Live Blackworms | Live Fish Food
About this fish
Live blackworms (Lumbriculus variegatus) are arguably the most effective conditioning food available to the hobby. Commercially cultured, clean, and still actively moving when they reach your tank, they trigger a feeding response in almost anything that will take live food.
Why feed live blackworms
- Around 60 to 66 percent protein on a dry matter basis, ideal for conditioning breeding stock
- A week of blackworm feeds is well known for inducing spawns in apistogramma, killifish, tetras and angelfish
- Excellent for fussy or newly imported fish that refuse dry food
- Safer than tubifex. Tubifex was historically collected from polluted water, whereas cultured blackworms come from clean, controlled facilities
- They will burrow into the substrate and live there until eaten, so they do not foul your water the way uneaten dry or frozen food does
- Natural movement encourages hunting behaviour and reduces stress in shy species
Well suited to
- Bettas and gouramis
- Discus and angelfish
- Apistogramma and other dwarf cichlids
- Killifish and rainbowfish
- Corydoras, loaches and nano fish
- Fry transitioning onto larger foods
- Axolotls
How to store them
- Rinse thoroughly in cool, dechlorinated water on arrival to remove waste and any dead worms.
- Use a shallow container such as a deli cup or worm dish. Add only enough water to just cover the worms, around one centimetre or less.
- Keep refrigerated. Do not freeze. The cold slows their metabolism and keeps them plump.
- Rinse and change the water daily. This is the single biggest factor in how long they last.
- Do not feed them. They live off their own reserves in the fridge.
Stored this way, blackworms will typically keep for two to four weeks. For larger volumes, an aerated container of chilled aged water with an air stone works well.
How to tell if they are healthy
- Reddish dark brown colour, not grey or pale
- Actively wriggling and bunched into moving tangled balls
- Mildly earthy smell, never sour
Discard any pale, motionless or foul smelling worms straight away. One rotten worm can crash a container overnight.
How to feed
Rinse before every feed. Offer small portions using tweezers, a pipette, a worm cone or a feeding dish so your fish clear them within a few minutes. Best used as a supplement two to three times per week alongside a quality staple diet rather than as a sole food source.
Live delivery
Packed fresh on the day of dispatch in insulated packaging. Please open and rinse your worms as soon as they arrive.
How your fish arrive
Packed in oxygen filled bags inside an insulated box and sent overnight by air express on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Live arrival
8 hour live arrival guarantee. If a fish arrives dead or clearly stressed from transit, contact us within 8 hours of delivery with photos of the fish in the original sealed bag, and we will replace or refund it. Freight is not refundable, and someone needs to be home to accept the delivery. Remote far north WA (Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley) is sent at your own risk.
Delivery and returns
Free delivery over $100 in WA and $150 elsewhere in Australia. Free pickup from our Kenwick store, Tue to Sat, 12pm to 6pm.