Earthworms?

[FLGirl1977]

I read somewhere that feeding earthworms provided discus (or any fish for that matter) with lots of nutrients. Apparently as long as you left them lying on a damp newspaper to expel the soil and chop them up afterwards they were a great food source.

Does anyone do this? I would certainly be interested in doing this provided that it is safe. Anyone like to add to this?

[bavaria36]

I use them quite often but I don't bother to clean them out. If you squeeze them with the knife blade before chopping them up, most of the soil inside their gut is just squeezed out.

I have never had any problems feeding them but to be honest my fish are not crazy about them. It's Ok if they are really small worms but larger worms have a thick cuticle and the fish don't seem to like this. They will keep trying to eat the bits and will repeatedly pick them up and spit them out but soon seem to lose interest.

The cories seem to appreciate the earthworms a lot more.

Aaron

[FLGirl1977]

That's good to know Aaron... my cories seem to appreciate anything I put in there. So would you say that the smaller earthworms (that look a bit larger in diameter than blackworms) would be a good size?

BTW, I love your wilds!

[marnold]

Try red worms!Smaller and easier for them to eat.

[cmich]

One thought would be adding them to a mix (if you don't mind having them in your blender). I feed earthworms to my pumpkinseed sunfish, but I have not tried them with my discus ever. They are a healthy food for fish though.

Blake

[FLGirl1977]

Where do you find redworms?

[marnold]

Most bait shops here have them.Not sure about Fla shops!Sometimes they are called compost worms.I am sure there is a online retailer out there.

[bavaria36]

That's good to know Aaron... my cories seem to appreciate anything I put in there. So would you say that the smaller earthworms (that look a bit larger in diameter than blackworms) would be a good size?

BTW, I love your wilds!

Thks Renee'

sometimes I do dig up the really small earthworms. You are right, they look like blackworms and the fish love them when they are that size. Unfortunately most of the time I don't find these little ones and have to make do with the bigger ones.

Aaron

[seanyuki]

Hi Renee,

Use to feed red wigglers but gave up cos need to chop them up but they won't stay still

Here's a link

http://www.unclejimswormfarm.com/

Cheers
Francis

Where do you find redworms?

[poconogal]

Francis, they won't stay still??? LOL!!! You just cracked me up with that!!

Renee, I was going to suggest red wrigglers too instead of earth worms. My Discus didn't even like the earthworm flakes I tried feeding them.

[korbi_doc]

Eisenia foetida...redworms, compost worms, red wrigglers, earthworms....all the same....just cleaner for sure from farms...I've cultured them for sev'l yrs & the discus love'm....it's very easy to feed smaller "juvies" & even the white baby worms if you like....I save the larger "belted" worms for breeding & to set up the newer culture when the older one begins to "crash"..that way no need to cut'm up....mine are started with horse manure & potting soil, they procreate very well with this mix....I tried to get'm from bait stores here in Tn, but they had no idea if there were insecticides used, so I started'm from a farm supply...they are easy, inexpensive & very nutritious for the fish....they wait up every night for their "treat" feeding...JME,

Dottie

[dean9922]

I use the freeze dried earthworms from ken's fish.com and mix it in a coffee grinder with liver flakes, vitamin booster flakes, brine shrimp, tubiflex, and bloodworms. My discus love this stuff and top it off with beef heart once a day...

[ShinShin]

I wouldn't buy worms from a bait shop unless I was going fishing. Bait companies often put chemicals in the substrate to control mites and other unwanted hitchers. You can try freezing large worms and grating them while frozen

Mat

[poconogal]

Where do you find redworms?

Here:
http://www.wormguys.com/page/1318432

[Big Tuck]

I feed an average of 100 red wigglers a day.to all my fish.They go loco to get them.I put them is a small shallow container and use pointed scissors to chop them up.Just stick the point in and keep chopping till there the size you want.They thrash around so it makes it easy to cut them up.I have 3 large tubs going all the time,and i feed cheap goldfish food every other day.They are very prolific and multiply rapidly. Tuck