitely let you all know.
There is an excellent article on the internet about culturing white worms by Fish Laboratory and very well worth a read.
Now into 2020, and I have added small vertical plastic tube to my boxes (see photo below), inside which I place a rolled up paper towel, which wicks up the excess moisture and are replaced on a regular basis. Somebody had mentioned this idea on one of the Facebook groups, but unfortunately I cannot remember who this was, but I would like to say a big thank-you as it has improved my cultures a lot. I now get a lot more worms and the cultures are staying fresh and lasting a lot longer.