Pass the Vinegar, Culturing Turbatrix aceti

Vinegar Eel or Turbatrix aceti are a small nematode worm that is both harmless and non parasitic they feed on a culture medium known as mother of vinegar an ingredient used in the making of vinegar. Vinegar today is pasteurised in much the same way as milk to rid the liquid of these small worms.
We as aquarists/fish breeders can utilise these small nematodes to feed very small fry.

Initally you will need is a small quantity of Vinegar Eel starter culture available from various sources. (Thanks Donald)

The everyday items needed to culture Turbatrix aceti are:
Jam Jars
Cotton handkerchiefs and elastic bands
Red or White Wine or Cider Vinegar
Apple Slices


All you need to start your Vinegar eel cultures


Fill the Jam Jar half full of your preferred Wine/Cider Vinegar.
Some aquarists like to dilute the vinegar with a little water but I like to use mine neat.


Next take your starter culture and pour some into the Wine/Cider Vinegar in the jam jar.


Add a slice of apple. This will sink over the comming days.


Finally cap with a slice of cotton handkerchief and secure with an elastic band.
This lets the culture breathe and stops it getting infested with flies.

These cultures are best kept warm [room temperature] in the dark and covered as mentioned above.

Harvesting

Method 1:
Pour the medium siphoned off your culture through coffee filter paper. Keep the vinegar; return this to your culture. Now rinse the eels trapped in your filter by running some fresh water through this. Finally invert into a glass of clean water. Leave them in the water to purge them before feeding.

Method 2:
Siphon off some of your culture from near the top into a long necked bottle [i.e. a wine bottle]. Fill the bottle until the vinegar just starts to enter the neck of the bottle. Then take a small amount of filter wool to form a plug. Push this down until it sits on the vinegar, leaving most off the neck empty. Fill it up with fresh water. The eels will crawl through the filter floss into the fresh water. They can then be harvested with an eye-dropper or turkey baster, and fed to your fry.

Another little livefood for small fish fry that can be cultured by the home aquarist for you to try

ATB
C

Further interesting reading
www.waynesthisandthat.com/eels.htm

thanks for sharing and nioce to have fineally met You!!! looking forward to doing it again soon
mickey

You're a mine of information!

What kind of fry do you feed these to?

(OT, I see you made your own marine tank, I was just wondering if you could throw up an estimated price of the cost of the glass? Just so I can get an idea, I might, might, just try it with a freshie.)

Vinegar eels will almost certainly inhabit the upper water strata when fed to a tank. In small tubs of fry they will congregate all around the tub edges. These are excellent for small surface loving Killifish such as very small Nothobranchius sp. (fry)

As for the Glass, the price would depend on the size of tank you were looking to build I would have thought! LOL

Aren't you just a big mine of information!

When you've been around the game for over 40 odd years you tend to learn a thing or two. I by no means wish to come across as blowing my own trumpet, far from it, I like writing up articles and sharing what I have learnt over the years wither it be breeding, constructing or something I have modified or enhanced. A lot of my findings and knowledge on certain topics stem from listening to old aquarists long since left this life. Some folks may read these articles and express that they do or would expect to do things a little differently and they may or may not attain better results, Fairplay, I welcome comments and criticisms whole heartedly as there's always more than one way to skin a cat. If anyone does find something that they think would improve a process then start a thread or make a comment in the original post. I don't profess to know it all, I am always learning myself and always will be.
Regards
C

Oh god, sorry, didn't mean to cause offense to anyone!

I am in awe of Colins/Puddlefish's knowledge, and honestly didn't mean it as anything else!

Original post being edited now, to take away any confusion! Seriously, don't stop with the articles, they're deadly!

puddlefish (Colin) Just one quick query on the original post, is it malt vinegar your using or Cider Vinegar, just wondering as i'm trying to get my hands on a starter culture of these

Hi Sheag39
Dont use Malt Vinegar. You need White/Red Wine vinegar or Cider vinegar available at your local supermarket. Bottles of this stuff are cheap. I'm using White Wine vinegar at the moment, Donald is using Cider vinegar, it doesn't matter that much, you can use either with good results.
Drop Donald a PM requesting a starter culture as I've only just set mine going again after comming back from Australia.
Regards
C