Goliad Farms, LP - Anguillula aceti

Goliad Farms, LP

8497 FM 622
Goliad, Texas 77963

Voice 361.645.2252
Fax 361.645.2258
Email goliadfish@goliadfarms.com

Contents

Foods

Live Foods

Anguillula aceti, Vinegar Eel

Anguillula aceti, the Vinegar Eel, is a nematode worm, not an eel. This organism is also sometimes known as Turbatrix aceti. It is an easy to culture live food that is an excellent size for many tiny fish fry.

Size: Maximum size is about 2mm (1/16 in.).

Description: This almost transparent, very slender worm is an aquatic nematode that lives in wine or vinegar. Most people can only see the worms against a strong back light and then only a cloud of off-white wiggling organisms.

Environment: This species survives happily in dilute wine and/or vinegar and water solutions, but can also survive general aquarium conditions.

Geographic Range: Worldwide on rotting fruit.

Uses: This live food species is an excellent first live food for killifish, rainbowfish, Bettas, or any fish with tiny fry. It has the advantage of surviving aquarium conditions so that it can be fed in abundance to the fry without fear of water fouling. Fish fry are attracted to the sinuous, wavelike motion the worm makes as it swims through the water. Since this worm is attracted to light, it swims to the water's surface where most fish fry congregate, thereby making it easier for the fry to find food.

Culture: Culturing vinegar eels is simple in any container that can hold liquids (the author prefers five gallon pickle buckets). Step-by-step instructions follow:

1) Place a 1 : 1 solution of water and apple cider vinegar (not the artificial kind!) into a loosely covered container.
2) Add a sliced up apple.
3) Inoculate the container with a starter culture of vinegar eels.
4) Place the container in a warm (25-30° C or about 75-85° F), dark location.
5) Within a couple of weeks there will be enough worms to harvest.
6) Harvest by pouring some of the liquid culture medium through coffee filters or by skimming with a brine shrimp net.
7) Feed by dipping the filter or net into the aquarium. The culture medium is acidic, so if you are feeding frequently or are adding the worms to small containers it might be necessary to rinse the net or filter paper with fresh water first. Usually, however, if adequate water changes are being made and the pH is being monitored, rinsing will not be necessary.
8) Reproduction is rapid and a significant portion of the culture can be harvested daily.
9) To maintain the culture, top off with water to keep the level constant. Occasionally add some sliced apple as the old apple decomposes. Unlike most other live food organisms, vinegar eel cultures rarely crash and can be kept going indefinitely. Even so, maintaining multiple cultures is wise.

Additional Information and Photos and Sources: For more information on this species, photos and proven sources, which we recommend, for this live food, click on one of the following links:
http://www.lfscultures.com/p15.html
http://www.livefoodcultures.com/vinegareels.html