How to Culture Live Blackworms - Best Live Food for Adult Fish

Hey All,
Today I wanted to show you how I culture live blackworms in my fishroom.
Blackworms are considered on of the best live foods you can feed to your adult fish, and if fed regularly you should find improved fish conditioning, improved breeding activity and overall better colouration in your favourite wet pets.
Hope you enjoy this video, good luck with your live blackworm cultures.
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#LiveBlackworms #CultureLiveBlackworms #BlakesAquatics

[@jeffreyboster6899]

Thank You. I have been in the aquarium hobby a lone time (since the mid 1960's) and I like a simple clear video like this one.

[@theboganteen8899]

Hope ur doing well with your hobby

[@GouramiNatural]

Jeez 1960s thats impressive

[@lizxu322]

As a newbie too I appreciate it as well!

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Yes

[@caelanharamis5660]

My jaw dropped when you explained how they reproduce/split. That's so cool. I'll have to find some blackworms and start my own culture. Great video!

[@FatherFish]

Very good project. Easy to do and productive. Better than refrigeration.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks Father Fish 👍 good to see you

[@secdup2510]

Good job. Everything i needed to know about starting a live black worms tank in 1 video.

[@stephaniesteen4838]

YES people think I'm crazy or lying about growing them in my puffer tank substrate lol 🤣 totally Sharing this!

[@MrDavez]

did you introduce a lot, during feeding time,,, so some could escape? lol my murder beans Pig out when the worms come floating in. ;)

[@rajgill7576]

I just got some today for the first time ever! Was so much fun interacting with all the fish feeding them by hand! Edit: yo that collander trick to not disturb the substrate dumping in a bucket of water was nice im gonna start using that

[@FishmanEricRussell]

Hey Blake! I agree whole heartily about feeding lots of live food. I've never tried black worms. I will have to try them. Thanks for the vid.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks mate glad you liked it

[@HCAqua]

Perfect timing! Im looking to set one of these up this week.

[@MrsBJPalmer]

Thanks! I had no idea it could be this easy!

[@marypaigeflynn4512]

I'm really enjoying these tutorials you're doing!! These are skills every fishkeeper should know and learn! Thank you always for taking the time to put together quality videos for us. And thank you for sharing your experience!! Hope you and your family have a very blessed day! 🤗🙏🌿🐟🌿💚

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad you like them! Hopefully you can get back to your aquariums soon.

[@marypaigeflynn4512]

@@BlakesAquaticsgetting ready to get on the road now!!!🌿🐟🌿

[@edstar81]

love these tutorials mate.. keep em coming :)

[@BlakesAquatics]

Cheers mate 👍

[@chiefphizzels1272]

Excellent video my guy! Very informative I can start this setup this weekend and know exactly what to do 👍🏼 thank you

[@Shleeeemp]

Thank you for this guide! I’ll be setting one of these up in the next few days…

[@amandaelizabeth1586]

Great video -very informative!

[@jillmudd3224]

Brilliant have just had two 80 ml bags delivered one lot went straight in my 4ft community tank and the other I am going to use to reproduce more for my fish when I find a suitable container lol 😆 thanks 😊 great video

[@taryziforde7662]

This is now on my to do list, simple set up & easy to understand vid. 👍

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lostsoulsthc7137]

Just managed to establish a population of these in one tank and working on getting them established in my community tank to help the spawning and survival rates of my micro fish species

[@jaicobbenton5490]

Great video mate

[@willbarker1998]

Wow. I didn't realise how easy it is

[@nathanking9771]

Great job, thanks for sharing!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks for watching!

[@sandramartin2713]

Great information thank you!

[@BlakesAquatics]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sleepytasmr]

What are great vide, thank you so so much!

[@thirstyrabbittanks2u191]

Cheers bro top job

[@chelsearoseberry7728]

Great video! I also learned it’s important to quarantine for a day you will see the parasites fall to the bottom of the container and then it is safe to transfer into the tank after a day.

[@GRBAquatics]

Cool Video Blake. Hope the Blackworms Tank works out for you.

[@razme2099]

Awesome vid

[@djt7387]

Thanks for the info!

[@BlakesAquatics]

You bet!

[@Norbulius]

Hi! Thank you for this material. Cool and compressed info! Hear you later!

[@markhaunert5029]

Definitely a food fish can't resist. Great info because they are a bit expensive to buy. 👍

[@rosemarydudley9954]

Mark Haunert ... Don't you have to buy them to start with though???

[@Love4Creation2024]

Great vid. I subscribed :) thank you

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks 👍

[@aldehorte]

Thanks for more great info! People can save tons of money raising live food.

[@BlakesAquatics]

So true!

[@PotooBurd]

. This is so informative!!! Fantastic reporting!🌻🌼🐝

[@BlakesAquatics]

So nice of you

[@adamm5087]

I've been using earthworms and I'm so excited to learn about these small blackworms! Sometimes the earthworms I get are too large and I have to chop them up which I would avoid if possible.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Go for it 👍👍

[@aquariumtreasures1054]

Great information.🐟🌿👍😊

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks for watching!

[@MELODYMUNRO]

I'll have to try this. I have a red wiggler worm farm that I feed my severum, silver dollars, clown loaches and goldfish from. My angelfish and discus would love those blackworms.

[@markhaunert5029]

Do you ever feed your discus the earthworms. Mine like them and so little tank mess.

[@wikiwing348]

I will use this for my pea puffers

[@shannonman1001]

Fantastic video

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks! 😃

[@yunsaquatics7260]

Thank you so much for this information! I am planning to set a culture up today. I have a question though.. Have you ever had issues with leeches? I had given up on blackworms because I heard leeches were a problem, but decided I'd give it a try anyway because the 7 species of corydoras I breed would love these. I do have a leech concern in some mystery snails I just got. Found one in a shipment.. concerned there's more. 😕

[@BlakesAquatics]

I just fixed a major leech issue yes! I dried the entire tank out completed, changed substrate and carefully selected a few new blackworms with clean equipment for a starter, being really careful not to x contaminate

[@laurencosshall8]

Your videos have helped me so much with my tanks and cultures! i have a blackworm culture which has been established for around a month and algae and waste from the worms is stuck in the gravel where they hide. how do you clean the gravel without sucking up the worms? Water changes are easy to do without disturbing them, but it dosent get rid of the crud at the bottom.

[@BlakesAquatics]

I dont gravel vac but i regularly swish the gravel around and kick up the waste so it goes into the sponge filter and then i regularly clean the filter

[@rosemarydudley9954]

Lauren Cosshall ... Watch the video again. This guy tells you how to do it.

[@jonathanmclane8277]

What temperature do you keep them? And has your tank project workout or do you have other tips on if it didn’t?

[@sheldonm3535]

I'm trying to farm live black worms also. Been feeding the worms crunched up fish flake food.

[@rahrah8962]

i used worm castings from my worm bin as a bottom layer substrate topped with stratum and black sand and their still alive after 10 days after being filled with water

[@jpaquarios541]

Great video Blake, I have only one doubt, what is the water temperature that need to be in the culture aquarium? Thanks a lot

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hey Joao, theyll do fine at room temperature. you dont need a heater.

[@jpaquarios541]

@@BlakesAquatics Thanks cheers

[@Cecilia-bh7mu]

Thanks! Just curious can you keep them in a smaller container (like big glass jar) with frequent water change? I'm trying to culture something with my 5 yo for her betta

[@BlakesAquatics]

I reckon you could yes. Are of the base being more important than height

[@backroadblast6603]

Def need to set this up for the axolotl.

[@connorsymcox3757]

exactly what i’m here for. my lotls - adult and babies - go NUTS for blackworm 😂

[@thegoodreview]

Awesome mate. It is really what I was looking for. I have a question for it. Is the blackworms not harmful to cherry shrimps?

[@BlakesAquatics]

No not harmful at all

[@GCperfect]

Thanks for the video. How do you change water without losing the worms?

[@BlakesAquatics]

They stay in the substrate so i just drain from the water column

[@aquamate]

thats a great idea man, probably my fav live food, how do we dry them out?

[@BlakesAquatics]

lol food dehydrator or in the oven on very low would be my best bet

[@aquamate]

@@BlakesAquatics I love the dried black worms, expensive but good, did you hear the guy who made the down here passed away recently 😢

[@BlakesAquatics]

@@aquamate yeah his family is carrying on the business though. he was super old i think in his 80s

[@johnsmyth8676]

@@aquamate Yes sadly we lost Mal the force behind Australian Blackworms last year but the team he put in place have his passion and drive to take the business into the future that Mal had envisioned ( John Production Manager ABW )

[@alyc.9367]

I have a three gallon hexagon tank that isn’t used. I set it up with an air stone, Java moss and gravel. My culture is in there and burrowed. Should I add a sponge filter or will my water changes suffice for a small culture? I only feed them to an axolotl for a varied diet.

[@BlakesAquatics]

if you used established gravel then there should be plenty of good bacteria, i just use a sponge filter mainly to filter out particles when i disturb the gravel harvesting my worms. its entirely up to you it can work either way, but switching an air stone to a sponge filter is probably easy enough and beneficial enough to warrant doing.

[@DanielKeepingFish]

Fish go mad for Blackworm too. Good culturing video about them bud.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Cheers mate :)

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Could they live in fine sand, something that could be scooped with a net and sifted out?

[@Talz1803]

Thank you very much for this video! How often can you harvest from a culture like this without depleting it, and what kind of quantity could I expect?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Depending how much you feed it, how big it is and how many you are harvesting etc every day

[@kkutube1972]

How often do you do water changed. I have to change it every day and it smells. I am running a sponge filter. Thanks.

[@BlakesAquatics]

I dont change water much, monthly or so

[@shawnanavarro8448]

Hi great video. I have probably a stupid question. I have saltwater tanks that I want to feed the black worms to. So my question is the water you culture the worms in is it fresh or salt?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Fresh water, thats interesting, never heard of saltwater fish eating blackworms

[@shawnanavarro8448]

@@BlakesAquatics yes copperband butterfly fish. Thanks for the help 😊

[@sheldonm3535]

Best sponge filters is from Aquarium CoOp. They don't float, worth every penny. Grab yourself a never clog air stone from them also.

[@BlakesAquatics]

They dont ship to australia 👍

[@johnn6094]

Does temperature of the water matter?

[@Jesse-ey5xd]

Would you ever consider creating a culture tank that included daphnia, scuds and blackworms? Do you think snails would help or hurt a set of like that?

[@BlakesAquatics]

That could be an awesome combo!

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

I was thinking about different substrates, companion crops or floating plants too.

[@herveydoerr-rolley9241]

Although black worms are great, culturing them can be really annoying and easy to foul and cause crashes if not managed properly, i culture white worms instead which aren't too much smaller and 1000x easier to culture and reproduce so much faster. Great video though : )

[@touxiong7050]

I just leave them out in a tub full of algae and they are just multiplying. One thing i notice they start getting lighter color

[@tiff7436]

How do you do the water changes? Prime kills them so what do you suggest? Spring Water?

[@BlakesAquatics]

I collect rainwater 👍

[@nijuy3]

Can you also pour your remaining hatched baby brine shrimp into the black worm culture?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Yeah should be fine

[@christinacastine4355]

Does it have to be a sponge filter or will they be sucked up by an internal filter?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Anything with an impeller id avoid

[@MichelBruno]

Hi! You can use rabbit food to feed blackworms. Here I feed them with only that

[@BlakesAquatics]

Cool, thanks!

[@lggc79]

Hey Blake, thank you for this. I have 2 questions. 1 - What's the best temperature for them? 2 - how many times can the blackworms be cut to accelerate production? Thank you.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Every day if you like. Best temp is 20 to 22 deg c

[@JUSTME-vk2bx]

Any chance to know how to get to them or grow them or anyhow anything because where i live i didnt find any chance of a black worms to buy

[@BlakesAquatics]

you could try ordering online? trouble is yeah you need a starter culture from somewhere.

[@herpdiversity9152]

This is perfect for wild fish that don't eat frozen yet. Do black worms ship well? I can't get any locally.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Yeah they were shipped to me from interstate. I think theyd do better in cooler months via shipping

[@herpdiversity9152]

@@BlakesAquatics ok I better hurry then because it is getting very cold very fast and I assume they don't like near freezing temperatures

[@yunsaquatics7260]

How much spirulina do you feed per feeding? And how often do you change the water?

[@BlakesAquatics]

I change the water weekly as needed. Not too much just a pinch or so, couple of algae wafers also do the job

[@MoreWings-eo6te]

How should you do water changes

[@BlakesAquatics]

Syphon from the water column and replace as normal

[@javierelizalde4653]

Will the set up need light? I'd like to tuck it into the cabinet under my main tank. :))

[@BlakesAquatics]

No I only passively light mine 👍

[@javierelizalde4653]

@@BlakesAquatics sweet. Thanks you much haha

[@nannigiovannetti8519]

hi anyone in europe has a starter culture that could dispense or even sell ? would like to give it a go... thanks

[@MissRLA]

What happens if you put lots of worm into a tank with thick gravel substrate? Could you just turkey baste them out of the substrate of the tank to feed instead of having another tank?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Yeah could work 👍

[@brenettachilds7029]

Would like to kno how to keep the water clean and how to do the water changes on then in tank like this what size tank for a pound of worms

[@BlakesAquatics]

Gday, i keep it clean by squeezing the sponge out regularly and mixing mulm into the water column to go into the sponge. A pound it say a 15G to 20G. They stay in the substrate so waterchanges is ok i just dont gravel vac when changing water

[@brenettachilds7029]

@@BlakesAquatics Thanks

[@kimpliniussen2591]

Witch Temperature in the tank?

[@kristikruse3879]

I put a sponge filter in with my culture and am having issues with them burrowing deep into the sponge. Is this an issue? Is there a way to prevent this?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hmm maybe its too coarse, it should help to split them up and make more, although a bit gross haha. There is probably lots of food in there for them.

[@kristikruse3879]

I wish I could share a photo, it’s insane! I put very porous rocks in there to keep them satisfied but they all gravitated to the sponge.

[@vivienleigh4640]

Thank you! Just got my starting batch, which has had two results, my puffers think I'm their favorite person and my husband thinks I'm nuts - "Breeding worms? Really?! - why not try something normal? Like knitting?"

[@BlakesAquatics]

🤣

[@kristikruse3879]

Should their tank be fully cycled prior to introducing them to it? Or will they do well with dechlorinated water at the correct pH and temperature?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Id always recommend a cycled tank

[@kristikruse3879]

@@BlakesAquatics What are my options during the time that a tank is not cycled?

[@BlakesAquatics]

@@kristikruse3879 apologies I didnt realise this comment was on the blackworm video. Blackworms are a great addition to help cycle a tank. Go for it 👍

[@sicilianotoronto]

you need to mix around the gravel daily?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Dont have to it just helps multiply the numbers and keeps debris to a minimum

[@ct6184]

What temperature do they need?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hey mate, just room temperature will be fine, they are super hardy re: the cold, just dont tolerate too much heat.

[@codyteen-southard4799]

I need some do you sell them?

[@wesstaff2493]

Does the tank need a heater?

[@BlakesAquatics]

no no heater. cheers.

[@Love4Creation2024]

Do you have any suggestions on where to buy live blackworms?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Online from australian blackworms

[@FirstLast-numba1]

okay where do i get the worms

[@thicmybic]

where can you get blackworms or black worm eggs?

[@BlakesAquatics]

You wont find blackworm eggs anywhere. Blackworms can be bought online from australian blackworms or if you are in the usa california blackworms

[@Tooadie]

Do I need to heve small Stones or can i use fine sand?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Fine sand isnt as good because itll be difficult to harvest them

[@Tooadie]

@@BlakesAquatics oh okey I will change the sand then thx :D

[@herpdiversity9152]

Instead of a tank could I grow them in a tub?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Absolutely

[@herpdiversity9152]

@@BlakesAquatics perfect

[@HenkeGriffioen]

Where do you get black worms

[@BlakesAquatics]

I bought mine online from nano tanks australia

[@shakeval]

@BlakesAquatics So what im hearing is put my worms in a blender to make more

[@BlakesAquatics]

😅

[@Lakmaduwaa]

I can't hear clearly food for blackworms?? Can you reply it?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Theyll eat anything. I throw in a mix of pellets and algae wafers

[@rayrowley4013]

How much do you feed the worms/ how often?

[@BlakesAquatics]

2 algae wafers twice a week or so

[@rayrowley4013]

@@BlakesAquatics Thanks!

[@vickyli135]

Where to find the blackworms?

[@BlakesAquatics]

I am guessing you are from USA, go to california blackworms and order online

[@AdanDT04]

How about my dear, how can I contact you?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Social media links are in the description

[@ArjunSingh-bz8qr]

My goldfish will ent a lat

[@lafaina79]

Woda...

[@chrisjones2569]

Could you read your script a couple of times before you film your video that would make them more enjoyable? You should like someone in front of class reading a report, nervous as can be I mean this post is in a good way

[@BlakesAquatics]

Sorry but thats just how I speak.. I didnt have a script. Also this was 2 years ago

[@SirUncleCid]

A chance you can ship someone a culture starter? There's a shortage apparently.