Re: [Killietalk] Flushing whiteworm cultures

[Barry Cooper <bjc3 at centurytel_net>]

Try putting some paradichlorbenzene mothballs in the culture. I wrap 
them in a piece of aluminum foil with a few holes punched in it. In 
grindal worm cultures it will eliminate the flies. I then take it out 
and keep the box with the culture in a pillow case with a zip on it. 
That should prevent new infestations.

Barry

Barry J. Cooper
Sweet Home, OR 97386



wm crash wrote:
> Howdy,
>
> I recently tried my hand again at culturing whiteworms. I bought a good 
> starter, which came with a bonus culture of little flies (the seller was 
> upfront about it, but I took it anyways). Now when I recultured, I made 
> three cultures. It turns out that the one that had the most water, also 
> turned into a fly production machine. I could not see the larvae in the 
> cultures, but lots of flies.
>
> At the same time, I had a container across the basement from the whiteworm 
> cultures. I kept some copepods there, with some java moss, and some 
> driftwood. I took the java moss to put upstairs in my soon to be show tank. 
> Instantly, I saw tons of aquatic larvae in the tank. I thought maybe I 
> picked something up with the copepods . . . . I was thinking I can cover 
> them with thick sand and that'd take care of them. That didn't quite happen, 
> they just came up through the sand. They came up and now there are tons 
> crawling in there. (some loach from Petsmart will be VERY happy tomorrow)
>
> In the mean time, I was determined to save the whiteworms. I took the 
> cultures outside (in the 20s at night, in the 30s daytime). They froze rock 
> solid. I left them there 3 days. The white worms were fine, they balled up 
> in little clusters. The larvae I was never seeing in the cultures came up.
>
> Now prepare to be amazed: they are the same larvae that were in the copepod 
> cultures and I had taken upstairs with the moss.
>
> The cold temp did nothing bad to the larvae or the flies. As soon as warm 
> temps hit them, they were back in action. I did manage to scoop some worms, 
> rince them very well, and culture in sterile coco fiber. Hopefully that will 
> go better.
>
> Now my question: for those people that flush their cultures to get rid of 
> pesky flies, how is that supposed to work? Or is it supposed to get rid of 
> the pesky flies, but save the adorable larvae?
>
> take care,
> wm_crash, the friendly hooligan
> AKA #08840, SAA #162, SVAS #120, HOOLIGAN #1
> Wilmington DE
>
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