Re: Live Foods Digest V4 #95

["Jennifer Macke" <jpmacke at cox_net>]

George, I suspect that these thinner worms could be the same, or very
similar, to the ones I have from Sach's Aquasystems.  They are smaller than
regular tubifex and more resistant to foul conditions. I think they (or
something very similar) are also present as a contaminant in some batches of
commercial blackworms.

Tomoko, I know several people (including me) that have tried to culture
blackworms.  All of them either had the culture crash, or they decided that
the yield from it was not worth the trouble.  I think that the tubifex that
have the bad reputation are the ones that they harvest from fish farms.
Anything you culture yourself is unlikely to carry disease.

Jennifer


> Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 13:07:45 +0000
> From: George Slusarczuk <yurko at warwick_net>
> Subject: Re: Live Foods Digest V4 #94
>
> Hello Tomoko,
>
> Some years ago I obtained a Tubifex starter culture from LFS Cultures.
>
> Their directions are good and the culture prospered. After a while I
> realized that it contained TWO distinct kinds of worms: A thin,
> threadlike worm and a thicker one.
>
> I isolated the two species and cultured them separately. Partly though
> neglect the "thick" worms died out and now I am left with the "thin"
> ones.
>
> I don't put much effort in changing water, substrate etc. Without
> attention they do multiply slowly, about two orders of magnitude slower
> than Grindals. They are good for an occasional snack. One positive thing
> - -- they live in water indefinitely, but so do Daphnia, which are much
> more productive.
>
> Best,
>
> George
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 14:20:42 -0600
> > From: "Tomoko Schum" <tomokoschum at knology_net>
> > Subject: Blackworms vs tubifex
> >
> > Hi y'all,
> >
> > First of all, thank you Paul for answering my
> > question.  Whatever it is in my blackworm
> > culture, they are causing a decline of my
> > blackworms.
> >
> > Jennifer Macke's post on "Alternative" from a
> > few weeks ago really piqued my curiosity.  I
> > know that tubifex is regarded as dirty
> > disease carrying worms by most people.
> > However, the source that Jennifer sited
> > (Sachs Aquaculture) seems to have clean
> > cultures.  LFS Cultures sells tubifex as well
> > and they said that theirs are clean and never
> > caused any problem.
> >
> > Now that I have to start over my blackworm
> > culture, I am interested in trying tubifex.
> > Have anyone else tried tubifex from these two
> > sources?
> >
> > I heard that tubifex multiply much faster
> > than blackworms.  Is this true?
> >
> > Tomoko