Does anyone feed their fish home-grown worms?

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Juxtaroberto

Juxtaroberto

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 1, 2009
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Los Angeles, CA, USA
I've been looking into this in order to add variety to my fishes' diet, and I seem to be getting mixed answers. Some people have recommended red wigglers, except apparently they release a foul odor that even seems to deter fish sometimes. I honestly don't remember any odor from whenever I found them in the yard, although they could have been a different species. Does anyone raise this species? How noticeable is the odor?

The main reason I want to raise my own earthworms is that I've got a sterlet who won't eat anything but blackworms, except I've read on some of the threads here that blackworms cause impactions if fed exclusively. I was hoping to move from blackworms to perhaps earthworms, then to other foods until it's eating a wide variety.

Also, depending on the species you recommend, can you give me some information on how to keep and feed them? Apparently the red wigglers need decomposing material to be able to eat it. Are there any worms that'll eat anything, whether or not it is decomposing?

Thanks.
 
We do vermicomposting of all of our vegetal kitchen scraps, so I have a red wiggler colony in my basement. I occasionally feed worms from my bin to the fish. They love them. I've never noticed any sort of weird smell from the worms...they smell like dirt. Red wigglers are super easy to keep and feed on any sort of plant-based organic matter (including coffee grounds). I have a legit worm bin, but you can raise them in any sort of rubbermaid container. If you're doing that, though, you need a way to get the water out of the colony. My worm bin has an actual drain on it with a valve. It would be easy enough to add a drain valve, some standoffs and some plastic canvas as a screen to allow excess water to drain from the castings. The liquid is called "worm tea" and is a super fertilizer for the garden. The worm castings are also awesome for your garden or flower beds.
 
I use to do it every winter but for some reason the worms were non existent around here this year probably do to the lack of rain etc.Either that or my fish ate em all and I go fishing too much for them to keep up with me LOL
 
I'm not sure If I "propigate" my own worms much seeing as I go threw so many.. but I do buy my nightcrawlers in bulk and keep them in a rubbermaid in the basement and toss veggie scraps in. It's alot cheaper to buy them by the hundreds and just keep them. then go to the bait shop and buy them by the dozen. Most of my spineys won't eat the red wigglers. they deffinately prefer the nightcrawlers. The crawlers just need to be kept cold. I also have a friend in the summer who collects them for fishing that I buy from. I can get a 5 gallon bucket full of them for 15$ my old neighbors kids also use to collect them for me and I'de pay them for the worms. Just know where they are collected from is pesticide/herbicide free. The rubber maid I drilled some holes in put egg crate over that and a old window screen ontop of that so it drains well. underneath the tote I use an old plastic dog crate bottom ( same theory/concept of plant pots) the liquid soup is great for plants, I use it for my orchids. I use to use it for our roses at the old house.

I feed about 12 crawlers a day so to set-up enough breeding tubs for me isn't feasible atm, Just don't have the room. I found this out quick when I first started keeping the worms.

Far as I'm aware there are no worms that will utilize meat/protein refuse. and thats how they get rancid.. literally.
 
sounds like you got some good answers
I have red wrigglers and enjoy the worm farm
no way could I breed them fast enough to feed daily
but it's fun
no meat products, only veggie scraps
 
I think I probably have the same worm bin as Titania. It consists of square stackable trays with a mesh bottom, a lid, and a spigot on the bottom tray holder. Red wigglers are easy to take care of. Just throw your vegetable based kitchen scraps in the top tray. It doesn't have to be rotten or decomposing or anything like that, it will decompose on its own. I use cocoa fiber for bedding. The worms migrate up through the stack of trays as they empty out. You just take the bottom tray and dump the worm castings in your garden or on your houseplants and cycle the empty tray up to the top and continue filling. There's no smell. Fish go crazy for them. I started with a couple little tubs from the pet store and now I have a thriving colony. The commercially made bins are great, but you could also DIY one fairly easily.
 
I feed them live blood worms, home gorwn. They are nasty but the fish love them.
 
Hi mate,

I have a home worm farm into which I throw fruit and vegetable scraps (but no citrus or onions). The worms generally self regulate their population.... if you build it, they will come! If you leave them un-harvested for a while to establish a good breeding population, there should be plenty to allow a regular feed for your fish. My native Aussie fish love them, but I only use worms as part of a varied diet. I try to feed mostly the small worms, leaving the biggest as breeding stock.

Cheers,
Nige
 
i have a home grown mealworm colony easy as bakeing a muffian to do
 
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