Instructions: catch and multiply shiny worms very easily

The shiner worm Lumbriculus variegatus is highly valued as a live food for fish, crabs and shrimps. This little borster is a close relative of the earthworm. It is also known as Dennerle worm in the aquaristk, because you can get single specimens in the aquarium from time to time with aquarium plants, where they sit in the root ball.

Shiny worms grow from 4 to more than 10 cm long. Their coloration is dark pink to dark red, their blood contains hemoglobin and gives them this color. The relationship with the earthworm can be clearly seen in the Lumbriculus variegatus. It too has very recognizable segments. Under a microscope or a really good magnifying glass, you can clearly see the isolated bristles on the segments.

Shiny worms can even be reared quite wonderfully indoors - so you can get through times when you can't go paddling - in winter, for example.

You can catch shiny worms quite easily in the open. In the following you will see how it is done.

In addition to a cable tie, a weight and a string, all you need is salad waste and a relatively wide-meshed plastic net in which, for example, onions or potatoes were previously.

The salad scraps are placed in the net and wrapped together. We fasten the weight with the cable tie and lash everything tightly.

Put it in the water!

When the worm trap is laid out, hide the string a little.

After about a week - depending on how fast the lettuce has rotted - I take the trap out of the pond again. 

At home, the contents of the net are then rinsed vigorously.

Here you can see how many worms you can catch with the trap in a strong week. This is roughly the equivalent of 8-10 live food bags!

When they are washed, the shiny worms are ready to be fed or of course to start a worm farm. Once you have pooled more than absolutely necessary, you can either store the worms in a jar of clean water in the refrigerator, or place them in a small aquarium with some brown leaves at the bottom.

Breeding shiny worms is not difficult. Again, all you need is a small aquarium of about 10-12 liters capacity - a larger aquarium is possible, of course. Fill it with water and cover the bottom with brown autumn leaves. Heating is not needed for shiny worm breeding. The worms feel comfortable at a water temperature of 21-22 °C (room temperature). Feed them from time to time with chlorella powder, spirulina tablets, oat flakes, dry yeast or small crumbs of toast. A filter is optional, alternatively the water is changed 90% every two days.

Shiny worms reproduce by lacing off parts of their abdomen. New worms grow from these strangulated worm pieces. If the living conditions in the biotope deteriorate, they lay permanent eggs in egg cocoons.

It is ideal to keep the shiny worms together with filter feeders like water fleas. They help to keep the water quality stable and are good live food for fish.

The best way to remove the shiny worms from the breeding tank is to simply place pieces of coarse filter sponges on the bottom of the breeding tank. The worms will migrate into the filter sponges and can thus be easily brought into the aquarium with the fish or crayfish to be fed - gently squeeze the sponge in the aquarium and watch the animals in the aquarium feed.

Source: Mooswald Aquaristik