Earthworms

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You have to be very careful due to pestisides and you never know what the worm may have gotten itself into. If you have any bait/tackle stores near you for fishing, that use worm farms to raise them, it would be a safer idea. I guess the first question should be, what kind of fish and why earthworms?
 
Earthworms are a terrific food for fish. They can be fed live to larger cichlids or chopped to smaller ones. Deathwarp is correct in that pesticides are an issue.

I'm such a geek. LOL. I used to collect them from my garden after a rain. My cichlids just loved them.
 
BrianNY said:
Earthworms are a terrific food for fish. They can be fed live to larger cichlids or chopped to smaller ones. Deathwarp is correct in that pesticides are an issue.

I'm such a geek. LOL. I used to collect them from my garden after a rain. My cichlids just loved them.
Is there anyway to make them safer? like let them live in clean soil for a while, or does the pesticides accumulate in there tissue?
 
I sometimes get earthworms from a local fishing store for my fish and, chop them up, its not nice work but the fish really enjoy them.
 
I pretty much knew when I was treating for grubbs and wouldn't collect worms within two weeks of that. I rinsed them very well and kept them for weeks in a container with damp soil kept in a dark closet. If they're living after a few days they're safe to feed to your fish. JMO
 
BrianNY said:
I pretty much knew when I was treating for grubbs and wouldn't collect worms within two weeks of that. I rinsed them very well and kept them for weeks in a container with damp soil kept in a dark closet. If they're living after a few days they're safe to feed to your fish. JMO
thye should be safe then, the snow just left a few weeks ago and I do no think the grounds crew at my apt has done anything yet, there is still trash all over that was frozen in the snow banks! :? but i will wait a few days just in case! thanks
 
About 10 years ago we had a wild cought catfish about 10" and fed it earthworms out of the vending machine in front of the bait shop
 
tbonem91 said:
earthworms out of a Vending Machine?!? 8O

Here in Denver-metro there's a tackle shop right by a fish store on Santa Fe that has a vending machine for bait. I always found it more funny that there was a tackle shop next to a fish shop. About as funny as the sushi shop that share the parking lot with a saltwater fish shop.

The only problem I see with feeding worms is the possiblity of other chemicals in the worm that may leech into your tank or your fish. I know nothing about how chemicals interact with the common earth worm's anatomy. That being said, I can the potential for worms being a very healthy treat.
 
LOL vending machine earthworms, thats awsome... If you would rather live-caught, thats fine, but allow them sufficient time to dispose of anything they may be carrying. I know this may sound odd, but inspecting them prior to feeding, for look for visual signs of illness would be a good idea aswell. Earthworms are a great source of food (as most have already stated), so, bon appetit!
 
I guess most folks are just more anal then I am.
First I see a thread about people afraid to dump new fish in thier tanks, water and all. I've always done that. No problems.
Now this.
I never cleaned earthworms to feed my fish. They come out of my yard... I know they aren't covered in pesticide. My Cichlids loved them and so did my Columbian Shark.

But, I guess what they say "a pound of prevention....."
;)
 
If you are interested in earthworms as fish food, consider a redworm culture. They are easy to keep, can take fairly warm temps, and will live off vegetable scraps from the kitchen. They only grow to 2 inches, which makes them easier to handle for smaller fishes, than nightcrawlers. Shredded newspaper is used for bedding. The resulting compost is excellent for the garden.
 
I feed mine earthworms all the time. Wild caught and store bought. My betta loves them and my swords gobble them up. Red worms would be a great way to go, I wish I had thought of that. Easy to grow and should be loaded with vitamins and nutrients from the veggie food they eat. They can also be raised in coconut fiber for bedding. I was going to raise them for fishing worms for panfish, would be perfect for tropical fish. It is also very cheap to buy them.

If it is really a concern and you want something easy to feed your fish and easy to raise try confused flour beetles, micro mealworms or mealworms. King mealworms will work but they get very big and are a lot harder to breed. Redworms are easy also, but smell a little more. Just make sure you get the little ones, there is a species that gets rather large and is a redworm. When it gets warmer, you can find redworms in leaf litter anywhere old leaves have stayed or where grass clippings have sat for a while.
 
After reading this thread I went to the garden and dug up an earthworm. I washed the dirt of it under the tap, minced it up into small pieces and dumped it in the aquarium. the fish went absolutly nuts over it. I have never seen them go into such a feeding frenzy, I though they went nuts for frozen bloodworms but they are nothing compared to a freshly ground up earthworm.
 
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