worm cleaning
- Thread starter slimmer
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to clean them out you'de have to keep them in the food/substrate a few days to be certain. and even then no gurantee. starting w/ healthy worms from an uncontaminated source to begin with is your best course for "clean" worms. keeping them in a clean healthy substrate/food will increase the chances of quality of food and gut-load them at least abit. not sure what you mean by "dew worm" But this is how I keep my earthworms/red wrigglers/ and other assorted live foods. and I've used both corn meal and fish meal in various degrees. coffee grounds work well mixed into the top level of a worm bucket. there are alot of different ways that all work more or less the same. or dependig on the results you desire. keeping them in a quality substrate free of pesicides/ferts/ect and offering them anything from old fish food, to specific diet. the key is always good maintence of them.
usually I buy my worms for a local baitshop, which amuseingly enough supplies the local petsmart.. and the bait shop costs me about 1/2 the price. But i do also get worms from my yard dureing the year. I have never "quarantened" these worms and have never had an issue with them.. though I have corns fields on 3 sides of the property. the worms are gathered from the center of 5 acres.. and we don't use pesticides/ferts/ect ourselves.
It's a call to make personally. I only feed a handful or so of worms from my yard a year.
and to simply answer the question.. i wouldn't put them straight into either one or the other of those. the fish meal will cut them up, and the corn meal will be way to dry.. or if overly wet get nasty. But mixing it in with peat moss or another similarly delightful worm bedding component is a good food for them. I think I did it like 1 TBS to 4-6 cups or something like that. now I just use coffee grinds and slap 'em in when it looks about right time to add.
usually I buy my worms for a local baitshop, which amuseingly enough supplies the local petsmart.. and the bait shop costs me about 1/2 the price. But i do also get worms from my yard dureing the year. I have never "quarantened" these worms and have never had an issue with them.. though I have corns fields on 3 sides of the property. the worms are gathered from the center of 5 acres.. and we don't use pesticides/ferts/ect ourselves.
It's a call to make personally. I only feed a handful or so of worms from my yard a year.
and to simply answer the question.. i wouldn't put them straight into either one or the other of those. the fish meal will cut them up, and the corn meal will be way to dry.. or if overly wet get nasty. But mixing it in with peat moss or another similarly delightful worm bedding component is a good food for them. I think I did it like 1 TBS to 4-6 cups or something like that. now I just use coffee grinds and slap 'em in when it looks about right time to add.
Thanks monsterminis. I lost acouple of rays after feeding them worms from the bait shop but not really sure if that is why so i want to be a little more careful next time i try to feed them. Not sure what would be in them from the baitshop and maybe it was something else and not the worms.
I just used to rinse mine. the idea of letting them move in cornmeal/grass etc is to get the mucus coating off.
but the fish don't care.
but the fish don't care.
It shouldn't be to hard to find out what worm farm they purchase their worms from or if they get them from local "collectors" My bait shop knows I use mine for my pet fish. Which btw they get a hoot over. after getting the company they get their worms from it's not hard to call them up and inquire. As delicate as rays are I wouldn't 100% blame the worms for the death. I'de hold them as suspicious and check your sources. If everything else in your husbandry and the rays health checked clean then it's very possible you got a bad batch of worms or some form of contamination from them.
if the worms are limp and stringy.. they're bad.. they should feel plump and firm when you hold them, and wriggle like the dickens to escape. a squishy worm is a bad worm.
if the worms are limp and stringy.. they're bad.. they should feel plump and firm when you hold them, and wriggle like the dickens to escape. a squishy worm is a bad worm.
The rays were newly required but feeding on bloodworms for 4 days and looking good. I thought i would try to fatten them up and fed them chopped up what looked like very healthy worms. After that they would not feed and looked very stressed died 3 days later. Water was pristine as i understand cycle process of aquariums. I have fed my oscars worms from the garden with no ill effects but these worms were from a bait shop cause of the season. I guess i will never know but was basically looking for precautions on worms from the bait shop.
I started a worm farm of my own so I wouldn't have to worry about any potential contaminants from outside worms. Worms used for composting are eisenia fetida, aka redworms, or red wigglers. Worm farm suppliers sell them by the pound, or you can usually buy them at pet stores. There are specialty worm bins you can buy, or you can DIY one pretty simply. Just take a plastic bin, preferably a wide and shallow one, drill drainage holes all over the bottom, place a piece of landscape fabric over the bottom to allow excess moisture to escape but still keep the worms in. Put your bedding in with a small amount of soil, usually coco fiber, but you can also use shredded newspaper. Poke holes in the lid for ventilation, and put it in a cool, dark place. Then just start plopping your kitchen scraps on the top. Vegetable matter only, and nothing really strong or acidic, like citrus fruit, onions, hot peppers, etc. As long as you stick to the right kinds of food, it won't stink at all, it will just have a mild earthy smell that you can't even detect until you take off the lid. Change out part of the bedding periodically once it gets full of worm poop, and use the old stuff to fertilize your plants. I started with just a couple little tubs of worms from the pet store, and now I have a whole bin full of squirmy friends that reduce the amount of trash I throw away, and provide occasional treats for my fish.