Microworm culture

[Option]

BD - how long have you kept cultures before they would crash? I have two cultures going right now (about to mate a pair) and one of my cultures is starting to smell putrid even though it's only been about a week or so.

[BettaDays]

my cultures have never crashed when I started to keep them in containers that weren't letting any light in. Example, I used a butter-spread container which is made up of brown plastic. About once a month, or when I smell it before opening it, I drop in a small handful of oats and yeast, some water, mix it all up and let it sit. I have used tank water, tap water, and distilled water, none seem to matter.

If the smell still persists, I would just take a scoop of it and put it in fresh oats, yeast and clean warm water. As I said, maybe you should try different yeast, as I never had trouble getting microworms to crawl up. My current culture is only a few weeks old(just picked breeding back up) but my last culture was well over 3 years old and I never had to change the medium it was in, I only had to drop in the mix and water every so often and it lived on fine, supported over 3 fry tanks easily.

[Option]

Alright, just checked my cultures tonight and they are SWARMING with worms all of a sudden.

One last question: what's the best way to clean them prior to feeding the fry?

[Myates]

A little bit of tank water in a small cup/container.. scoop them out (new popsicle stick or q-tip works good) and swirl them in the water.. then pour the water into the tank, or use a turkey baster/syringe to distribute in the tank.

Some don't wash them at all.. it's up to you. I prefer washing though.

[GhostFeather]

If you use the paper towel method,you can just wipe the q-tip across the paper towel,or get them from the side of the container.
Then do like Myates said.

[BettaDays]

I am part of that some who do not wash lol I merely scrape up the sides with my chopsticks(old chopsticks used for fish-related stuff now) and dip them in around the tank. I am VERY careful as to not touch the medium however.

I never tried washing before, will try to do it and see if it affects anything noticeable.