# Blackworms and Tubifex



## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Does anyone feed these?

I'm looking into live foods to feed my fry/ adults. A lot of people seem to like blackworms but they've got me confused. Some people say they're hard to culture, others say they're easy. 

Then I can't tell the difference between them and tubifex worms. 

Plus... I looked into buying some Blackworms to start a culture... they are EXPENSIVE! I don't want to buy a half a pound of worms... I just want enough to start a culture.

Maybe I'll just stick with my white worms and dried foods. Fruitflies didn't work for me. I'm ordering some grindal worms but those are kinda small to feed my adults.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

I just googled, and they do look similar to tubifex only they are much darker while tubifex are red (the fresh ones). IMO, they are (if they are similar) dificult to culture. You would need an abundant of running water containing a lot of oxygen. And they need substrate - mud sort of things.

Not only have I never succeeded in culturing, I can only keep them alive for a week or so. But oddly, they survive in our filthy gutters - where even guppy like fish have trouble in. Perhaps it concerns the amount of worms per square inch. IDK.

If you feed fry tubifex (assuming blackworms are the same), fry will grow quickly - too quick in fact - not giving their fins a chance to develop. Many locals prefer feeding daphnia and later mosquito larva - fry's body will grow equally to their fins (slower rate) and their bodies become more ..... athletic (?) so to speak. 

And it's unadvised to feed females about to be bred these worms because the fat they develop may block the .... egg passage (?). I stay away from these worms if possible (for adult fish) because I believe it makes them weak/sluggish and somehow ruins their fins (only HM males) - Many locals do not experience this.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Hmm... I'll probably just stick with the white worms and dry foods then. I'd like to do daphnia and monia but that's a little too complicated a set up for me right now.


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