A friend taught us how to grow these miniature worms. It's easy and nearly foolproof. There are more complicated techniques but this method works for us.

In a plastic butter tub, we add about an inch of damp peat moss. [Note: Jim subsequently observed that African violet mix seems to work better than the peat moss he previously used because a little lime is added to this which seems to help the culture go on longer.] The moisture is squeezed from the moss leaving it damp, not sloppy wet but definitely not on the dry side. To this peat, we add a starter of grindal worms and then a little food.

We start the culture with food. We use Gerbers baby cereal - [Note: the oatmeal or mixed grains variety seems to work best]. We sprinkle a little cereal into a mound about the size of a quarter onto the surface of the peat and add a few drops of water. The worms don't eat dry food and repeatedly adding cereal without water will dry out the culture. If you keep your culture in a cool and dark place you will not need to cover the peat moss. The container is capped tightly so moisture is kept inside the container. [Note: I like to lay a piece of glass, plastic, or a Ziploc freezer bag directly on top of the culture]

Remember, these worms like a cool environment although they are more heat-tolerant than whiteworms. Seventy degrees Fahrenheit is great. We keep our cultures in a styrofoam box on the floor of the hatchery.

About every three or four days the food should be gone. As the worms finish up their food they hang around the food area and are ready for harvest.[Note: If you have put a piece of glass or plastic directly on the media, they will collect on this and be easily scraped off.] Since we raise so many killifish and the Bettas we raise are species types, our method of harvest is actually an advantage and improves our water conditions. Take a pinch or two of the worm cluster and drop them into a cup. With a baster, add water to the cup and pump the water in and out of the baster, making a worm soup-like thing. Don't try to damage the worms, you are simply breaking up the worm and peat mixture. Feed the mixture directly into the tanks. The peat will be removed with future cleanings and worms ... well if they hit bottom, you fed too many. Even so, if you are using bare bottomed tanks they will probably be eaten before any damage occurs. The worms live a number of hours before dying and then decaying. A couple of extra worms will usually be eaten before damage can occur.

As soon as our fish are able to take grindal worms, we start them on an every third day cycle. The growth of the little fish seems to explode once they are put into the worm cycle.