HOW TO
cultivate White Worms by Mark Paterson One of the most common live foods you can culture for fish, reptiles, invertebrates or small amphibians are white worms Enchytraeus albidus and they have been used since the early days of fishkeeping as they will live underwater for several hours, are eaten by most fish and are fairly easy to maintain. They are white in colour, 1 mm in diameter and grow to 30 mm long. Their nutritional value consists of 70% protein, 14.5% lipids, 5.5% minerals and 10% carbohydrates so they are excellent for conditioning fish for breeding but as they contain a lot of fats they should be fed as part of a varied diet. White worms are hermaphrodites, so each individual has both male and female reproductive organs. During copulation worms exchange sperm cells and can lay 44 ∙ Aquarium World
eggs 12 days later. In ideal conditions, white worms can reproduce very rapidly and increase their population exponentially. They need a cool dark environment with a temperature range of 12–21 °C. White worms mature faster at higher temperatures but they will slow down above 21 °C and die at temperatures lower than 5 °C. A watertight container (non-transparent containers are better as they don’t like light) with a tight-fitting lid, such as a large ice cream container, is suitable for a white worm culture. You will need to puncture several air holes in the lid. The holes should not exceed 2 mm in order to prevent contamination from insects such as ants, beetles, flies, and mites. If you use a plastic container you will need to routinely mix the culture media as plastic doesn’t ‘breathe’
