earthworms

[cobaltblue]

IS is ok to once in a while feed your discus earthworms from the garden? How can these be sterilized properly or is it ok to just drop a few into the tank?

[April]

earthworms are great..red wigglers the true composters are even better. there is a guy out there that sells them. your composting hotline would know his name. i got some delivered from hm. the earthworms..you can..but you need to know they werent where any pesticides etc were. and..you might have to find some little baby ones..or chop. lol. but..one of the best foods ever for discus.

[KIWI13]

I would have to agree with April. Earthworms are great. I used to feed em to oscars and if they come from your garden and you don't use chemical fertilising then go for it.

[jeep]

Good thread here http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=31031

[DarkDiscus]

Plus it's fun to watch discus slurp down the worms like spaghetti! I especially enjoy watching them do a tug of war on the worms!

John

[KIWI13]

Poor little earthworm... Imagine being in a tug of war with to flattened fish..... what a horrible way to go...

LMAO


Jas

[AADiscus]

I like to use the small worms and large ones. The large ones make much more feed! I use yard captured worms. I rinse well,then just like garlic, to the cutting board they go to be minimized by a sharp chef's knife. Must admit they dance up a storm with the first few chops. I chop from several angles to get a pile that looks like a mud pie. The majority of the original worms are dirt and I don't want my fish eating it. I wash well in a not so fine net(the cheap green ones) with our sprayer on our sink. The chunks/bits come out real clean. It makes a bit of a mess on the cutting board. Cleans up easy if you don't let it set and dry. The fish really love them and have found nothing better to get them to spawn. Give it a try, you may not like it but your fish will!!

[dixiedog]

Oithwoims never hoit anybody!

[April]

best way to deal with chopping earthworms is in an eggcup and scissors. chop chop chop..they cant get away. : ) dont tell your wife the eggcup was used to chop up earthworms. lol.

[JimmyL]

Not only a healthy high protein food for the fish but also cure any discus refuse to eat. They are slimmy creatures and make an excellent binder for your beefheart mix. Fish like the smell of minced red wrigglers and never have enough to eat. Get a culture going and you'll never regret having one until they're infested by fruit fries......?????
Jimmy

[ppv1951]

jimmy brings up a good idea..... red wigglers (eisenia fetida). after doing a good bit of reading on worms as food, it looks to me like the wigglers are the way to go. they're the right size for juvies on up, easy to culture, inexpensive, reproduce quickly, eat just about anything, provide a good source of protein and will help with those hunger strikes. fruit flies can be a problem, but don't have to be, if you keep your culture covered (probly inevitable tho). by splitting your first bunch into 2 cultures, you have a back-up if one crashes or gets infested.

there's a lot of sites out there on vermiculture and composting with red wigglers. some have composters you can buy, you can make simple ones, or use ordinary containers you can get just about anyplace. do a googlesearch on "red wigglers","eisenia fetida", "verniculture", etc.

i haven't tried culturing these smaller worms yet, but i certainly will. i love the idea of a renewable food source. i HAVE grown the larger earthworms for garden compost. they're pretty easy.

best price i've found on the wigglers is at arkansas caveworms, $15.10/lb., delivered. going price is about $18-22/lb. link follows.

www.homestead.com/wormsellers/justworms.html

pat.