Microworms (Live Fish Food)

Microworms Culture Package S$5

Inclusive of these:

- A plastic tub of Microworms culture (Ready for harvesting)

- A small pack of instant oats

- A plastic pipette

- 2 small plastic containers

- An additional plastic tub 16cm(L) x 10cm(B) x 7cm(H)

- 1 free culture (for you to rotate between feeding/harvesting days)

Microworms make excellent fry food. I feed these to my guppy fries the moment they are born.

To harvest:

I swipe my finger against the sides of the container (avoiding touching the bottom/oats) and I dip my finger into a small container filled with tank water. (Though most times I use tap water.) Then I use a pipette to feed my fries sparingly. I will also feed them vinegar eels, as a variety. Each food has their own nutrients. If you have many fries, you may need to do some subcultures. Remember to have at least 2 cultures in case 1 crash. (Many people just dip finger into tank, that is okay too, but try not to overfeed.)

*When harvesting, you may want to open the lid when no one is around, because not many people can stand the smell. I am okay with the smell (smells a bit like beer) because my fries love the food too much and so I don't mind. Open the lid away from your face as well and avoid sniffing it. Though I always find myself smelling it, as well as observe the worms*

If cultures start to stink really bad, or production rate has declined, it's time for one of these steps:

- start a new culture, or,

- revive/boost old culture

Starting a new culture:

1) Prepare a container (with a high height so worms can climb and you can swipe easily) 

2) Mix some instant oats (no need to cook) with water, ensuring mixture is moist, not wet.

3) Swipe clean worms from old culture and place the small amount on the newly-prepared oats.

4) Close the container with a lid (poked with fine holes) and place it in a cool place.

5) Check daily. Lightly mist/spray to keep the oats moist if too dry. If too wet, add some oats.

Reviving/Boosting old culture:

1) Apply new oats on the surface of old culture, spreading them evenly, especially on areas where it's watery.

2) Lightly mist/spray the dry oats (which you've just added)

3) You can use a toothpick to push the new oats in a little, or just leave them be.

*Production rate may not be as much therefore not recommended*

Grindal Worms (Live Fish Food)

Soilless Grindal Worms Culture Package S$12

Inclusive of these:

- An additional plastic tub (16cm x 16cm x 6cm)

- A plastic tub of Grindal Worms culture

- 2 small containers of dog biscuits (last weeks since you only feed 1-3 daily or every 2 days)

- 2 plastic harvesting sheets (you can experiment with glass, needlepoint board, etc.)

I feed my adult fish Grindal worms. They love it very much. Some fish will need to get accustomed (so they try a first worm and then yummy!), and most fish will just eat anything that wriggles! *Not recommended to use as staple diet. Fish should be fed a variety of different food*

Harvesting:
- You can swipe your finger against the sides/walls of container and feed directly to fish.
- Or dip harvesting sheet into container (filled with tank/aged tap water), and then feed using toothpick. If after dipping the worms into the container and the water is clean, you can pour them sparingly into the tank. However, I usually use a toothpick and feed sparingly. *Grindal worms can be very filling and thus not advisable to overfeed.*

Feeding:
- If you feed the correct quantity, the food will be finished within a day. If you overfeed, the food will grow moldy. When food grows moldy, the worms will probably not eat.
- I feed only 1-3 pieces of dog biscuit according to how big the population is. As you can see from the third picture above, I feed only 3 pieces and they are being consumed. This is the correct amount to feed.

Subculturing:
1) Prepare 4-5 scrubber pads ($1 for a pack of 10 pads; easily available at neighbourhood shops selling buckets, etc.).
2) Wash them clean with only tap water, no detergent. *Squeeze and wash, squeeze and wash, lastly the pads will be moist*
3) Place the moist pads into the container, stacking them up one on top of another.
4) Pour water over the pads till the water level is up to bottom 1st or 2nd level.
5) For a start, place only 1 dog biscuit on the top of the uppermost pad.
6) Lightly spray the biscuit, making it damp. *The worms only eat moist food*
7) Place some worms on top of the dog biscuit so they get right down to eating.
8) Cover the worms with a harvesting sheet.
9) Place container in cool, dark place. If cannot find a cool dark place, you can always cover the container with pads or black paper. Best is to place container on wet cloth or in a tray of water so ants will not bother the worms. If placing on a tray of water, ensure that mozzies don't breed.

From personal experience:
*Avoid harvesting so soon. You should only harvest when there are a lot of worms.*
*Highly recommended to have at least 2 or more cultures to rotate between feeding days or in case your ony culture crash.*
*Check daily. Keep higher pads moist, but not wet. Place in cool place.*
*Ensure lid has fine holes for ventilation but not big holes because unwanted flies will get in.*
*All your worm cultures will last infinitely if maintained well. You'll get experience along the way.* 

Vinegar Eels (Live Fish Food)



Vinegar Eels Culture Package (S$10)

Inclusive of these:

- Squarish plastic tub (16cm x 16cm x 6cm)

- Plastic pipette

- A small plastic container of fine white sugar

- A 250ml bottle (filled with Vinegar Eels starter culture)



Vinegar Eels

(I kept mine in glass jars, top covered with plastic poked with

fine holes to allow ventilation, and to keep flies out)

Vinegar eels are easily-cultivated live fish food, a great source of food for fries and can even be fed to small adult fish. Bigger fish might not be appropriate since the eels will probably be too small for them to see. You can always have a culture or two going in case your fish decides to spawn. It has been reported widely that feeding live food instead of powdered or flake food the first few days will aid rapid growth and fine development. They are also less likely to pollute the water since they will most probably stay alive, and be eaten even before they start to decompose. However, they should be fed sparingly 5-6 times a day to fries in small quantities, in case of overfeeding. As I have a hectic working schedule, I feed my fries around 2-3 times each day. I start feeding them microworms and vinegar eels the moment they are born. When they get slightly bigger, I feed them a wider variety of food which consists of crushed powdery flakes, micro pellets, microworms, vinegar eels and sometimes newly-hatched brine shrimps (nauplii).

*All fish should be fed a variety of food. When feeding tubifex worms to fish, do wash them thoroughly*

Harvesting:
- You can use coffee filter paper, to filter out the vinegar eels. They will remain on the filter paper, which can then be fed to the tiny fries. You can pour back the vinegar back to the culture container.

- or, like the above picture, get a long-necked bottle, a rolled-up filter floss, a sturdy string/line:
Step one: roll up a fiter floss, and tie a line/string firmly to it.
Step two: stuff it down until the base of the long-neck.
step three: pour water into it till close to the brim.
step four: wait for half a day or a day, and you can harvest with a pipette.
step five: pour in water again. After some time the vinegar eels can be harvested again.

*The above method is amazing. It is always very fun and interesting every time I harvest*

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