Strange worm behavior

[jeff]

I came out to the garage a few minutes ago and the blackworms are somehow defining part of the tub as a "no mans land".

I wonder what the heck they are doing??

 

[erik]

woa that is verry strange, hmm trie putting some back on that spot and see what happens

 

[jameswei]

Im just speculating here .... but it seems like you have A LOT of blackworms crowded up with no filtration system. My guess is that waste is accumulating in that certain spot.

 

[jeff]

I change the water every day, and they did this right after a water change. They are not doing it anymore however, but it was very strange.

 

[ian]

I am just wondering, how do you do water change with all these small things clouded up in here?

 

[jeff]

The healthy ones sink to the bottom, and the rest floats on the top. For 30 bucks a pound I have to be careful though. Sometimes when I walk by the tub, all the worms move in unison a few millimeters or so in a big wave.

 

[edward]

what is happening is that the worms are clumping together, this is due to theer being a lack of stimulus in the cup that would indicate to the worm that it is "safe". This same action can be seen in tubifex.

Ed

 

[ester]

True.. only I buy my tubifex in marble sized clumps! Man that's a LOT of blackworms!

 

[jennifer]

The way Jeff is keeping them is perfectly OK. One thing I would say, though, is that after rinsing, the water should be clear. If it's still cloudy like that, rinse a couple of more times.

 

[joeri]

And put a lid on it to stop the smell!

 

[jeff]

they don't smell bad unless you don't wash them. Jen, I do rinse them 5 times in a row.