red worms

[Desertdrifter]

wow! my fish loved red worms. I had a real hard time finding small enough worms. I had to tear apart my compost pile and my red worm culture hasnt produced any baby worms yet. my worms look great but no babies. any idea how long it takes for them to reproduce? do my compost pile worms cary any germs I should worry about ? I let them soak in water for about 4 hours befor I fed them to my fish. three fish that have not eaten since I got them ate.

[DarkDiscus]

I think the biggest concern with red worms is them picking up pesticides and chemicals from the ground. Plus it also depends on what you put in your compost heap!

When I was breeding African cichlids I used to give them worms from our compost heap once a week with no ill effects.

John

[Patsy G]

I was raising redworms before I got discus and didn't realize how well the two go together. Although my discus' main source of food is mysis, their treat (and I feed them as often as time permits) is live red wrigglers. A great way to sort them is if you put the clumps you gather into a bowl in the fridge. You will find the worms all gather about into a clean little lump at the bottom of the bowl and you can toss out the dirt. From there you can rinse with water and drain. They'll move upward to escape the residue of water in the bowl and be nice and clean for feeding. Your fish'll love you for it!
Patsy