This Vinegar Eel culture contains:

• 50ml of Vinegar Eel culture in a sealed bag
• 1x 3ml Pipette

Additional materials required (not included):

• Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 clear bottle with a long narrow neck
• 1 Apple
• Dechlorinated Water
• Cotton Ball
• Paper Towel
• Rubber Band

How to prepare my culture?

Cut up the apple into pieces that can fit through the opening of the bottle and place them into the bottle. Fill your bottle with 50% apple cider vinegar and 50% dechlorinated water until it reaches the base of the bottle neck. Pour the starter culture into the prepared bottle. You now need to cover the opening to prevent bugs from getting into your culture. Place a paper towel on the top and secure it with the rubber band.

Store your culture at room temperature and in a dark area such as inside of a cabinet.

The culture now needs to mature for 2-4 weeks before harvesting can start.

How do I harvest my culture?

Put a cotton ball into the bottles neck and push it down until it touches the liquid. Then fill the rest of the bottle with dechlorinated water until it reaches the top of the bottle. Place a light on top of the bottle and the vinegar eels will begin to move towards the light. Wait at least 8 hours for enough vinegar eels to make their way into the dechlorinated water (leaving it overnight is the easiest way to do this).

After 8 hours use the pipette and suck up the vinegar eels that are swimming in the dechlorinated water and squirt it into your aquarium. Vinegar eels can survive in your aquarium for up to a week, making it a great food for young fry to consistently feed on.

If you are feeding daily, just keep topping off the bottle with dechlorinated water.

Maintaining the culture

It is a good idea to start a new culture every 6 months as the apples begin to break down. Simply fellow the previous steps and place some of your existing culture into the new bottle. We have actually forgotten about a culture for over 2 years and it was still packed with vinegar eels.

Best Practices

It is highly recommended to keep the cultures in at least 2 bottles. This will allow you to harvest from one while the other is growing, and if you have a contaminated culture you will have a backup one. We keep our cultures in multiple small bottles and 1 large bottle.