Why Not Try White-worms? by Peter Searles S.A.S (originally published "Our Discus" Volume 3, Issue 2 North American discus Society 1989)

Of all the live foods you can feed your fish, white-worms have to be the easiest to breed. You don't have to go to a pool somewhere to catch them: they don't create a mess of the container you keep them in; they don't smell and look repulsive. Additionally, they don't normally have to be cut up to be fed to your fish (ugh!) and, last but not least, they can't   fly! (tried fruit-flies?).   They sound almost too good to be true.

White-worms (ENCHYTRAEUS ALBIOUS to be technical) are an excellent live food for tropical fish.   All the experts say, however, that they are very rich and if fed too frequently can lead to over fattening and sterility so, assuming the experts are all correct don't feed your fish exclusively white-worms.   Once or twice a week is, however, fine.   Come to think of it, you shouldn't really feed any food exclusively, should you!

How do you breed them? Well, most books I have read make the job very complicated; a small wooden box most books say and some even give the dimensions of the box as if the worms can measure. 12c (53f) one book says for temperature, 15c (59f) says another and they'll die out at higher temperatures, particularly in summer, says a third.   For food, you are supposed to cook oatmeal in diluted milk, boil vegetable scraps to form a broth or feed white bread soaked in milk - the suggestions are endless.

Let's cut out the   hassle!     If you are like me, you don't want to spend time making a gourmet meal for worms nor spend time with a complicated method of raising them.   You just want a simple way to keep them, right?

Okay, then you'll need a good sized box, the bigger the better. Mine is wooden about 2 1/2 feet long, about 1 foot wide and 5 or so inches deep.   Wood warps though with the dampness and the box was a chore to build so I am now experimenting (successfully I think) with a big plastic kitty litter tray about 4 inches deep - it's light, can't spill the soil, leak-proof and even has hand grips.   But, keep it   quiet!     Don't tell the worms it isn't made of wood.

The box is filled with a damp   loamy soil - one that doesn't cake up when wet, i.e., no clay.   Potting soil is what I used with some peat moss added.   It must always be damp.   It must not dry out but also importantly it should never be too wet either.   Additionally, you will need a piece of glass to cover the soil, ideally the full size of the box but no matter if it's smaller.   This,   I didn't have at first but now I find it really necessary.   The whole thing is covered at least mine is with a green garbage bag, for it seems to me the worms like darkness.   My boxes sit in the basement which has a temperature of 68 F   most of the time.   The culture did not die out in the summer but, you might have a problem if you live in a heated apartment and have little or no control of the heat.

And the food?   All I use, and recommend you do too, is Pabulum right from the box.   It's inexpensive, nutritious probably excellent, easy to dispense, simply lift the glass, shake the pabulum onto the soil, spray with a plant   sprayer, cover up and let the worms gorge themselves.   As an occasional supplement, I'll give them mashed potatoes if there is an excess that even the dog can't eat.

How do you remove the worms? Well, that bothered me for a long time.   They don't like heat, so one book suggested putting soil containing the worms in a separator or sieve under a light bulb; the worms retreat from the heat.   Others suggested rinsing the soil and worms with water, and there are other suggestions too.   What do I do?   Well,   nothing!   The problem was that I hadn't kept the culture long enough and the population was too low.   Now I find that with regular, but not excessive, feeding's every second day and sometimes every day, the worms are massed beside the food or under the glass and I can pick up a large cluster simply with my fingers - or tweezers if you wish to be delicate.

Some additional thoughts;   I've not changed the soil for a long time.   The way to do it, if you need to, is to leave the box open in bright sunlight.   This dries the top layers, driving the worms down to the bottom of the box and permits you to replace the top few inches.   The worms are supposed to increase their rate of reproduction after the change.   What I did instead was scoop out the top few inches to start my second culture.   Same basic idea!

Mites and spiders?   These have never been a problem for me.   I think I have had (but what exactly does one look like), without adverse affects. Spiders have not appeared in my cultures.   Cockroaches?   Gratefully, I've never had a cockroach knowingly in the house and I know what my wife would say if she ever saw one around.   They too are not supposed to harm the culture but, so far as I am concerned, I could not stand their presence.