Microworm Culture Questions Or Suggestions

I had a fellow fish hobbyist make me a microworm culture from one of his established ones in April. The thing just now started going bad. I find that impressive since some people say they only last a couple weeks!

Anyway, I decided to make two new ones using that established one that was going bad (from mold beginning to form after 6 weeks) so that I will be ready for my next batch of baby rams.
I used this method:
Moistened oats (just moistened, not soaked)
a couple scoops out of the established culture
And some dry yeast.
One little slit in the lid of the container

When I was researching it, people said it takes about a week to get going. Which is why I wanted to get it started now even though the ram eggs haven't even been laid yet. Well....by the next day there were TOOOOONNNNNSSS of worms crawling up the sides of the new culture. WOAH! I don't need all those worms right now and might not need them for at least another week.....what does that mean for all the worms on the sides of the container now? Will they die on the walls? Or crawl back onto the substrate to eat again? What kind of lifespan to they have in the culture? If I go to scrape worms off the walls of this culture in a week, are they going to all be dead worms? Are these stupid questions??? lol

I think that my current culture could have gone a lot longer, but the mold issue kicked in after 6 weeks. ALSO, I never stirred the substrate in the culture. I have since read that I should have been doing that. That's probably where all the worms came from seemingly overnight! I took big scoops out of the undisturbed culture substrate and gave them all fresh yeast(food) in a new culture! BAM!!!!

So in closing:
How long do the worms on the walls of the culture last? will they go back down for food or just starve and die on the walls? If they do die off then I would assume the walls would have to be cleaned off when not being used for several days to a week? I don't want to have dead worms all over the place.
How crucial is stirring the substrate and how often should it be done?
Should I add more dry yeast as time goes on? If the cultures last several weeks like this one did, I assume the worms might run out of food? Because I never did that with the last culture either. In hindsight, I assume it was the lack of food (yeast) that caused them to produce less and less. Not the actual mold or the age of the culture.

Lastly, I would love to hear any tips or tricks that anyone has come up with for their worm cultures! I want to have them going permanently. What are your harvesting tricks??? How about storage for later? What success or lack of success have people had refrigerating or freezing the cultures? What tricks have people come up with to make them last longer, produce better, harvest easier yadda yadda. Throw it at me!!!

Thanks!

 

My favorite way is to use a cylinder container with a smaller opening. You then can use paper towel and a rubber band for the lid to avoid fruit flys. The filter floss or cotton thing doesn't appear to work everytime. I like to add a pinch of yeast every once in a while to aid in culture production. You can also help deter mold by boiling the oatmeal first instead of just softening it first. You can go forever if you just keep adding oatmeal and yeast as it goes down. I think one of the most important things not mentioned above is moisture. Alot of times, people let the worms dry out. Make sure to add water when needed and then mix.

 

Alot of times, people let the worms dry out. Make sure to add water when needed and then mix.

Will the ones on the walls dry out if the lid is on and the substrate is still moist? That is my immediate concern.
There are so many worms on the walls right now that I have no use for and won't have a use for for another week. Do those worms return to the substrate to feed? or do they just stay on the wall and starve or dry up?
If this new culture remains untouched for a week, what does that mean for all the worms that have climbed onto the walls during that week?
I want to know if I should be removing them from the walls if they are not being used so that when they ARE being used, I don't open the lid to a bunch of dead dried out worms on the walls.

 

They return to feed .
The yeast is their food source so feed yeast weekly. Mix before sprinkling yeast .
Mixing and keeping it from getting to thick [add water] will help it last also.
Cooler is better then warmer. You can keep a 'mother 'culture in fridge for months .

 

Ya. I read through that link a few times yesterday. It's a good one! I just wanted some extra details and some personal accounts. Tricks of the trade. That sort of thing. everyone does things differently in this hobby! So I like to hear others' ideas and stuff. I don't want to always just read link after link. You know?

So when you pull one out of the fridge that's been in there a few weeks....roughly how long until it's usable again? Immediate?

 

You take just a spoon full from the fridge to start another culture that is kept cool but not chilled.
My fish room is ion basement so I always kept cultures on the floor to keep them as cool as I a could.

 

You take just a spoon full from the fridge to start another culture that is kept cool but not chilled.
My fish room is ion basement so I always kept cultures on the floor to keep them as cool as I a could.

Ok good to know. I'll keep one on the fridge at all times. Thanks!

 

Noticed that on a slight lower temp preventd this explosive growth. I also started cultures on different dates so I had always a more "fresh" running culture when one got bad. BTW adult fish love them as well !