Marine feeder worm culture?

[DaJMasta]

Are there marine species of nematode or polychaete worms that have been cultured en masse for use as food? Various land and aquatic worms seem to be common in freshwater fishkeeping, but they generally don't last when introduced into saltwater (15 seconds, maybe), so have a limited value as a live food for us. Conversely, there are several kinds of worms that live fine in our tanks and are edible for many picky eaters (doubly so if you count juvenile or larval stages), but I can't think of one that's been cultured for this purpose.

Does anyone know a worm that has been cultured as live food? Are there any papers detailing culture methods for marine worms that could potentially be used as a food source?

 

[Gtinnel]

Not exactly what you were asking for but “white worms” are pretty commonly cultured for saltwater aquarium fish. They are a terrestrial worm but can supposedly live in saltwater for a few days from what I’ve read. When I add them to my tank they quickly get eaten so I don’t know how long they’ll live in saltwater.
They are a great food source for picky eaters and incredibly easy to culture.

 

[WheatToast]

The only marine “feeder” worms I have heard of are lugworms for small, picky electric rays, but I doubt these are cultured/small enough to feed to most fish, even if they are chopped up.

 

[DaJMasta]

While I know there are "white worms", it seems like they sometimes refer to multiple species, one of which is close to an inch long and wouldn't be well suited for small mouths (though I don't know if they survive in saltwater well.)

While I'd still be interested in something brackish/marine to culture that would be more akin to a food in the wild (and likely a better nutritional profile), I will probably start culturing some grindal worms - a small white terrestrial worm that seems to be better suited to fry sized. Black worms seem to be fine but don't last long in a tank (they stop moving by the time it takes to drift through the water column in still water), and vinegar eels last longer but are very small (and thus are difficult to determine what's actually trying to eat them).

 

[WVNed]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/white-worms-for-food.635159/

 

[EakTheFreak]

I have a culture of white worms. They range from 1/4” to an 1” long. I keep them in a wine cooler at 57 Degrees. I used topsoil and peat moss mix and started with 1 culture and now always have 4 in their prime and new ones starting over.

Its super easy because I buy cheap butt cat food and feed the cultures once every 2-3 days when I harvest. My two baby mandarin goby’s are able to eat these worms and I also feed my main DT where all fish eat them. Every fish I own is fat and happy. The only pain with the culture is the fruit flies but you can just drown the culture then put the soil in a net and put back into culture to clear them out.

 

[WVNed]

There are many posts about white worms and growing/feeding them.

 

[DaJMasta]

I have a culture of white worms. They range from 1/4” to an 1” long. I keep them in a wine cooler at 57 Degrees. I used topsoil and peat moss mix and started with 1 culture and now always have 4 in their prime and new ones starting over.

Its super easy because I buy cheap butt cat food and feed the cultures once every 2-3 days when I harvest. My two baby mandarin goby’s are able to eat these worms and I also feed my main DT where all fish eat them. Every fish I own is fat and happy. The only pain with the culture is the fruit flies but you can just drown the culture then put the soil in a net and put back into culture to clear them out.

Thanks, it sounds like almost an identical process to grindal worms. BTW, if you have air holes in your culture container, consider covering them with a fine mesh or some filter floss - it seems to be recommended when setting up some similar ones and if you can keep adult flies out while getting some ventilation, you shouldn't have any that can grow in the culture itself.