Live bloodworms??

[CozyCat]

Hello,
I've had some cardboard soaking in a bucket of water for a few weeks because I keep forgetting to tip it out over the compost.
I was just about to tip it out when I noticed these red wiggling worms (photo below). Feel like this is a dumb question but are these bloodworms?
If so, can they be cultured?

 

[Lynnzer]

Apparently bloodworm are commonly found in S America and can grow to 14" in length. They are also carnivorous.
That said, they do look like bloodworm and as they are the larvae of midges I think Aussie has enough of them flying around to lay eggs on floating wet cardboard.
Just feed them to the fish anyway but as for culturing, I think all you can do to get more is to leave the cardboard alone and encourage more midges to lay eggs. Bloodworm per se, can't breed among themselves such as whiteworm can.
Free food nevertheless.

 

[Colin_T]

Yes they are bloodworms (Chironomid midge larvae). They grow to about 10mm long, have a hard chitinous head and produce a small tube from mucous and cover it in mud or chewed up plant matter. Yours have mud on theirs.

You can culture them in small numbers in plastic storage containers kept outdoors under a tree. Add some dry leaves to the container and the adult midges will lay eggs on the surface. These hatch and the larvae settle to the bottom and spend between 2-6 months on the bottom growing. Then emerge in spring and summer.

The larvae are territorial so you only get 1 per inch or so in the containers.

The larvae have very hard heads that aren't digestible and you should cut the head off before feeding them to fish or make sure the fish chew the larvae.

It's preferable to freeze the larvae first to kill them. There were reports years ago or people feeding live midge larvae to fish and the larvae chewed through the fish's stomach and the fish died. I can't confirm it but for safety, I would freeze the larvae before using them.

 

[Rocky998]

It's preferable to freeze the larvae first to kill them. There were reports years ago or people feeding live midge larvae to fish and the larvae chewed through the fish's stomach and the fish died. I can't confirm it but for safety, I would freeze the larvae before using them.

When the meal makes you the meal

 

[GaryE]

In Canada, I culture Daphnia outdoors in summer, and I always find small numbers of our bloodworms in there, from whatever species of midge we have. I wouldn't say they're being cultured, but they can be harvested. They get in there with the Daphnia and mosquito larvae.
Interestingly though, I screen my cultures to keep the neighbours from murdering me, and bloodworms appear in cultures mosquitoes can't get into.

 

[SomethingsFishy24]

make sure the fish chew the larvae.

Ummm, I have a hard enough time trying to get my own dang kids to chew so they don't choke and die, how in the world do you convince a fish to chew their food?

 

[Rocky998]

Ummm, I have a hard enough time trying to get my own dang kids to chew so they don't choke and die, how in the world do you convince a fish to chew their food?

Thats easy. Just talk to them very nicely

 

[Colin_T]

Ummm, I have a hard enough time trying to get my own dang kids to chew so they don't choke and die, how in the world do you convince a fish to chew their food?

You gotta learn fish language.

bubble bubble bop bop, opens and closes mouth

Corydoras chew their food, most other fish don't.