Vinegar Eel Culture Instruction

What You'll Need

-Apple cider vinegar

-Dechlorinated water

-A few slices of apple

-Vinegar eel starter culture

-Container with a breathable cover (mesh or cloth)

Method

1.Place a few slices of fresh apple into a clean container.

2.Fill the container with a mixture of:

-50% apple cider vinegar

-50% dechlorinated water

3.Add the vinegar eel starter culture.

4.Cover the container with mesh or cloth to allow airflow while preventing insects from entering.

5.Store the culture in a cool, dark location

The culture is ready to harvest once the starter debris has settled and large numbers of vinegar eels can be seen swimming near the surface. Shining a torch through the side or back of the container makes them much easier to see.

Harvesting

1.Carefully pour some of the culture into a clear bottle with a long, narrow neck (clear beer bottles work well).

2.Fill the bottle to just below the neck with the vinegar solution.

3.Tie a thin piece of string around a small plug of fine filter wool and insert it into the neck so it sits just above the vinegar solution.

4.Fill the neck of the bottle with fresh dechlorinated water.

Over the next several hours, the vinegar eels will swim through the filter wool into the freshwater.

Once the freshwater becomes cloudy with vinegar eels, use a pipette to collect the water and feed it directly to your fry.

Top up the neck with fresh dechlorinated water for the next harvest.

This method allows you to collect vinegar eels without introducing large amounts of vinegar into the aquarium.

What You'll Need

-Apple cider vinegar

-Boiling water

-Rolled oats, crushed Weet-Bix®, or instant mashed potato

-Baker's yeast

-Vinegar eel starter culture

-Plastic takeaway container with a ventilated lid

Method

1.Prepare the culture liquid by mixing:

-2 parts apple cider vinegar

-1 part boiling water

2.Add rolled oats, crushed Weet-Bix®, or instant mashed potato until the mixture reaches a soft porridge consistency.

3.Allow the mixture to cool completely.

4.Half-fill a takeaway container with the cooled mixture.

5.Add the vinegar eel starter culture.

6.Sprinkle a small pinch of baker's yeast over the surface and gently mix everything together.

7.Fit a ventilated lid and keep the culture in a cool location.

Young vinegar eels will form a wrinkled film across the surface of the culture. Within a few days this film will begin climbing the sides of the container, indicating the culture is ready for harvesting.

As the culture matures, the surface will gradually become smoother.

To help prevent spoilage bacteria from building up, stir the culture once or twice each week.

Harvesting

Simply wipe the vinegar eels from the sides of the container using:

-A small paintbrush

-Cotton bud

-Clean finger

Dip the collected worms directly into the fry tank.

*If your HDVE cultures spoil too quickly, increase the proportion of apple cider vinegar in the mixture.

*When starting a new HDVE culture, use approximately the top quarter of a mature culture as your starter.

*The traditional vinegar eel culture requires very little maintenance and makes an excellent backup culture.

*To convert a traditional culture into a HDVE culture, simply use the traditional culture as the starter and follow the HDVE method.

*With regular stirring, the culture is usually ready for harvesting in around 6 weeks.

*Maintaining both a traditional culture and a HDVE culture ensures you always have a reliable supply of vinegar eels, even if one culture fails.

This is the method we use at Fintastic Studio. We recommend keeping a traditional culture running at all times as a dependable backup, while using the HDVE method whenever you need a larger, more productive culture for raising fry.