Worm Colony

[Go_redfish]

I don't use a wide variety of live foods but night crawlers and red wrigglers are a steady favorite for my fish and axolotls. I dont just buy a tin at the bait shop tho.

Worms that may have been in the container for a long time are usually starved and hold less nutritional value.

Setting up your own colony to feed and condition the worms before giving them to the fish is not hard. A plastic tote half filled with organic soil has served me well to house them. To feed them I use stale and expired fish food, pleco wafers, culled fry or if a small fish passes away it goes to the worms and unseasoned/raw vegetable scraps. Moisten the soil with old fish water from a water change once a week. Punch air holes in the lid of the tote for air exchange and store in a cool dark place.

You'll see a difference between worms right out of the store container and ones you've been feeding. Worms that have been starved feel loose and thin and they don't react much when you touch them. Healthy worms are plump and firm and they struggle a bit when disturbed.

I rinse and hand strip worms before feeding them to my fish. This just means that I squeeze it length wise through my fingers to force the worm to evauate all the contents of its intestines under cold running water.

Not every one uses live foods. There are pros and cons to it. This is just a way of doing it that I have had good results with. I'd be interested in hearing what methods and other inverts others use.

 

[twentyleagues]

I have a friend that grows redwigglers by the thousands. He supplies some of the bait shops. He also sells the worm castings to a couple high end nurseries in the area. He has a third of his basement set up for this purpose. He uses a grain mixture and built long troughs out of wood on his basement floor. He fills the troughs with the grain and throws in a hand full of worms. A couple weeks later hes got a ton of worms and most of the grain has been converted to worm poop, excellent plant fertilizer. He also grows tilapia, crawfish, a few different lettuces in large amounts and another green that is becoming more and more "accepted".

 

[Go_redfish]

I have a friend that grows redwigglers by the thousands. He supplies some of the bait shops. He also sells the worm castings to a couple high end nurseries in the area. He has a third of his basement set up for this purpose. He uses a grain mixture and built long troughs out of wood on his basement floor. He fills the troughs with the grain and throws in a hand full of worms. A couple weeks later hes got a ton of worms and most of the grain has been converted to worm poop, excellent plant fertilizer. He also grows tilapia, crawfish, a few different lettuces in large amounts and another green that is becoming more and more "accepted".

That's a cool way to do it on a large scale.

 

[HybridFinatic]

and another green that is becoming more and more "accepted".

Sounds like he's living the life!

 

[tlindsey]

I don't use a wide variety of live foods but night crawlers and red wrigglers are a steady favorite for my fish and axolotls. I dont just buy a tin at the bait shop tho.

Worms that may have been in the container for a long time are usually starved and hold less nutritional value.

Setting up your own colony to feed and condition the worms before giving them to the fish is not hard. A plastic tote half filled with organic soil has served me well to house them. To feed them I use stale and expired fish food, pleco wafers, culled fry or if a small fish passes away it goes to the worms and unseasoned/raw vegetable scraps. Moisten the soil with old fish water from a water change once a week. Punch air holes in the lid of the tote for air exchange and store in a cool dark place.

You'll see a difference between worms right out of the store container and ones you've been feeding. Worms that have been starved feel loose and thin and they don't react much when you touch them. Healthy worms are plump and firm and they struggle a bit when disturbed.

I rinse and hand strip worms before feeding them to my fish. This just means that I squeeze it length wise through my fingers to force the worm to evauate all the contents of its intestines under cold running water.

Not every one uses live foods. There are pros and cons to it. This is just a way of doing it that I have had good results with. I'd be interested in hearing what methods and other inverts others use. View attachment 1360661

Thank you for sharing this may give another go at raising worms this way.

 

[Go_redfish]

Thank you for sharing this may give another go at raising worms this way.

Just pull them from head to tail when you strip them. Otherwise you get no poo. You just rupture their intestine and kill them if you go the wrong way.