The Benefits of the Vinegar Nematode

The vinegar nematode has a lot of advantages to other types of nematodes. There are four common kinds of nematodes in similar size ranges that are fed to fish and fry as live fish foods. These include microworms, banana worms, Walter's worms, and vinegar eels. Microworms, banana worms, and Walter's worms are all grown in a medium of grain often oatmeal, cornmeal, baby cereal, or mashed potatoes. However, vinegar eels have four main advantages over these other nematodes.

• First of all, they are grown in vinegar. While many people dislike the smell of apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar they never smell different then that. On the other hand, the other types of nematodes can smell bad. In fact, the older they get, the worse they smell. Over time, they get to the point where they smell horrible. If the cultures go bad then the smell is even worse and can make your stomach feel upset.
• Next it should be noted that vinegar eels are easy. Microworms and other nematodes often require you to add food about once a week. Then after two or three weeks they need to be started over. This can be time-consuming, especially if you have large cultures or a number of them. On the other hand, the vinegar eel culture only needs a bit of food added to it once a month and it will last for a minimum of three months, but often up to six.
• The next thing that should be noted is that vinegar eels are a lot easier for fry and fish to eat. The other nematodes drown and they live on the surface of sour paste. The microworm is called the sour paste nematode. However, when added to the water they slowly sink to the bottom. They can then crawl into the substrate or sand if they are not eaten by snails or bottom feeders. Finally, they can die and add waste to your water quality. On the other hand, vinegar eels swim. They stick at the top of the surface and stay there. This makes it easier for them to be eaten by the fry and can even be seen by larger fish who might miss the sinking microworms.
• The vinegar eels can live for days in the water. In fact, they may be able to live for weeks, but it's hard to know because the fish will grab them up. Because they can live in the water and they aren't going to die before the fish eat them, they also won't add waste to your water.

These benefits make them more appealing to many than the microworms, banana worms, or Walter's worms. These easy to keep cultures can be set up, set aside, and brought out when you need them. A starter culture of the vinegar nematode is inexpensive, and if you start a regular new culture you will be able to keep them forever.