Microworms

Microworms are an important part of our fry raising routine. However most commonly suggested microworm culture medium is made from rolled oats and even though it is a convenient, cheap and easy recipe it stinks very badly! In our fishroom we have dozen plus microworms cultures going at any one time so the odor part of the equation can be a deal breaker for us. Therefore we use a white bread recipe that another fishkeeping friend of ours recommended with great results, with next to no smell compared to an oat culture.

Here is how we prepare our almost odorless microworm culture.

What you need:

a suitable size container with lid - take away container works for me
a bowl and a sturdy spoon to mix the medium
white sliced bread - we get the cheapest available
dry yeast
milk - we use light milk because that's available at home but you can use full cream too
knife to cut the bread
something sharp to put holes on the lid
starter microworm culture - basically some microworms from a previous culture

STEP 1

Cut the crusts off the white bread - we do not use the crust but you could add it to yours if you like. We prefer the consistency of the culture medium without the crust.

We usually do 3-4 slices at the same time

STEP 2

Cut the bread into little cubes.

for more rustic version: you can tear the bread into little pieces instead of cutting it with a knife :)

STEP 3

Put the small pieces of cut bread into a bowl.

Add two teaspoons of yeast for every 3-4 slices of bread

Repeat steps upto 3 until you have desired amount of the bread or until you used up the whole loaf.

STEP 4

Start adding small amounts of milk to mash

STEP 5

Mash the mixture with a sturdy spoon.

Add more milk as necessary .

STEP 6

Once the mixture (culture medium) is a thick paste its ready to be portioned out into containers.

STEP 7

Inoculate the culture medium with microworms from an existing culture

STEP 8

Punch holes on the lid for the culture to breathe

Place the newly set up culture at a warm spot. Our cultures are kept at 23-25C.

After a few days the microworm numbers will noticeably increase. After a week or so the microworms should be up the sides of the container.

To feed your fish just scrape the microworms from the sides of the container and feed your fish directly.

And here is the video on the how to prepare the culture to complement the above instructions.

Google Sites

Report abuse