Whiteworms raising for tropical fish food

[ViSligg]

Wonderful video man, real good job. My only concern about trying my hand at this now is that I might end up raising too many!

[GrollerG]

What is at the bottom of the plastic container? Earth?

[djrramsey]

@GrollerG Potting Soil. If you use dirt from outside you will get a lot of contaminants that will mess up your culture.

[theisgau]

Hey Mr.David... Thanks for the vids... I would also appreciate if you could give me some tips on culturing microworms..?

[AweSomo84]

Great video ,

I love people who things on their own way and find ways to make diy things .

Love and peace

[rustytool100]

30 years ago I was the Detroit king of tubafex worms. Collected them in the poluted Rouge River, as it ran through Detroit, and them cleaned them out under running water for about a week. Sold about four quarts of solid worms, per week, to local pet shops. Same sort of thing. Half your commenters want to buy a starter culture. How did you get them started?

[djrramsey]

@rustytool100 A starter culture has to be obtained from someone. Usually by hand. They just do not ship. Get them up in the 70s and they die. High 60s and they just never really recover. Best places to find them? Try a killifish club. They are usually available at the American Killifish Association national conventions. Next year at St Louis. But go to AKA.org, affiliate clubs top center and find a club you can get to. I am in Georgia, got mine from someone in Michigan, met in Raleigh at weekend

[NYREPS]

Hi will you sell and ship them? I want to buy some from you

[TheARMANDOVIDEOS]

EWWWW!!

BUT COOL!

[AweSomo84]

@TheARMANDOVIDEOS :)

[Lakshico]

Who is from Malaysia, or live in a country nearby that can send me some?

I would love to purchase it from you.

Please drop me a PM.

[vertom1]

do these boxes stink, can i keep them in the refigerator

[her209]

Are those the same thing as grindal worms?

[djrramsey]

I have never had any other stuff growing in the white worm containers. But small white bugs are bound to be tasty to the fish. They could be anything. The fish won't care, feed them all.

[rune5878]

David,

Do you get a small white bugs in the soil (except worms :)? If yes what are they?

Is it OK to feed that stuff to fish as well?

Thanks!

[Joshreuben77776]

hello mr david do u sell a starter culture i am from india and would like to buy a starter culture

[djrramsey]

I use Arnold's Whole Wheat Bread, less than $3 at Walmart. The yogurt I make myself, less than 50 cents per 6oz container. One container last me a month if I wasn't eating one myself every day. Pretty cheap when I was buying 2 lbs of blackworms a month. You can certainly feed them dog food, cat food, fish food, all that stuff. But you will not get the production levels that I achieve. But that may provide enough worms for your needs. And no comment on the quality of most people's diet.

[captmicha]

Are you kidding? Whole wheat bread with organic yogurt? Those worms eat better than most people. Why not just feed them dog or cat kibble??

[djrramsey]

The medium is a good potting soil. Miracle Grow, Ferry Morse, any of the different brands of potting soil. Just be sure it is not just shredded peat. Just peat is almost impossible to hold at the right moisture level. Peat is either wet or dry, you want moist.

[Ugrin86]

What kind of medium do you use?

[kscalare]

question tho do i need soil in order to strt my worm culture??

i have tried it using jus soil from my back yard that i washed with some pond water but didnt wrk and im yet to find a place cool enuff cuz i live in the caribbean n its usualy warm here.

ny advice is useful...tnx

[dramey03]

you are awesome, ive been looking for this type of info for a while and its crazy i find it from a guy whos name is only 1 letter different from mine

great vid

[djrramsey]

for maximum production, I feed whole wheat bread with a thin layer of a good non fat plain yogurt with a sprinkling of brewers yeast. A really good dog food or fish food pellets or algae wafers can also be added. This makes a great gut load to get additional nutrition into the fish. I feed as much as the worms will eat every other day.

[petpera]

what food is this for Whiteworms?

[djrramsey]

Whiteworms are VERY temperature sensitive. I can ship starter cultures to people in the spring when the weather is right. But I need to know where you are so we can watch the temps and find the right time. You can email that info to d j r a m s e y at h o t m a i l.com Take out the spaces. It will cost $13 - $16 depending on where you are. No payment wanted until I can ship to you.

[djrramsey]

Looking for whiteworms? Try your local fish club. Google your town, or the closest big town and find a club. You have to have a starter of whiteworms. They are VERY temperature sensitive so they do not ship very well. For me to send you a culture, my temperatures need to be in the 50F-60F and your temperature needs to be in the same range. They need to ship in a priority insulated box to have any chance of success getting to you. I provide a lot of starters to people close to me around Atlanta.

[marcusangami]

Would be thankful if you could please send me a starter culture.

Any idea on how to collect them in its nature-state, cause no one is selling them in the market.

[TheCla77ic]

Have you tried using food waste to feed the worms?

[djrramsey]

the plastic mesh is from a craft/sewing store. It is the plastic mesh for needlepoint. Very inexpensive. When the worms get on top of it, you get clean worms without chunks of food or dirt.

[martinethson]

Excellent video, thanks for sharing, guys btw check out the book "Culturing live foods" by Mike hellweg from TFH publications. Its going to rock you of your socks

[KingofSpain101]

Where do you find white worms? I don't think the petshops have any

[redwolf1]

Thank you, this is very helpful

[TheBravo101]

Dont forget to lick your fingers.mmmmmmm. lol. Great Video by the way.

[hedhurley1]

Hi Dave

Ex. vid & TY4all of the technical info.its perfect for what I need.I am retired from the USAF serving 40 years. This looks like what I need for my fish. My name is Ed Hurley I live in Niagara Falls, NY that’s at the western most part of NY. Do u know of any 1 in my area I could buy some white worms. I have checked with all of the pet stores in the area with no Luck. AgainTY4 taking the time to make the vid.

[BoringPeopleEnt]

check out our skit on fish food!!!

[CrazyBirdThing]

thanks so much for the video. i was just wondering where you got the first culture to start raising them. thanks again.

[bobbymalta73]

Thanks for sharing mate!

[petboy1998]

how do you make the worms

[Cybersix1980]

Hello David .... there is no way for me to buy a starter culture ... i was wondering if you could tell me any other ways to find these worms ..maybe in nature ... thanks

[tropicalfishman26]

how do you get big worms i dont seem to get many big ones in them only a few

[Freedan111]

Wow, wish my worms were producing as much as yours. Love the needle grate idea, will have to give it a try.

[ciceromatrix]

THANK U FOR THIS VIDEO

[Cybersix1980]

Wish you had shown how your fish eat those worms . thanks for the video

[kevin1234kevin1234]

hello, sorry but the English that utilis am Spanish and I am the translator google, the videos are perfect but I can not get the amount of worms that I see in the video, which is that with the feed at first glance appears coupled with slices of bread cheese? may be I am wrong? thanks

[tropicalfishman26]

brilliant video. i got whiteworm cultures but they keep getting dirt fleas i think they are have you got any idea how to stop them. thanks

[djrramsey]

@tropicalfishman26 Collect a bunch of worms and put them in some aquarium water. They will sink to the bottom. The dirt fleas should float. Then you can use a turkey baster and suck out the worms. Put them in a new clean culture. The worms will live just fine in the water for a while. This is also an easy way to start up new cultures. Good luck.

[tropicalfishman26]

@djrramsey ok thanks for the help will give it a go

[ABCba5tard]

does it work for koi carps??

[djrramsey]

@ABCba5tard The worms are about 1" long. I have not tried them with koi carp, but every fish I have fed them to have eaten them. I chop them with a razer blade for small fish.

[ABCba5tard]

@djrramsey can i get a lb sample

[d1scusfreak]

Hi David,

Thanks again for the video. I've started some curture 2 months back and it's still not going strong :-(. Few more questions hope you don't mind

1. Normally how long does it take get into full production mode?

2. The soil/peat medium get slimy film on top, is it normal? do i need to anything?

3. Where can I buy the plastic grids that you're using?

Thanks

[bettaj]

Do you sell mature cultures? If so, please e-mail me price and postage. Thanks.

[d1scusfreak]

Hi djrramsey,

few questions:

1. What do you use for the medium? soil or peat moss? and how thick is the medium?

2. What temperature do you keep them in?

Thanks

[djrramsey]

medium - spaghnum peat moss with some regular potting soil. About 1" thick. Add a little lime to help the pH stay neutral. Temperature - kept in a wine cooler. Hig 50s

[rafaelbocorny]

thank you for sharing this with us

[DemonDrug95]

how do i start the culture..should i buy some whiteworms or can i start with this ''recepies''

[djrramsey]

algae wafers are available at any pet store. Even Walmart has them. Hikari is a good brand, so is Aqaurian. Petsmarts have their own brand of them.

[doncielo7]

where can i buy a algae wafers?

[rotcafarg]

Mine are growing well, but wow, I looked at your video again and although my box is bigger than yours I don't have anything like that quantity of worms. I'm not putting that much food in though - I guess I should put in more...

[rotcafarg]

@rotcafarg That's changed now. They're going strong!

[rotcafarg]

So I got me some white worms from a guy on Aquabid! They seem healthy but I don't yet have the quantities your video shows. I'm going to let them settle in for a couple of weeks - I put them in a larger container than they came in with some more potting soil.

I think they have mites though - there's lots of tiny little dots. Do you have trouble with them?

[djrramsey]

I have more trouble with mites with the grindal worms. Don't know why. They are tough to get rid of. The mites should congregate mostly on some dry dog or cat food pellets in the culture. Then pick out the pellets covered in mites and throw out. When your white worm culture gets going pretty good, harvest into a container of water. Stir it, let it settle, pour off the water. Do that several times and most of the mites will be gone from the worms. Use that to start a new clean culture. David

[djrramsey]

I keep over 100 tanks. They are mostly 10 gallons, but range from 2 1/2 to 40 gallon. Whiteworms are much larger than girindals. Be like saying redworms are same size as night crawlers. Microworms to grindals to whiteworms to blackworms to redworms is my worm size pregression with my fish. whiteworms and blackworms are fed pretty much to same fish. Blackworms get chopped for the smaller fish.

[rotcafarg]

100 tanks! Wow!!

I'm wondering whether to get whiteworms or grindals. I have community fish: cories, platys, guppies, a dwarf gourami, nothing very big. I hear that white worms are fattier than grindal worms, so maybe I should go with the latter.

[djrramsey]

It will take a lot of grindals to fill up the fish you have listed. As adults they would much prefer the whiteworms. And since whiteworms start out smaller and grow up, the smaller ones will feed the baby platies and guppies. But the whiteworms need to be kept much cooler than the grindals.

[rotcafarg]

Thanks for the info - white worms it is.

[rotcafarg]

Did you say 100 tanks? Or 100 fish?

They seem to be the same size as grindal worms.

[christopherrnoto]

Very good video, David. Thanks.

[djrramsey]

wine cooler - I got mine off Craigs List for $35.00. Size of a dorm refrigerator.

[RAmenFSM]

I guess I need a wine cooler.

[djrramsey]

the circle like pellet is a fishfood algae wafer. Fish food for plecostomus. Lots of companies make them. On top of the bread is plain yogurt.

[fthamura]

what is the circle like pellet? and what is on top of the bread?