black worms

Question
Hello...
I've noticed that on alot of tropical fish sites,
they mention black worms as a favorite food.
I've never seen any form of black worms in a ny
pet shop.Is there a freeze dried version available?
                   Thanks for the info...

                                 Augie(NY)


Answer
Hi Augie;

Black worms are referred to as Tubifex worms too. I don't know how available they are in NY, but they are everywhere here in California where I live. We call them California Black Worms or Tubifex here.

If you find some and decide to feed them to your fish you must keep them very clean. They must be rinsed daily and kept refrigerated in a container with a lid. Put a tiny hole in the center of the lid for air and make sure you put them in a spot of your refrigerator that will not freeze.

The worms will make a lot of waste and some die. This decaying junk must be rinsed out every day. To rinse your worms, fill up the container with cold tap water and let the worms settle to the bottom for a couple of minutes. Pour off almost all of the water. It may have to be done more than once when you first get them or if you skipped a day or two rinsing. If it's a good lively batch the worms will form a ball and look like a dark colored "island" in the center of a bit of water with movement and wriggling. Too much water and they drown. If the batch is not very good they will look like they have an ugly sludge and lay there flat and limp. The water will get reddish and gross again very quickly. They can sometimes be revived by rinsing several times. It is usually from excess waste that they die so rinsing will remove it and any dead worm bodies will go with it.

To feed them to your fish get a cone shaped worm feeder, available at fish stores. For frogs and other slower bottom dwelling creatures, get a glass jar with a small opening, just big enough for the slower pets to get into. Rinse it and add a tiny clump of worms to the jar. Fill it with tank water and let the worms settle to the bottom. Slowly submerge the jar in the tank and lay it on it's side in the gravel. Be sure the lip of the jar is even with the gravel surface by push it into the gravel a bit. Frogs and bottom fish can smell it so they will follow the wormy smell and find it. The jar keeps other fish from devouring the tasty goodies before the slower frogs and others can feed.

Have fun!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins