Feeding earthworms to my fish.

[JC_P]

it is always safer to buy live feed from garden centers and local fish stores/bait shops...........I have , on several occasions, picked up a worm in my backyard and fed it to my fish..........Personally, I feel like it is picking food off of the floor and feeding it to fish..........I rather spend the $5 that gets me a few dozen worms than having to be paranoid if there is some parasite or pesticide in my feed..............

That is a very good point, I don't mind spending a bit of money for peace of mind.

 

[JC_P]

mate, set up a worm farm. put some potting soil in a 2 gal plastic container.
Cover the container in thick black tape and punch some holes in the top.
Microwave the soil first. buy a box of worms from the bait shop or garden centre and put them in the container.
let them burrow down overnight then spread a line of moist cornflower across a part of the soil surface.
Do this every 2 days.

It's a short wait, 30 days but you'll have a load of smaller more nutritious earthworms.
I think they're the best food for conditioning period - but i won't derail.
Go forth and reap the rewards.

Thank you, this is also a neat idea!

 

[JC_P]

Go for it! I do it all the time. Only problem, if the fish doesn't recognize the worms as food, the worms may burrow them selves into the sand/gravel and die. This happened to me the first couple times I put worms in so I started chopping them up with a knife. Now the fish see me coming with the worms, I swear the worm never hits the water lol

I tried it yesterday, my wolf fish loves the damn things.. lol. That's a good tip for trying it with other fish though, thank you!

 

[JC_P]

It is great for the fish, we hold the worms outside the tank as they move up and down the fish get so excited then put the worm in the tank and the fight is on....

however we do live on a hill, years ago up hill they used roundup and some other stuff, did not tell us, my husband went out picking worms fed the fish and we got up in the morning to all the fish dead except the Pacu... boy they are hardy fish

This is good to know. I'll just let my folks know that I'm feeding my fish worms from the garden and to continue to avoid pesticides, we grow our own organic fruits, & vegetables in the summer months so I would expect them to comply with the request.

 

[JC_P]

Thank you all for the positive responses! I guess earthworms will now be a part of fishes diet.

 

[HackJob]

It's a great treat, I do it when I can, I have Convicts, Jewels, and crayfish all going for the worms. The store bought tend to be much larger than the ones I find in the back yard, so they take longer to pick apart, and I feel bad about that. So I go with the smaller worms that are in the stomach before they with the tank bottom.

 

[JC_P]

It's a great treat, I do it when I can, I have Convicts, Jewels, and crayfish all going for the worms. The store bought tend to be much larger than the ones I find in the back yard, so they take longer to pick apart, and I feel bad about that. So I go with the smaller worms that are in the stomach before they with the tank bottom.

I also notice this, I only feed one worm to my wolf if the worm is big.

 

[Kingst3r]

You could do it, it just poses concern for chemicals in the worms. It also raises the question of why? They dont serve any nutrition suppliments that you cant get from fish food, so is it worth the risk? Althought feed live food is fun

 

[JC_P]

You could do it, it just poses concern for chemicals in the worms. It also raises the question of why? They dont serve any nutrition suppliments that you cant get from fish food, so is it worth the risk? Althought feed live food is fun

No longer all too concerned with chemicals, as for nutritional value; they are a good source of protein. I'm not just feeding worms, the staple of my fish's diet is pellet based. The worms are viewed as being treats, and like treats they are fed in moderation.

 

[1974Pantera]

Here's a trick, after you have collected you earthworms, place them in a container of corn meal for a couple of days, they'll eat the corn meal and excrete all the dirt.