Red Wigglers...

[Worm Woman]

Jimmy,

Here's a link to info about worms engineering coral reefs. http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/s...sugarmanIdEN=9

Cathy

Very interesting link. thanks Cathy. I end up surfing that Ontario Science Centre site for hours.

Another question for you. Can composed worm survive the Canadian Winter in the composed box outside. I have thousands of them. Should I resue them from the bitter cold and store them in my freezer for the fish ;D? Are they able to burrow themselves 6 feet under the ground?

Jimmy

[Worm Woman]

That's a good question. If the thaw is gradual enough, many of the worms will survive. Last year I had 3 insulated outdoor composters. They froze in January after a 3 week -20 C freeze. I left them for the remainder of the winter. In the Spring, the worms were squirming around. The composter wasn't warm enough for the cocoons to hatch.

Last winter there was not a mid-winter thaw in my area so the worms survived.

The cocoons will overwinter.

I would recommend capturing whatever worms you can.

Red Wigglers do not go below the frost line.

Hope that helps.
Cathy

[jeep]

I've been feeding my worms about 1/2lb of leftovers every 3 days and they seem fine. I'm just guessing, but I think they're reproducing like crazy because I see lots of really small worms. So far so good...

I had the fruit flys for a bit but now it seems like they're gone. The only concern is I see what looks like little white mites crawling all over the place.

They don't seems to be bothering the worms or leaving the containor, but maybe just feeding on the food. Are the mites a concern?

Brian

[Worm Woman]

The mites are not a problem. They help break down the food in the bin. They do not cause harm to the worms. The mites will remain in the bin as they enjoy the moist, warm environment.

Cathy

[Mykiss]

Thanks worm wonam! this has been a very informative topic. I know I will start a worm culture soon. So, worm woman, after recieving a shipment from you (lets say 1 pound) what would I have to do to get the culture started? i.e. if I buy a large rubbermaid rubber box, other than drilling holes in it for aeration and drainage, what woulf I have to do for bedding i.e. mixing vegetable scaps and dried leaves or grass? What does a person have to do to maintain the culture? thanks
pt

[Worm Woman]

Complete instructions are provided for setting up and maintaining a worm bin. The bedding consists of carbon material (eg. brown leaves, shredded paper, straw, etc.), soil and crushed eggshells or agricultural lime. Enough water so when mixed is the consistency of a wrung out sponge. After the worms have settled in for a day or two, nitrogen or foodscraps are added. Be sure to bury food under to prevent a fruit fly outbreak.

Hope this helps.
Cathy

[Discusgeo]

MyKiss I have been feeding my Discus Red Worms for a few years now and they tear into them as soon as they hit the water. My Wild Discus go absolutly nuts over them, I guess it's bring out the wild in them. I have a worm bin and use newspaper that is torn into little pieces and damped with water. Just moist not wet and dripping. I feed them vegatables and throw in Spirulina Algae Powder and NatuRose on top of that.
You also get Red Worms at www.wormman.com
Two Pounds of Red Worms Approximately 2000 Red Worms For $35.78 Delivered

[Mykiss]

Thanks for your suggestions, well, I guess it will be time to get a worm box and start cultivating!
pt

[jeep]

One more question...

When all the bedding has been reduced to dirt (or castings), do you just add more bedding to the top? Do you mix new bedding up with old bedding? Or do you remove the worms and put them back in with new bedding?

Brian

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

I think you would just start a new culture of red wigglers, by taking out as many worms as possible and disposing of the old bedding and replacing it with new bedding then put the worms back in. Im not 100% sure, ask Worm Woman.

-Ryan

[brewmaster15]

George you add spirulina and nutrurose to the worm food and bedding.?

I had not thought of that ...thats an excellent idea ! Normally Discus get their color by what they eat in the wild...... in most cases its from invertebrates that have inturn eaten algaes that make the pigments..

If the worms eat the pigments in their food and bedding , they could possibly pass it on to the discus,...Great Idea!

I can see an experiment... 2 worm cultures...

one with and one without pigments added... one batch of red based fish fry split into 2 groups and fed from one of the 2 cultures...


oh and I guess I should throw in a control group too!
HmMMMM...

Thanks George

-al

[Discusgeo]

Al I sure do as you can see it's an all natural food for them. Al put the food in a corner of your worm bin and see how long it last. I normally put it on a leaf of lettuce so I can see it better as the NatuRose is dark Red so it shows up real good on lettuce. Any time I can fine a way to get my added ingredients into my fish I figure it out some way. I am not even going to tell you what I put in with my live brine shrimp. So far that experiment has work too.

[Worm Woman]

When the bin contents are converted to castings, it's harvest time! There are several methods to separate the worms from the castings...the easiest being the "dump and sort" method. Empty the bin contents onto a plastic sheet. Place into pyramid shaped piles under a bright light. The worms will go to the bottom of the pile. Scoop off the top portion of each pile and set castings aside. Prepare fresh bedding and add worms back in.

Castings can be used as a soil enhancer for house plants or gardens.

Cathy

[Patsy G]

The topic of feeding additives to worms to enhance color interests me because I'd heard, the recently announced risks of eating farmed salmon were linked to what they'd been feeding them to enhance their pink color. Is there anything to this?
I have a package of 'spectra vital pure' by Marc Weiss that was given to me for experimentation. I have no idea of its source. I imagine some of those color enhancers are fine and others may be of risk...? Of course, we're not gonna eat our charges, but we don't want to harm their health either.
Thanks for your comments. Patsy