Live Tubifex Worm Feeding

[Dream]

Hi guys, I recently purchased a couple of Chinese firebelly newts from a local vivarium. The guys there said that I should feed my newts live tubifex worms which they have on hand and which they also fed to them while in the store. So far, the newts seem to enjoy them and they have no problem with eating them. The manager who was helping me said to pour about a half ounce into the tank at a time and re-feed them when the worms were gone. My main problem though is that the worms buried themselves in the gravel in my tank. Its about an inch or less thick and the worms will float half above the gravel half below. Is it ok to let the worms co-habituate like this until the newts eat them? I read that the newts like to dig some for them but I don't know for sure. I have seen them eat some like this but I'm more worried that I got bad information from the manager. Thanks!

 

[Asevernnnn]

Re: Live Tubifex Worm Feding

I don't know about having them live in the tank but, to prevent them from digging, you can remove the substrate and go bare-bottom, it removes the risk of impaction, makes cleaning a lot easier, and prevents waste from building up underneath. Sand is another option, but I don't know if they can bury themselves in sand or not. Bare-bottom would be easiest either way though.

 

[JM29]

I have no experience with live Tubifex in aquarium.
Nevertheless, I have observed them in nature :

Tubifex use to hide vertically in the substrate, except the "tail" which moves in the water for respiration.

During spring, in some shallow ponds, newts larvae can be seen eating Tubifex : the larva approaches walking slowly on the bottom and it catches one Tubifex while the others hide in the substrate. Then the larva waits until the Tubifex appear again.

On the other hand, Tubifex worms are often seen in polluted environments. Perhaps they could hold pathogenic bacteria ?

 

[Otterwoman]

Are you getting tubifex or blackworms?

 

[joshfrogz72]

so is it a bad idea to feed tubifef worms to newts? even though they look really clean and fresh