[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
RE: Tubifex Worms
>Could anyone explain if Tubifex worms are good/healthy to planted
aquariums?
Edison Yap wonders about Tubifex. Now, in his post, Edison stated that his
worms were "clean" to begin with - something that I wonder about, as Tubifex
are generally collected from sewage basins (if I'm wrong, correct me - but I
HAVE seen them in such places). I have YET to see any "clean" tubifex,
although I suppose that you can hold them for a period of time in clean
running water to allow them to det rid of the sludge in their guts. I know
that most fish love to eat them, but I am always nervous about buying fish
which have been fed tubifex as they always seem to have intestinal parasites
(presumably from organisms in the guts of the worms). For example, i have
yet to find a dealer of Discus in Toronto that I will buy from (again) as
every time I buy Discus here (and most of the dealers feed tubifex), they
die from what appears to me to be parasitic infestations.
That being said, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with there being a few
live tubifex (or other, non predatory creatures) in your substrate. The only
problem whould arise if your substrate was very heavily infested and for
some reason they all died suddenly. Substrates in nature are alive with a
myriad of timy burrowing creatures. Marine aquarists spend big bucks to buy
"live sand" and take great pride in the flora and fauna which inhabit their
substrates. Properly done, I see nothing wrong with the same sort of thing
working in a freshwater tank - you just have to be careful about the species
selected and the source.
Coming as he does from the Philippines, Edison would be better placed than
most of us to try this out - he would just have to go out into the
countryside and find a small brook or pond and go wading. A local field
guide and a magnifying glass would help.
B.T.W., if you want to get RID of the tubifex in your substrate, buy a few
loaches - they will root them out and devour them in no time flat.
James Purchase
Toronto