Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Frozen Grindal Worms Fish Food DIY


I've been culturing Grindal worms for feeding my fish.


Buy Grindal worms locally through Craigslist: 
Or buy Grindal worms on Amazon (paid link): 

 There are times when there are more Grindal worms than my fish may eat in one feeding. 
Like in this example. 

Too many worms may cause the colony to collapse.
 On such occasions, I collect and freeze spare Grindal worms for weeks when there are not enough live worms to feed fish with. 
Let's make frozen Grindal worm pellets of different densities.

 Here I use a soft brush to scoop Grindal worms off the piece of plastic. 

Put them in a small plastic cup.

 This blob of Grindal worms is one serving for 3-6 adult guppies. 

Now let's scoop more Grindal worms and put them into another cup. 

This blob is large enough for 3-4 feedings. 


Now let's add a teaspoon or two of water in the first cup to make a low density frozen pellet.

 Shake the cup or stir the water to break up the blob of worms. 



We want worms to spread more or less evenly. 

Put the cup in the freezer right away before worms cling into a blob again.

 And let's freeze the second cup as a blob of worms without adding any water. 



Now, let's collect some more Grindal worms to make third frozen pellet. 



That should be enough to make about 3 servings of food for the same 3-6 adult guppies. 

This time I add a teaspoon of water to break the blob of worms.


 Put it in a freezer with the first two cups. 

So, for the next feeding I prepare 3 frozen pellets of different densities to try.
 A high density blob on the left.

 A high density pellet in the middle. 

And a low density pellet for one serving on the right.


 The next feeding day.
 Let's try the high density blob pellet first. 


Drop the frozen blob into an aquarium and watch... 
You can see Endlers already gathered in anticipation for food. 




The blob goes down without fish taking a bite of it.



 Yeah, the blob of worms looks different from a worm the fish may recognize as food.
 Bottom feeders and larger fish may go after blobs of worms.

 And even my Endlers eventually would find blobs of worms at the bottom and eat them. 

Frozen worms don't wriggle the way live worms do and that makes them less attractive to fish. 
So, feeding blobs of worms is not very suitable for top feeders like Endlers and Guppies.

 Now, let's give a try a high density pellet of Grindal worms.

 First we have to break the high density pellet into 2-3 serving portions. 

That should be enough worms to feed the fish in one aquarium. 

Put this portion in a cup and add a bit of water.

 It takes a couple minutes for ice to melt.



 Now I am going to use a pipette to drop Grindal worms into the aquarium. 


Guppies start going after sinking Grindal worms right away. 


Drop worms slowly to avoid making clusters.
 And to allow time for fish to pick worms before they reach to bottom.

 So as you can see, fish respond well to this style of feeding. 

And you are in full control of how many worms to feed. 

You can stop feeding as soon as fish lose interest in this food. 

The next feeding I try a low density frozen pellet. 

Simply drop the frozen pellet into the aquarium. 



Grindal worms start sinking as the pellet melts away. 
Endlers get very exited picking Grindal worms.
 Here you can see even babies, young fry go after frozen worms. 




It is the best way, by far, of feeding Grindal worms frozen pellets to top feeding Endlers and Guppies.

 I feed my fish 3-4 times a week. 
1-2 feedings with plant based homemade fish food flakes. 
And 1-2 feedings with Grindal worms. 

Live Grindal worms are one of the best fish foods everyone can culture at home. 
And it is simple to make frozen pellets for feeding days when you don't have live worms. 
Have fun and happy fish :)

No comments:

Post a Comment