afr3178 Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Hi all, I've got some blackworms that are nearly all gone. I don't know if I should get more or not because of late I've been really paranoid about introducing an intestinal disease, or any disease in that case to any fish that I feed with them. Is there a way to 'disinfect' the blackworms? Or is feeding them a risk you're all willing to take? What do you do? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNgo2006 Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) As long as they came from a reputable source and you keep them healthy (water changes) then there shouldn't be a problem. I have been feeding all my betta live black worms for a while now with no diseases to the fish to speak of. Edited October 8, 2012 by Chi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 As Chi said. All my guys get them with no issues as yet. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Hi I have got into this conversation with a few IBC members in the USA and a lot of them wont feed there fish blackworms becouse of unfortunate incidents. I feed my Betta on Blackworms that I get sent to me from Mal @ australian Blackworms I have never had a bad experiance with them. I do however change there water daily and keep an iced container in with them to keep the temp low. In my opinion if you keep your worms in good condition and they are healthy then you shouldnt have a problem with them however if they are realy smelly and dieying off becouse they havent been kept correctly then you will be asking for trouble. Only ever feed your fish the best as you your self woudnt want to eat half rotten food. I find Blacworms the best way to condition my Betta for breeding. I hope this helps in some way but if you are not sure of the quality of the worms or you know they are going off then dont feed them to you fish. Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 They can carry diseases if they're bred in a system with unhealthy fish, some people keep them in sumps or similar and they feed on the fish waste, if there are sick fish in the system the blackworms can transfer them. If you buy them from a reputable source you shouldn't have any problems though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhong89 Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 I've had problems with blackworms in the past, no matter how careful I'm with them. But this can be a number of things such as my water is harder to keep clean with such high protein foods etc etc. I haven't used them for about a year now coz I was living in a shared house and putting worms in the fridge was a no no. I've started culturing whiteworms and they seem to do the job as well as the blackworms and a lot less messy. But I firmly believe in the phrase "take care of the water and the fish will take care of themselves". Fish tend to get sick more easily when they're already stressed by water conditions etc so sometimes it may not be the worms that's causing problems but cause of the other problems may lay elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afr3178 Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 Well sounds like they're not too bad. I've been doing lots of water changes with the ones I have and they look healthy... No dead ones or any smells. I think I will get more now and I'm confident that all should be well. They're in their own tank and like you Les, I'll probably get some from Mal. I agree with you there, Joan. I always try to give my fish the best water they can get! Thanks again guys :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever_and_a_day Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 i keep mine in a almost A4 size plastic food container with gravel, java moss and duckweed and have yet to have any problems. I change the water as often as i can with waste water from wc's in clean, unmedicated tanks. Fish poo is really the only source of food i provide for them, with the very occcasional bits of old fish food dumped it. also the occasional dousing in chlorinated (tap) water is apparently help with preventing black-worm associated diseases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 I keep my blackworm in a 1lt ice cream tub, never change the water and top up with tap water when the water has almost all evaporated. If anything ever dies from it, I'll let ya know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 also the occasional dousing in chlorinated (tap) water is apparently help with preventing black-worm associated diseases I read somewhere that the worms are sensitive to chlorine and straight tap water could actually kill them. Unfortunately I can't find the source. I certainly found that using dechlorinated water I had hardly any worms die. When I use straight tap water a few worms die every day. You can see them turn white. Maybe we should run a little AusAqua experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afr3178 Posted October 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 I can tell you now, with my water changes I use straight tap water. I change 50% every day and I actually can't find a dead worm anywhere.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillieOrCory Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 I buy a kilo of worms every 3 weeks (share a portion of it with a couple of friends). There are no disease issues to worry about. The only concern is to making sure you keep up the water quality of your fish. Blackworm is a high protein diet. Being live food there is no waste and potential to feed more than necessary as the fish gobble them up. Which in return can put pressure on the water quality via fish waste. I try to increase the water change frequency when I feed my fish exclusively on blackworms to condition them for breeding. And how good blackworms are for conditioning? This is what happened this last weekend: *Received new shipment of blackworms on Wednesday *Fed fish on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday heavily on blackworms. *Friday night 12 species of killies have increased production of eggs. *Saturday Brochis splendens, Corydoras trilieantus, Corydoras sterbai and Corydoras paleatus have bred. *By sunday I noticed Corydoras adolfoi, atropersonatus, septentriolanis and panda display courtship behaviour. In short blackworms are great, just keep up or increase your water changes (both on the worms and your tanks) if you are concerned about disease. Serkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhong89 Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 a kilo? how many fish do you have to feed them? Again I'm so envious.... I read somewhere that the worms are sensitive to chlorine and straight tap water could actually kill them. Unfortunately I can't find the source. I certainly found that using dechlorinated water I had hardly any worms die. When I use straight tap water a few worms die every day. You can see them turn white. Maybe we should run a little AusAqua experiment. I never had dying worms either if I kept it in the fridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 I read somewhere that the worms are sensitive to chlorine and straight tap water could actually kill them. Unfortunately I can't find the source. I certainly found that using dechlorinated water I had hardly any worms die. When I use straight tap water a few worms die every day. You can see them turn white. Maybe we should run a little AusAqua experiment. I think I've once used dechlorinator on my worms. Once. I also once had the same batch going for about 6 months just topping up the evap (there was only an inch of water left most times) with untreated tap water every few weeks. The only batch of worms I've ever lost was stressed or overheated in shipping and the entire batch was a dud. No amount of washing, cooling, treating would save them. Putrid blackworms STINK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted October 9, 2012 Report Share Posted October 9, 2012 Yeah nothing worse than the smell of rotten blackworms. I also think it depends on where it is you are purchasing them from. If they are the last few scoops out of the bucket I find they tend to die off a lot more quickly than those that have just come in. I keep mine in a shallow bucket of water with an airstone. The water I use is from my goldfish tank and I do daily water changes. They get some broken down IAL to much on and hide in and I have had them last 3-4 weeks in a set-up like that (usually I run out after a couple of weeks though!). I just rinse my blackworms really well when I first bring them home to wash any nasties and dead worms away. None of my wilds seem to have had any issues with blackworms and they make up a major part of their diet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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