Culture Detritus Worms?

HI Hobbyists!
So My Wife And I Have Been Harvesting Detritus Worms From One Of Our Tanks. One Which Is Quite Small And Definitely Overstocked. We Were Feeding Them Directly To Our Endlers And Mosquitofish. This Was Working Out Really Well But Now The Numbers Have Dwindled And We Are Wanting More.

We Have Tried Different Setups With Only One Showing Marginal Success. A 16oz Jar Using The Walstad Method. The DtWorms Are Alive And Reproducing Inside But We Accidentally Included A Few Hitchhiker Species As Well. Namely Seed Shrimp, Bladder Snails, And Case-Carrying Worms. Which Must Have Come In On Our Plants (Taken From My Backyard Ponds)

This Jar Has Become Like A Pet To Me Now And Harvesting From There Is Not Viable. Pushing A Pipette Into The Substrate Could Cause Too Much Damage. So What Is The Proper Way To Culture These Guys? Clean Empty Jars Were Immediately Rejected By The Worms. Jars With Decaying Plant Matter Were Also Rejected. I've Included A Few Photos Of Our Only Successful Setup

 

I’ve never cultured them on purpose, but I notice they always show up when my daphnia cultures are on the way out. At that point there are some dead daphnia at the bottom, a whole lot of shed exoskeletons, and a little algae muck. I don’t know if that helps...

 

Yes Thank You Sheldon13! All Information On The Subject Is Valuable. Looking Back I Wonder Why We Were Trying To Separate The Species To Begin With? Neatness Isn't Something We Should Apply To Detritus Worms

I Will Instead Concentrate On Culturing Ostracods And Possibly Daphnia, As Suggested. Treating The Detritus Worms As A Bonus As We Learn More About Pushing Them Into Higher Populations.

 

HyX

Look up how to culture tubifex worms. They are technically a type of detritus worm and people do culture them obviously. You might find something helpful. I know there are a lot of YouTube videos on the subject as well.

 

Have you tried a dirt substrate without plants and adding whatever leaves fall or are trimmed of as a food source. Id also leave lights on for longer then normal and a sponge filter as well.

 

HI Hobbyists!
So My Wife And I Have Been Harvesting Detritus Worms From One Of Our Tanks. One Which Is Quite Small And Definitely Overstocked. We Were Feeding Them Directly To Our Endlers And Mosquitofish. This Was Working Out Really Well But Now The Numbers Have Dwindled And We Are Wanting More.

We Have Tried Different Setups With Only One Showing Marginal Success. A 16oz Jar Using The Walstad Method. The DtWorms Are Alive And Reproducing Inside But We Accidentally Included A Few Hitchhiker Species As Well. Namely Seed Shrimp, Bladder Snails, And Case-Carrying Worms. Which Must Have Come In On Our Plants (Taken From My Backyard Ponds)

This Jar Has Become Like A Pet To Me Now And Harvesting From There Is Not Viable. Pushing A Pipette Into The Substrate Could Cause Too Much Damage. So What Is The Proper Way To Culture These Guys? Clean Empty Jars Were Immediately Rejected By The Worms. Jars With Decaying Plant Matter Were Also Rejected. I've Included A Few Photos Of Our Only Successful Setup
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I can't help with culturing but when I need to remove them from my sump I use a Turkey baster - works great.