# Buying live bloodworms and dumping them in aquarium



## MrAlmostWrong (Jul 16, 2012)

I've been searching around for an answer to this and haven't found it yet. One of my tanks is soil capped with eco-complete and a lot of tropical fish. They all love their bloodworms. I was wondering if its possible to buy a package of live black worms / bloodworms and just dump them in the tank without any repercussions?

Obviously the fish will try to eat all they can, but will some 'escape' and bury themselves into the soil and randomly appear from time to time? In theory I would think this would allow some of the bottom dwelling fish and hunters to have some fun looking around for their next meal.

I'm sure there are a ton of holes into this wild theory, otherwise it would've been discussed plenty of times. I would just like to know why it is never raised as an option.


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## Kehy (Feb 5, 2012)

In the 3rd grade my science class did an experiment where we put sand, gravel, a live plant, bloodworms and a guppy in a 1/2 gallon tank as a biodome...needless to say, it failed, but the worms did live longer than the guppy


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## MrAlmostWrong (Jul 16, 2012)

Kehy said:


> In the 3rd grade my science class did an experiment where we put sand, gravel, a live plant, bloodworms and a guppy in a 1/2 gallon tank as a biodome...needless to say, it failed, but the worms did live longer than the guppy


Think it was too much bioload?


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

I buy and dump live blackworms into two of my tanks weekly. I don't think any survive between the betta, the cories, and the scarlet badis. Some of them are 3+ inches long too. So gross.


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## Drema (May 17, 2011)

I'm curious about this as well. It would be great to have a in-tank, semi-sustainable food source for my fish ( other than my plants).


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## auban (Jun 23, 2012)

i have an in tank culture of blackworms going right now. well, culture really isnt the best word for it... i just dumped half a pound of live blackworms into the tank after i rinsed them several times.

the danger comes from too much ammonia. if you have good water, they will survive untill eaten, but they will still raise the ammonia level. i have been doing this for several years now, its one of the ways i feed my bluefin killifish. i would not suggest you start out with half a pound in a 65 gallon tank like i do. i started with one ounce and slowly increased untill i figured out how much my tank could handle. i also have a lot of fast growing plants to soak up ammonia.

just be sure to watch your tanks for signs of ammonia spikes and react accordingly if you see one.


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## MrAlmostWrong (Jul 16, 2012)

FriendsNotFood said:


> I buy and dump live blackworms into two of my tanks weekly. I don't think any survive between the betta, the cories, and the scarlet badis. Some of them are 3+ inches long too. So gross.


Can you give some background into this? 

- tank size
- number of fish
- weight of blackworms

I ask because I don't want to overdo it when I try.


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## MrAlmostWrong (Jul 16, 2012)

auban said:


> i have an in tank culture of blackworms going right now. well, culture really isnt the best word for it... i just dumped half a pound of live blackworms into the tank after i rinsed them several times.
> 
> the danger comes from too much ammonia. if you have good water, they will survive untill eaten, but they will still raise the ammonia level. i have been doing this for several years now, its one of the ways i feed my bluefin killifish. i would not suggest you start out with half a pound in a 65 gallon tank like i do. i started with one ounce and slowly increased untill i figured out how much my tank could handle. i also have a lot of fast growing plants to soak up ammonia.
> 
> just be sure to watch your tanks for signs of ammonia spikes and react accordingly if you see one.


That's awesome.


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## TheFoleys (Jul 30, 2012)

I keep black worms in all my dirt based tanks. They help airate a bit, clean micro junk, and apparently are friggen delicious....
I would like to share a bad experience I had in hopes you never have it.

I never use any not fert chemicals in my tanks, however I was reading a thread talking about how API "algaefix" is extremely effective if dosage (recommended measures) is dirrectly spot treated. I noticed that I had a Bba spot. On the occasion that happends I usually just scrape it a bit and it goes away on its own when whatever I forgot or neglected to do in my schedule balances back. But I was curious. I grabbed some and read the label. I already new about the product anyway but I read labels I'm one of those weirdos. The product as is many aquarium chems acts as a nerve agent to worms, snails, shrimps, etc.... I already knew that and figured the plant load and sufficient boimedia availability would deal with any nitrogen from their death. My Lfs sells them in a little cup for a dollar.......No biggy..
So what the label doesn't tell you is that anyone who eats the infected invertebrate will be affected by the toxin aswell. "This should be labeled!" It's kinda like magnesium sulfate in the way that if you put a cup full in your bath it has no affect.... If you drink a cup you will likely have a very bad day....

I administered one half the suggested dose dirrectly on the spot. Soon as I turned the pumps back on I immediately saw worms emerge from the substrate jerking and twisting. Several nuisance snail babies fell off the wall. The fish all rushed over and chomped. Everyone looked fine for about and hour.. then some fish started acting strange as I watched they began seizureing violently... I lossed 2 angelfish 6 corys, a bristlenose, and a gourami about 20% of the tanks stock. It was a bad experience. I feel strongly that this should be labeled.
The product says fish safe. 


Sorry for the long bla bla but I think the story is usefull to anyone who may use a product like this thinking oh I don't care I don't really want those snails/worms anyway.


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## TheFoleys (Jul 30, 2012)

In short becarfull what chem. You introduce to a tank with worms that are fed on.


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## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

auban said:


> i have an in tank culture of blackworms going right now. well, culture really isnt the best word for it... i just dumped half a pound of live blackworms into the tank after i rinsed them several times.
> 
> the danger comes from too much ammonia. if you have good water, they will survive untill eaten, but they will still raise the ammonia level. i have been doing this for several years now, its one of the ways i feed my bluefin killifish. i would not suggest you start out with half a pound in a 65 gallon tank like i do. i started with one ounce and slowly increased untill i figured out how much my tank could handle. i also have a lot of fast growing plants to soak up ammonia.
> 
> just be sure to watch your tanks for signs of ammonia spikes and react accordingly if you see one.


+1 they can and will thrive in your tank given the right conditions. 

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


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## Shanster (Jul 23, 2012)

Hmmm.. I have never fed my fish any live food. I get the frozen food for them and they seem to like it. 

Would Apistogramma Cacatuoides, Cardinal Tetra, Amano Shrimp eat blackworms?


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## Option (Oct 2, 2010)

TheFoleys said:


> Sorry for the long bla bla but I think the story is usefull to anyone who may use a product like this thinking oh I don't care I don't really want those snails/worms anyway.


So I'm still curious...did it kill your BGA in your tank like it was suppose to??? :redface:


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## Alice Renae Paige (Mar 23, 2016)

Thanks for the heads up 
we just started a fresh water tropical this week 
So its good to know not to use algae fix
sorry about your loss though


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## Dieter (Mar 7, 2017)

I had bloodworms in my tank years ago and they survived for about three to four years until the Pakistani loach fund them all. They stuck out their heads over night and retreated during the day. It was wonderful to see the loach picking up stones with his whiskers while digging for worms . Unfortunately I could never find a place where I could buy new live worms again.
D N


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