Grindalworms, Enchytraeus buchholzi are small worms high in protein, vitamins and minerals. They are related to Whiteworms, Enchytraeus albidus, but much easier to culture and much more productive. Mrs. Morton Grindal of Sweden extracted these worms from her whiteworms cultures and made her name famous in fishkeeping. Almost all fishes eat grindalworms, the smaller worms for the fry and the larger worms for any adults.

Because of the way they are raised, they are totally disease-free. These worms can live in water for a few days, so they make a pollution-free meal for your fishes. Today due to their many benefits, grindalworms are considered one of the best live foods available.

Culturing Grindalworms

Fill a plastic box with potting soil or coconut fiber as an alternative and get it moist. This will provide a nice bedding for grindalworms to live and lay eggs. Add starter culture of worms, feed and cover with a piece of glass large enough to leave a 1 cm gap around the edges of the container. The gap is for proper ventilation inside the container. Keep at room temperature. If mites get into the culture, cover the gap with a piece of cloth or filter floss.

As the worms grow, they crawl up onto the glass and can be washed off. It’s a good idea to wash them once or twice before using to remove excess food and soil. Remember to regularly spray the culture with dechlorinated water, so as to keep it moist. Many different foods can be used to feed the worms, but the simplest and most reliable is Gerber Baby Oatmeal mix. This is vitamins and minerals enriched and adds to the nutritional content of the worms. Grindalworms cultures respond positively to being harvested frequently, i.e. on a daily basis, but can survive for several weeks without any attention. Lift the glass plate, sprinkle a little oatmeal on the surface of the culture, wash the worms off the glass and replace it on the culture. Each day, we harvest enough worms from 6-8 cultures in about 10 minutes to feed hundreds of fish.

The worms can be sorted into different sizes by suspending them in water. The larger worms (10-15mm) sink faster and the smaller worms (3-4mm) can be poured off the top. Fry as small as 7-8mm will start taking the smallest grindalworms.

Each culture lasts for many months, but eventually starts to smell and becomes less productive. At this point, start a new culture using some washed worms from an established culture as an inoculum. It is sometimes said that excessive feeding of grindalworms or whiteworms leads to the buildup of fatty deposits in fish which can kill them. To get the best out of your fishes, you need vary their meals.