How to Serve Red wigglers??

[susantroy1]

Hey all,

My daughter and I recently built a worm box for our 2 lbs of wigglers I got from a mail order farm... Our Discus seem to loose intrest in the worm when I put one into the tank because it sinks quickly to the bottom and its like "outta sight...outta mind":( I tryed to cut them up but the "peices drop as quickly as a whole one does.... My question is....there a way the present the worms to them so they can have time to try it and begin to understand that they will like this if they give it a chance???

Thanks for any suggestions/comments

Troy

[brewmaster15]

Hi Troy,
How large are the discus and is the tank a bare bottom tank?

-al

[susantroy1]

Brew,

I currently have 6 discus, and my smallest one is 3" largest 4-4.5" and they are in a planted 55G. http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd310/susantroy1/55g8-31.jpg

Because wigglers are new to them, they loose intrest once they drop to the bottom and focus thier attention on me for something they know is edible. I know they will like them if I can find a way to present them until they get the idea....:)

Thanks, Troy

[Greg Richardson]

Troy I have a BB tank and have the same problem. I've had a few go up to it but not eat. I know it's just a matter of getting one to bite and rest will follow and I should probably try a few more times.

Any time my fish don't eat what I want them to eat it goes in my BH mix.

[susantroy1]

Greg,

I did have some success with my larger discus tonight, I cut the worms into the same size as I do my BH and the large one ate with no trouble...:) however, the smaller ones seemed to take the peices in but spit em back out again and again....:confused: I think I need to cut em a bit smaller we'll see if that will work... I got a few to take em and keep em down so I think I will see increased success as we go along;)

Troy

[Greg Richardson]

I wish you success. I think any time you can feed them natural food it is great.

[korbi_doc]

:) Troy, keep at it & they do eventually learn to eat'm...cut the pcs real small for awhile, I use scissors, cut'm up in my palm, gets easier...as they get used to'm, they'll eat more.....when your culture gets older, you will find very small worms, even tiny white ones that are really easy to feed, squirm when falling & the fish really like these....HTH, Dottie

[bgbdwlf2500]

i mainly feed my fish CBW's and it doesnt matter what size they are (they are bigger discus though). I use a turkey baster which i fill with worms and just squeeze them out of the baster into the tank. they eat them in midwater and go after them until they are all gone once they hit the substrate. all my fish are piggy eaters though....

what exactly are red wigglers? i ran out of CBW's the other day and fed them frozen bloodworms (which im sure you know are red) and they tore them up too.

im new at this too but my experience with my fish has been if it moves and most of the time if it doesnt they eat it.

Ted

[mmorris]

Mine don't always go after the big ones. I use them for `breeders' and just feed small ones. Everyone goes for the little ones immediately. Ted- wigglers are much, much larger than CBW. Martha

[bgbdwlf2500]

Mine don't always go after the big ones. I use them for `breeders' and just feed small ones. Everyone goes for the little ones immediately. Ted- wigglers are much, much larger than CBW. Martha


like 2-3" or more?

[Ryan]

Ted,

Red wigglers, or redworms, are composting worms (Eisenia foetida). I always used them for fishing as a kid. You can set up worm boxes and raise them for fish food.

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/red-wiggler-worms.html

http://kazarie.com/fish.html

[bgbdwlf2500]

Ted,

Red wigglers, or redworms, are composting worms (Eisenia foetida). I always used them for fishing as a kid. You can set up worm boxes and raise them for fish food.

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/red-wiggler-worms.html

http://kazarie.com/fish.html


yeah id say they are too big for discus :) my flowerhorn would tear them up though.

[Ryan]

yeah id say they are too big for discus :) my flowerhorn would tear them up though.

You can either chop them up or feed the tiny ones from the cultures. Once you start a worm box you'll see smaller ones in the mix.

The larger ones are good for larger cichlids.

[bgbdwlf2500]

You can either chop them up or feed the tiny ones from the cultures. Once you start a worm box you'll see smaller ones in the mix.

The larger ones are good for larger cichlids.

like this one? :) he was an inch 5-6 months ago

[mmorris]

Nice looking fish! If he could eat that human he'll murder wigglers!
Martha

[bgbdwlf2500]

Nice looking fish! If he could eat that human he'll murder wigglers!
Martha


lol.....
didnt mean to hijack the thread, but thanks Martha. flowerhorn is roughly 8-9 inches maybe a little more.

[RKeiger]

I normally serve these guys on a hook at the end of some 2lb test line while sitting on a rocky outcrop down by the river. :)

[Tad]

I normally serve these guys on a hook at the end of some 2lb test line while sitting on a rocky outcrop down by the river. :)

Bobby,
You told me you ate them with crackers :D

When I used to have a culture I would take the larger ones and cut them up. First presentation only the larger discus would eat them. Started a culture using a plastic rubber maid container and some newpaper shredded etc...and they liked to crawl out at night ...Actually have a raised bed that I used to raise herbs and considered using garden mulch and table scraps to feed my culture but decided against all the work. Even considered putting a landscape light over the raised planter as the worms like to stay where the lights are...basically as a containment measure...
If you can get a good culture going I would consider this an excellent natural food and enviromentally friendly.

Tad

[susantroy1]

Thanks for all the encouragement guys:) I love this site;) folks like you guys make this hobby truly a great one...Truth be told I'm trying to squeeze in the wigglers as a standard part of thier diet:o with flakes in the AM, blood worms/ Frzn brine for lunch, bloodworms/Frzn brine and BH in the PM these guys truley have a gut going:p I think I have time though... with just starting up my as my 4 yr old says "worm house" I don't want to disturb them to much to soon...I'll try and get some pics of My 4yr old's and our "worm house" posted...Really cool. I think as they continue to grow out they won't need such small pieces.


Troy

[tonymaccs]

I introduced them to my discus recently. Tried them whole but the skin must be a little tough as they kept spitting them out. Chopped they still chew then spit out a few times, but they seem to love them. Some of mine were in a gravelled tank at the time- the discus would chase them around the bottom chewing and spitting until they got them down.