Buy Grindal worms locally through Craigslist:
or buy Grindal worms on Amazon (paid link):
The box is microwave safe and washable.
Let's make this box suitable for culturing Grindal worms.
Eat the meal, wash the box and the cover.
Poke tiny holes in the groove of the cover.
Making holes in the groove would allow for air circulation while reducing water evaporation.
I made about a dozen needle size holes as you can see here.
Cut a piece of plastic to fit inside the box.
Bend the corners or sides of the plastic.
It would make moving the plastic sheet easier in and out of the box.
Now we can prepare the medium for worms to live on.
I've been trying different mediums for culturing Grindal worms.
This time I use top soil.
Spread top soil in up to 1 inch layer on a baking sheet.
And bake it for about half an hour at 350F.
Heat should kill insects that may hide in the soil.
I suppose there is no harm in baking it longer... I don't have that time now.
So, here the soil goes in the oven for 25 minutes.
25 minutes later I pull the soil out and let it cool to room temperature.
Put about 1 inch layer of cooled soil into a box.
I have enough soil to fill 3 disposable plastic boxes.
I always set up 2 or more colonies of any critters.
If one colony collapses (it could happen at any time for no apparent reasons) I would have another one to go with.
Add water to make the soil damp - not too wet.
Now we can add Grindal worms.
I collect some Grindal worms from a culture I've been growing in a 4oz cup.
First I put the worms into a cup with water.
Grindal worms sink to the bottom.
Use a pipette to collect Grindal worms from the cup and put them in the new container.
Also, you can use a soft brush or...a toothpick or such to pick worms from the soil.
I put Grindal worms into a cup with water to separate them from possible Mites or Springtails.
Springtails and Mites do not sink in water.
I have more to say about Springtails later.
If you are absolutely sure that your starting culture is clean than you can move worms with the old soil.
The smaller the box and the more worms you start with, the faster you will see a dense population.
It takes about a couple weeks for Grindal worms to hatch from eggs.
And then at the age of about one month, worms start laying clusters of eggs.
So, it would take about 2 months to see any noticeable increase in the population of Grindal worms.
I feed Grindal worms once a day with cereal.
Crush and sprinkle around one flake to begin with.
Do not overfeed them!
Uneaten food gets spoiled and stinks.
Cover the boxes.
All ready and set on April 5th, 2021.
By end of the month, on April 30th, I start feeding Grindal worms with Cheerios.
Crush and sprinkle around one flake once a day.
Spray it all with water only when necessary to keep the soil damp.
Put a piece of plastic on top and cover the box.
By end of the second month, on May 22nd, I start collecting some Grindal worms for my fish.
That is where the plastic piece comes handy.
Just wash worms off the plastic piece in a cup or whatever container you may have.
And even a small box like this one yields a lot of Grindal worms - take a look.
This box is also populated with Springtails.
The Springtails colony is really exploding in here.
As I mentioned before, water helps to separate Grindal worms from Springtails.
Springtails stays on the water surface.
Here you can see Springtails literally walking on the water.
And Grindal worms sink to the bottom of the cup.
Also, some pieces of soil get in there...
I don't like to put soil in my aquariums - I don't have soil in my aquariums to begin with.
Separating Grindal worms from soil turns out to be a time consuming task I would like to simplify.
More about Springtails in a future video - they actually deserve many videos.
Here you can see how many Grindal worms I got from a small plastic piece.
And crumbles of soil...
June 4th, 2021
I am setting up a box to culture Grindal worms on soil and polyester to prevent soil from getting into my aquariums.
Put a half inch layer of soil.
Add dechlorinated water to make soil damp.
Now let's put a layer of wet polyester on top of the soil.
Now let's get some Grindal worms...without Springtails or any other critters.
I actually prefer to keep Grindal worms with Springtails in one box.
I will explain it all in a different video about Springtails.
For our purpose now, I wash Grindal worms from a piece of plastic.
Feed my established culture with a couple flakes of crushed cereal.
Now I am going to use a pipette to move Grindal worms into the new box.
Put them right on top of the polyester layer.
The bottom layer of soil can take more water than I add initially.
In one of my previous experiments, I checked that Grindal worms can stay underwater for many hours.
Worms should be fine as long as you do not over fill the box with water for more than 10-15 hours.
That's more than enough time for worms to climb up to the water free layer.
And you can always let any excess water to evaporate - just leave the box open for a while.
Okay, let's sprinkle a crushed flake of cereal on top.
Cover it all with a piece of plastic.
Now, I have to fix the cover for the box.
Poke needle sizes holes in the groove of the cover to allow air circulation.
Cover the box.
I feed Grindal worms once a day.
About 2 months later, on August 25th
The population of Grindal worms has grown noticeably.
Let's collect some worms to feed fish.
Wash worms of the piece of plastic.
More worms consume more food.
Just remember that uneaten food gets spoiled.
Also, we can wash worms off the box cover.
Yes, Grindal worms climb everywhere and on the cover too.
Give Grindal worms as much food as they can eat in one day.
Here I have enough Grindal worms to feed fish in a couple of my aquariums.
Let's split the catch into portions.
Feeding time!
Endlers and guppies of different ages among other types of fish go after Grindal worms on sight.
Fish learn quickly to look for worms at the bottom of the aquarium.
Here you can see my Endlers scoring easy grubs.
Grindal worms are the favorite food for my fish.
Let's give them some more worms.
Culturing Grindal worms on top soil is simple.
It takes time and daily feeding and checking to ensure the culture is healthy.
Set up a couple boxes to keep a supply of Grindal worms for your fish ready as needed.
And...Have fun and happy fish :)
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