Red Worms

[Ulu]

I've fished with various worms for almost 60 years, but just started raising worms when I got my first big cichlids.

How long will redworms live under water?

Recently I put some different feed in the worm farm and now my Oscar doesn't like his worms as well.

I'm finding those rejected redworms live a long time in the gravel of my Oscar tank. In fact I siphoned out half a dozen my fish didn't eat, and they'd gotten quite fat in a few days.

I change his water about every 3 days. I have serious water flow, aeration, lots of sump air, circulation pumps, and spraybar surface motion.

Is the extra air keeping them alive?

I expected them to die underwater in a day or less.

 

[Dloks]

I read somewhere that worms don’t actually breathe oxygen they just absorb it through their skin. So as long as the water is oxygenated they will continue to survive. I’ve had red wrigglers survive weeks in my old axolotl tanks

 

[Ulu]

They do breathe thru pores, like most bugs I believe. I was just wondering if they actually get conditioned to aquatic life?

 

[EntoStentor]

Sort of. I don't think the system by which they breathe is a complex of trachial tubes, but I think it's just free aerosmosis. The process continues until an equilibrium is reached. That said, the system is extremely inefficient and the water needs to be well aerated and preferably on the cool side. A thick substrate layer will help.