Tubifex

[Littlefish]

Anyone know where to get real tubifex (not blackworm) around the Brisbane (Australia) area? I am planning to set up a small culture so I can have a reliable supply.

I've been collecting and cleaning my own tubifex for some 40 years (because I'm always wary of shop sources) and have not had any problems related to the worms. However my old collection site just downstream of the Golden Circle cannery has been dredged into a saltwater drain and no-one seems to use anything but blackworms now.

Blackworms are good and everything, but I have had more success with tubifex.

Fred :?

[kalebjarrod]

what about rod from sunshine discus?

pm him :wink:

[Littlefish]

Thanks for that. I've sent off a PM to Rod.

Fred :)

[Mattzilla]

i have only ever heard bad things about feeding tubifex worms to discus. make sure you do plenty of research before you start to feed them

matt

[leanne31]

I ve heard they could be a source of hex but i could be wrong

[Littlefish]

Like I said, I've been using them for some 40 years now without problems.

The worms themselves are not a problem, it's the disease laden sites where some people collected them from, combined with inadequate cleaning/purging.

Unfortunately many people came to grief by assuming that buying them from an aquarium shop meant the owners/franchisees must know what they are doing. Ethics in the aquarium trade, as in any other, are variable.

I recently phoned around Brisbane to see if anyone could supply, and was assured on three occasions that genuine tubifex, not blackworm, were available. Each time the worms offered turned out to be blackworm. When I pointed this out, the inevitable reply was 'Oh, uh - well that's all we can get.'

So if they don't know what they are selling (they wouldn't deliberately try to deceive their customers would they??) they probably don't know much about maintaining them in a healthy state.

Tubifex are actually fascinating things when you get to know them. In previous cultures I found that they can act co-operatively in a cluster to collect suspended food, and a cluster can move from place to place, octopus-like, without separating. But I digress...

Fred :)

[weird]

Sounds pretty cool ... digress all you like its interesting :D

Saw a doco on tasmanian devils last night and the male mated for 3 days straight until the female ran away to find another mate to increase the chance of getting pregnation ... now that is what I call digressing :wink:

[Littlefish]

Omygod!

If my wife wanted to carry on for three days straight I'd run away myself!!

No wonder they're so cranky.

Fred :?[/b][/i]

[sunshinediscus]

Hi Fred,

About a year ago a friend was telling me he found small quantities of tubifex worms in the open storm water drains in Cleveland. In the dirt that builds up in the cracks between the cement slabs he would find some, not sure if they are still there but worth a look if you go out that way.

I'm with you regarding the health of tubifex worms for fish, i also used to collect it over 20 years ago around Cannon Hill and Chandler but those sources have dissapeared. Also Rocklea drains used to packed with tubifex but have since been told they don't exist there any more. I never had any problems with deseases from tubifex, yet whenever i tried those blackworms my fish would develop tapeworm infections so i don't feed them anymore.

HTH

Rod

[Littlefish]

Thanks, Rod. Yes, certainly worth having a look. Did your friend mention any particular drain or location in Cleveland?

A problem I found with blackworm was that they can be a bit too large and energetic for some of the smaller fish to manage. Young tubifex up to about 20mm are easier to tackle and break up more easily for consumption.

Fred :)