My first update:
RJ's response to what I've done and my subsequent corrections or modificatons.
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Six days after introducing the grindals to their new home, I'm happy to say that most of them are still alive. I wasn't quick enough to shoot the pic and most of the worms have retreated into the scrubbers, leaving some uneaten food on the surface.

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What I did observe was that some grindals had crawled out of the pads and drowned in the water bath.  Could it be a lack of oxygen? RJ did mention, "If there is insufficient air getting into the container the worms will try to get out and die off. Watch for this kind of behavior."

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In case the worms were really suffocating, I reduced the density of filter wool stuffing by spreading it out over a longer hose, which also made tying up alot easier.

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To increase the usable living space for the worms, I reduced the depth of water level to the thickness of one scrubber pad.

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The top of the suction cup holder is about the height of one pad and serves as an easy reference when changing water.

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With the daily checking and opening/closing of the 'Bug Bag', I gotta make life easier for myself. Rubber bands are effective but this reusable cable-tie makes sealing up a breeze.             Here's a closer shot of the 'quick-release cable tie'.  Easier and so much neater than rubber bands. Great for other things around the house too!

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The "RJbox" ;o) and the rest of my grindal cultures are kept in a utility closet outside the apartment. Most of my culture containers have breathing holes as I was getting tired of opening 'em up daily for their 'wiff of fresh air'! The brownish ice-cream tub has both grindals and red wrigglers in a soil/cocopeat media. There're 2 little containers of Naphthalene balls, or commonly known as 'moth balls', on the floor of the closet. It's my attempt to keep mites and fruit flies at bay but general consensus claim that those made from Para dichlorobenzene works better. Can anyone verify this?

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At the same store where I bought the Naphthalene balls, I found more scouring/scrubbing pads. These are twice the size of the 3M variety, double the pad at 10pcs/pkt at HALF the price! Yup! These SG$1.00 packs are going into my next culture boxes!!

The utility closet (with the greenish door) I mentioned is just next to my apartment's main entrance. and oh... the Christmas tree isn't a permanent feature along the corridor.  The nursery delivered it this morning and I'm hosing out those loose leaves before letting the kids decorate it. As I may not be able to upload another update till after the holidays and since Christmas is just a week away, let me wish one and all, a very Happy and Merry Christmas!  ======================================================  February 6th 2004 OK folks!  The long awaited update is finally here.  I'm as excited to present it as you are, to be encouraged by the results and start your own! Click here for the 2nd Update

To: <killietalk at aka_org>
Subject: [Killietalk] FW: Grindals on synthetic media
From: "Tranquility Base" <TranquilityBase at NetZero_Net>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 11:26:45 -0500

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Ronnie,

Very nice photos!

I can really get a good idea of what you are doing and you are making it so very easy to coach you.

You do need to make a few adjustments. First your water level is too high. The worms do not live below the waterline. So underwater space can not be used by the worms for living or breeding.  The water performs only two functions in the synthetic culture.

Water Bath:
First it is the source of humidity. Humidity is required by the worms to stay alive. If they were living in soil it would be keeping them moist but not actually wet.  I calculated 5 to 6 pads depth with only one to two below the water line. This gives the worms 3 to 5 layers of pads to use to adjust what depth they prefer to live at.  I assume that the closer to the water they are the moister they feel. I find that as the scrubbers get dirtier the worms move higher in the stack. I might also note that as the scrubbers get dirtier they wick more water upwards.  If left uncleaned long enough the culture will be sopping wet through and through and the worms will live only on top of the top pad.

Reduce your water level to cover only the lowest two pads max. Your water level should be closer to a half inch figuring each scrubber at about 1/4 inch thickness.  I did do an experiment with my worms to determine how high I could stack the scrubbers to increase usable area for the worms. Depending on which type of pad I used there was no benefit and some actual loss of production with stacks over 5 or 6 high. The taller stacks also seemed to take longer to come on line.

On a theoretical note, and to address, the second purpose of the water bath, the number of underwater scrubbers does not matter, it is the scrubbers above the water line that count. You could add more pads to the top of your culture instead of lowering your water level. Liquid waste does go down to the water bath, when the water in the sump gets funky you pour it out and replace it with fresh water. More water in the sump might extend water changes, but as water changes are required only weekly to biweekly on a
running culture, I'm not sure that you need worry about it by adding more water.  For the time being change the water at least weekly. Without a bacteria culture your water changes are more critical.

Next regarding food:
Spraying water on the worm food is a *very* bad idea.  The wetter the food the more quickly it will fungus. Worms will not eat fungussed food. Remember the key to the synthetic culture is humidity. It keeps your worms moist and it will also moisten the food sufficiently for the worms to eat it. Crush
you food to a powder and sprinkle on top dry. It should get moist all on its own.

Someone I know actually put food between the pads to rush his culture. He developed a vascular slime mold. It made for a great science project but not so great for fish food.

Commentary on types of food.
Finely ground oatmeal (put in coffee grinder or blender set on high until it is pulverized)- This provided the best synthetic White and Grindal worm production and lowest residual waste in the pads for me. It costs $0.75 per pound.

Finely ground dry cat food - Provided good worm production but left a large amount of residual waste in the pads. Worm production dropped as the culture became clogged.

Whole wheat flour- Provided marginal results with grindal worms. Synthetic white worms would not eat it.

Finely ground flake food- Provides for slightly slower worm production as compared to oatmeal and it will clog your culture faster than oatmeal but slower than cat food. On the up side it is more resistant to fungussing than either cat food or oatmeal. If you are going to continue to use it check the
pads regularly for clogging.

What to do now:
After adjusting your water level/stack height check your culture daily. Mostly you are doing it to watch what is going on and to feed. You will also be getting a feel for the process. For now satisfy yourself that that your worms are sill alive and eating the small amounts of food you are adding. If some of the food funguses just scrape/rinse it off the top pad under running water and add fresh food. The worms are entwined in the material and won't wash out easily.

What we are looking for at this stage is humidity levels and air exchange. As you are using a different container and worm than I am your humidity may be too low. For the next week you are not likely to see worm reproduction, that's normal. The worms should spend most of their time in the top 2 pads, near the food which should be completely eaten daily. When the food is completely gone daily, start adding a little more food. Too much food is not likely to greatly increase worm reproduction but it will cause you to spend more time cleaning the culture.

When the culture really gets going, anywhere from few to several weeks down the road you will get a better idea of your air exchange. If there is insufficient air getting into the container the worms will try to get out and die off. Watch for this kind of behavior. Also remember that rushing things is not necessarily a good thing at this point. Along with the worms we are hoping for a nitrifying bacteria colure to develop just like it would in a fish tank.

Other than the adjustment to the water level and wetting the food, your off to a good start.

Keep me posted.

Peace,
~RJ~

-----Original Message-----
From: Ron @ CCK [mailto:ronwill at starhub_net.sg]
Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2003 8:55 AM
To: TranquilityBase at NetZero_Net
Subject: Grindals on synthetic media
 

Dear RJ,

I've completed ONE grindal box according to your instructions, except for the initial startup amount of worms (I didn't manage to harvest that much).

For reference, I've also done up a web page which record the process and hopefully, this will help someone too.

My fellow hobbyists here in Singapore will be modelling their grindal boxes to the page and will submit their feedback to me, and then on to you.

Please look at the page and see if it meets your approval before I post the link to KillieTalk.  Feel free to let me know what to add onto or remove.
https://www.angelfire.com/journal2/fishz/grindal/Soiless/Grindal_CultureNEW.html

I know it's a pretty crude page, but I'm not an IT person... that was the best I could do.

Included in the page, is the full instructions from your posting and I'd like to credit the page to you.  Besides 'RJ', how else can I address you?  Calling you by your initials seems a bit rude, considering the
assistance you've rendered and I'm very thankful for that.

Since there're links which go directly into KillieTalk archives, I've also written to Dr Barry Cooper for appropriate permission and to clarify if it's ok to do so.

As you're experiencing PC hiccups, take your time to respond.  I will wait till I get the OK from you.

Best regards,
Ronnie Lee
Singapore