Bloodworm Care

R

rachel

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I recently bought a few ounces of live bloodworms from the pet store. I have them in a tupperware container in the fridge. What do I need to do to keep them alive for a while? What do they eat?
 
Welcome Rachel, I believe that what you have are probably live blackworms. A lot of pet shops call them bloodworms. If you have ever bought frozen bloodworms, THOSE are bloodworms. It's important that you NOT try to feed them. Any food you put in with them will only foul the water and make the die faster. And be sure to rinse them with COLD water daily and keep them in the fridge. There are fairly complete instructions here:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/worms.shtml
 
I just bought both live & frozen bloodworm (from Fish&fin - UK) - & therefor assume the live ones ARE bloodworm(??!) - does your advice apply to both bloodworm & blackworm? How do I tell which I really have visually please?

Many thanks,

Heather
 
The page linked above has photos of bloodworms (red color) and blackworms (black or maybe reddish-black color). There are no live blackworms sold in the UK (though there may be tubifex, which are similar). In contast, there are virtually no live bloodworms sold in the US.
 
Thanks for the info, i was trying to figure this out. Just to clear things out a Cynop would be good on crickets and blood worms/black worms?
 
Jennewt said:
The page linked above has photos of bloodworms (red color) and blackworms (black or maybe reddish-black color). There are no live blackworms sold in the UK (though there may be tubifex, which are similar). In contast, there are virtually no live bloodworms sold in the US.
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Brilliant - thanks - that makes it clear - blood worms it is here then!

Heather
 
Hello

Just wanted to check, on the page linked above, it gives advice in regards to keeping blackworms alive - do the same rules apply for live bloodworms?

Thanks

Zoe x
 
I feed my blackworm crushed fish flakes. I keep them in the refrigerator. I keep them in an inch of clean declorinated water. They are kept in a normal size bowl that I would eat cereal out of. Every morning I rinse them 3-4 times until the water is clear with water I keep in the frig. I know some people that use a bigger container with a air stone. But maybe they are keeping a larger amount. Im just keeping what comes in one of those little plastic cups that they give you extra pickles in at the deli. Maybe 2 table spoons worth. Bloodworms however I find in the bottom of buckets of water that I raise Daphnia in. I can see their little dirt tunnels on the bottom. Sometimes I wipe my hand on the bottom and stir it up. I'll scoop a couple out with a net. I probally find 5-10 of them per bucket every month. Hardly worth it really. My newts do love them though.
 
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For me, keeping bloodworms is a seasonal thing. I fill a plastic shoebox container with nasty tank water and debris that I have siphoned off. Then I sit the container outside in the shade. After a week or two the bloodworms will start to show up. I just harvest them as needed until it starts to cool off. Oh yeah, and I keep the container topped off with tank water and waste.
 
is it better to have live or frozen bloodworm?
 
I'd say that live anything is predominantly better than frozen - plus, the live ones wiggle about in an enticing manner, so should be gobbled up staright away.

Zoe x
 
big a little a said:
Hello

Just wanted to check, on the page linked above, it gives advice in regards to keeping blackworms alive - do the same rules apply for live bloodworms?

Thanks

Zoe x
Click to expand...

I'm hoping someone on your side of the Pond can answer this. I don't know.
 
That's ok Jen, the fella at the aquarium shop showed me the ins and outs, so I'm now feeding the little monster a regular lunch of live bloodworms.

X
 
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