Earthworms

[drufly]

i just dug out around 30 earthworms and put them in a carton of soil. They came out of the compost bin in my garden. Will they be ok to feed to my tropicals and goldies,or should i stay clear of them incase of poisins and insectasides.

Any advice would be great

Dru

 

[Ficious]

i was just going to ask the same thing. id like to feed earthworms to my new bichir

 

[Axleuk]

i just dug out around 30 earthworms and put them in a carton of soil. They came out of the compost bin in my garden. Will they be ok to feed to my tropicals and goldies,or should i stay clear of them incase of poisins and insectasides.

Any advice would be great

Dru

This is what i found when researching your question.

Earthworms

What better food can be found as easily as the worm? Just dig them from your yard or purchase them from a bait shop. Worms can be feed whole to the large fish such as Cichlids or chopped for smaller fish. Earthworms could be considered the ideal live food, perfect for conditioning your fish for breeding.

Personally i would feel nervous using worms i dug up myself for fear of them containing potentially harmful toxins, but then again if they were that harmful the worms would probably be dead.

I think they should be ok though.

 

[drufly]

No problem sounds good to me. I think they should be alright, took them out of the compost(Maybe insectasides in the food) and put them in soil out of the garden. I know there is no toxins in the soil cause my dad dont use them.

Well thats me happy free live food in the garden proper order.

cheers Dru

 

[Ficious]

i just fed one to my GSP and he ate in about .0000000000000000001 seconds HA!


im gona start cutting these little buggers up and freezing them!! my fish eat them up faster than anything else i feed them

 

[drufly]

I was shocked at how much my oranda loves them. He's about e inch in size but munching woorms that are lk snakes all gone in one go lol. The tropicals near started a riot in the tank, not enough to go round.

 

[CentricOregon]

I feed earthworms to my fish every now and then when I can be bothered digging them up lol.all i do is wash all the soild of the worms and then let them loose in my tank and watch the fish torment them lol.

 

[Ficious]

just a word of advice...before you add the worms to the tank try squeezing all the "poo" out of them. its pretty much dirt but i found out if i didnt do this my tank would be dirtied up quickly! if the worm is nice and juicy its very easy to do this under a running faucet


btw my GSP that ate the worm is HUGE....hes got a big pot belly. i guess this is how a house cat would look if it ate a 6 foot snake

 

[Honeythorn]

I feed my fish small worms from the compost bin. Only vegetable matter goes into it, grass clippings ect and we don't use anything on our garden so I know the worms are safe to eat. Also, the warm damp compost bin is an ideal place for them and ours have bred like crazy! I gathered about 10 little worms for my tank today, only a couple of mm thick and about 1 cm long, very small so I could drop them in whole and not have to bother cutting them up which is messy and fiddly. My fish went BESERK for them. One Danio couldn't fit all the worm in, and was chased repeatedly round the tank by the others, and ambushed by the Krib , all after her juicy meal The loaches were all over the place trying to grab one!

It's something I only do every couple of weeks to a month, as such a meaty food is quite rich and will cause a lot of waste and mess if fed too often.


If you're worried about what the worms have been eating, then start a wormery and feed them with good soil that has no treatments, and little bits of old veg scraps ect.If you don't have a compost bin, then maybe get an old cracked 10 gallon tank that's beyond repair, and keep it outside or in the shed with a piece of perspex or some other lid to keep it warm inside. Place the whole tank into a polystyrene box for extra warmth. It may not hold water but it can hold earth and earthworms, and give you a good supply of fish food/treats for years on end.

 

[drufly]

Good idea alright. The thing i find most annoying is trying to give each fish its share . My oranda is quite a bit giggerthan the fantail And the dojo loach, he always scoffs the lot leaving nothing for the rest.
In the tropical setup i just throw in 2 or 3 worms at a time and let the fish sort it out amongst themselves.

 

[Honeythorn]

If I want to stop the danios getting all my worms, I put the worm between the forks of my planting stick ( I swear to god I use that thing for all sorts! ) and quickly send it to the bottom for the loaches , cories and the krib. Even my Ghost shrimp nabbed one! They go mental for them.

 

[england]

i feed my cichlids earthworms/woodlice/spiders/craneflys/flys.....
prawns/mussles/sprats/crab sticks

 

[raptorrex]

I'm with Honeythorn, a compost bin is a great way of getting good, healthy and clean worms for your fish. it also has a very pleasing effect on the amount of stuff you have to throw in the bin. i put all our food waste in it, and a layer it with news paper too.

 

[drufly]

i feed my cichlids earthworms/woodlice/spiders/craneflys/flys.....
prawns/mussles/sprats/crab sticks

Thats good to know as i am currently looking for cichlids to put in my new tank when it comes(soon hopefully) just trying to sort out which spiecies to get.

 

[england]

whats the tank size?
what type do you like? oldworld/new world?
big ones/small ones/ very aggro or placid?