Red Wrigglers

[carsten]

Hi,

Has anyone here ever tried Red Wrigglers for Discus feeding? What is the size difference between these and CBW? Nutritional Difference?

Thanks

Carsten

[Patsy G]

Hey Carsten,
Are you raising the red wrigglers yourself? I've been feeding my discus this as a treat with freshwater mysis as the staple food. My worm farm (in a bin downstairs) provides big worms for my son's fishing interests and the baby red wrigglers are a perfect size for feeding the discus. They absolutely love them! The easiest way to clean them is to put the clumps of baby worms you gather into a bowl in the fridge. The worms huddle up into a clean little ball, which just needs to be rinsed in water before feeding. The discus seem to like the sport of chasing down a live food.
Patsy

[carsten]

No, I havn't started to culture these worms yet, so I was just interested in how easy and quickly this could be done?

I saw some kits available from Uncle Jim's web page. These included containers, bedding, food, etc...

But I am very interested, especially since I can't get a CBW here locally.

Is culturing these worm affective at maintaining constant supply of fish food?

Thanks for the reply,

Carsten

[chuck]

I've done it. It takes about 3-4 months for the adults(1000) to produce enough babyies to have a continual supply of baby worms. You can chop up the adults but I noticed My fish prefered the babies I think because they don't have a tuff skin.
You have to remember not to keep the bedding to wet , just slightly moist. I used a mist bottle and a few squirts 3x week worked fine.
the worms eat everything (except MEAT!!!) last summer I used tomatoes from my garden. I didn't have to mist because the tomatoes provided enough moisture.
What I used as a bin was a fish styrofoam shipping container. I cut a few small holes on the top and sides and glued screen door netting over them for circulation.
HTH
chuck

[Patsy G]

There are variances in the abundance and availability of worms...sometimes I seem to have mostly adults and then there will be a big hatchout of babies. As a result, I couldn't rely soley on the redworms to feed my fish. As a treat and an alternative to their staple food (mysis), redworms are awesome.
I've got a plastic rubbermaid tub, with four holes on either side, screened off for circulation. For bedding, I use shredded newspaper or leaves in the fall. Feed them your vegetable compost, but never anything like meat. I keep mine in the basement where it is cool.
I find redworms interesting to keep and they create great compost for gardening. Considering that and the food supply they've become for my discus, only adds to their value.

You can have a constant supply of red wrigglers if you start several boxes of cultures. Harvest one at a time and give the other ones time to grow. The only deterrent of keeping worm culture is fruit fries. It will be very annoying to dine with fruit fries on your dinner table. Ask your worm supplier how to handle this situation before attempting the culture. If you are able to solve this problem. you will enjoy having them for a long long time. Your plants and vegetables in your garden will love you. Your garbage man will kiss you and give you a big hug when emptying your garbage.HTH
Jimmy.

[Tonyintx]

Carsten, what was the web site for Uncle Jim's? Thinking about it. hhmmm could I? should I???? we will see

[carsten]

Tony,

The website is http://www.unclejim.com/

l8r

Carsten

[Patsy G]

Here's another suggestion: I got the book "worms eat my garbage" from www.mreed.com. He sells the redworm cultures and, as well, a fry food which is said to be absolutely great for discus. Its a dry food wich must be kept in the freezer. Although I haven't feed it to discus, I've been really pleased with the results I've had with other small fish. As for the book, it'll tell you everything you need to know..

[gary1218]

Uncle Jim's looks like a nice web site. Cheapest price on worms I've found as well.

Has anybody gotten one of his "package deals" - worms, bedding, food, container. He doesn't have a picture of anything so it's hard to tell what you're getting.

Is his bedding material anything special? Is the container anything other that just a common plastic box - any holes drilled in it, etc.?

Thanks,
GARY