Questions about feeding earth worms to fish?

noelsfishland

Jack Dempsey
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Jun 2, 2013
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My Question is should you take the dirt out of the worms before you feed the fish,and does the dirt build up in tank over time.The main fish that I want to feed them to is a fire eel and tire tack eel,they eat frozen blood worms now,they are in a 420 gallon tank with a lot of tank mates and I am going threw a 16 oz frozen blood worm a week,and thought it might be cheaper buying a box of farm raised earth worms to,what do you think?
 

poppalina

Gambusia
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Sep 26, 2010
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It has been awhile but I remember reading that most people soak the worms in water so they dispell the dirt.
 

Oddball

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Best bet is to place the earthworms in a container layered with moist newspaper. The worms will purge themselves of dirt and still be active when dropped in the tank for feeding. Throw out the moist newspaper after each purging or the paper will sour and mold. Soaking the worms in water will drown the worms and have no guarantee that they'll purge themselves before they drown.
 
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flowerhornfishman

Piranha
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Best bet is to place the earthworms in a container layered with moist newspaper. The worms will purge themselves of dirt and still be active when dropped in the tank for feeding. Throw out the moist newspaper after each purging or the paper will sour and mold. Soaking the worms in water will drown the worms and have no guarantee that they'll purge themselves before they drown.
+1 but i usually rinse them in water and squeeze them gently before i feed my fish. they would go crazy for it. feeding earthworms gives a very messy tank, especially the gravel. gosh. and to my experience, once u feed them earthworms u wont find it easy to feed them pellets. lol
 

harleyboy

Feeder Fish
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Jan 23, 2013
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Just my opinion but if your feeding a 420 gal tank you aren't going to notice the gunk inside them with such a large water coloum my fish eat them whole but if you are cutting them up I guess purging them makes sense


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poppalina

Gambusia
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Sep 26, 2010
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Best bet is to place the earthworms in a container layered with moist newspaper. The worms will purge themselves of dirt and still be active when dropped in the tank for feeding. Throw out the moist newspaper after each purging or the paper will sour and mold. Soaking the worms in water will drown the worms and have no guarantee that they'll purge themselves before they drown.
Thanks for refreshing my memory
 

vamptrev

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Apr 23, 2007
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I have never purged my earthworms for my rays and i go through thousands of worms. I guess it depends on your filtration too


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DIDYSIS

Mantilla Stingray
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Feb 9, 2012
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Just chop to size required and throw them in. uploadfromtaptalk1389545721164.jpg

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Cu455

Fire Eel
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Mar 8, 2011
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The first time you feed the worms let a worm sit in a cup of water with a little dirt. I used to feed earthworms but stopped when the worms in on box turn the water a antifreeze green. I used to get them at a baitshop.

You could get squid, clams, frozen fish and shrimp pretty cheap at the supermarket. You also don't have to deal with live food.
 
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