Breeding Earth Worms For Fish

[always4lora]

Hi' all,

I normally get earthworms for my fish as a treat however as they cost £3 for 20 i thought i'd breed my own.
So far i have 60l plastic container with some soil in it ( no chemicals afaik ) and put 40 worms in it. I have put things like the end's of carrots , and peel from potato's etc in there for them to eat. I've put a lid on the container so it's dark (it has holes so they can breathe) i also pop a little tank water on top from time to time to keep it moist.

Is this all i'll need?
How long until i can start taking some out?

 

[anon02]

Hi' all,

I normally get earthworms for my fish as a treat however as they cost £3 for 20 i thought i'd breed my own.
So far i have 60l plastic container with some soil in it ( no chemicals afaik ) and put 40 worms in it. I have put things like the end's of carrots , and peel from potato's etc in there for them to eat. I've put a lid on the container so it's dark (it has holes so they can breathe) i also pop a little tank water on top from time to time to keep it moist.

Is this all i'll need?
How long until i can start taking some out?

If it is the small red earthworms you want they are not the easiest to farm (hence the price), but they are dead easy to collect. All you need is a patch of bare earth about 3 foot square and a piece of old carpet or similar the same size, sprinkle the ground with water and cover with the carpet, after 4 or 5 days you will find some worms under the carpet. If you keep up the watering and covering you can go on for ages, you can keep any excess in your bucket, but remember to inspect and remove any dead ones as they can kill the whole colony in next to no time

 

[always4lora]

these un's http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworm they're pretty big and a brownish colour.

 

[anon02]

these un's http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworm they're pretty big and a brownish colour.

Those are commonly known as lob worms and are even harder to breed than redworms. They are best collected from managed grassed areas like lawns etc after or during rain, the serious guys go out on damp evenings with a torch

Have you ever considered dendrobaena worms ? they are the ones that live in leaf litter and luckily British worm breeders sell a kilo for about £17.00. They also sell small cultures which you can raise to maturity (about 3 inches)feeding them on mashed potato (honest)

 

[talisker]

i tried breeding them but they take ages to grow and i use alot, i buy mine off ebay £4.90 for 100 worms including delivery.

 

[fishnovice]

Earthworms are very easy to breed, I have 100s- must be worth a fortune!

Started last year with some tiger worms in a composter and added a few common garden earthworms. They've been breeding throughout spring and summer so now I have lots of baby 1-2in worms. Feed them on leftover veg, peels, rotten fruit and newspaper. They basically fend for themselves outside kitchen door but you need to protect compost bin from excessive heat in summer (not this year!!!) and frost in winter so wrap bin in bubblewrap.

You can buy plastic composters (the kind that look like dustbins with tap at the bottom) for around £30 and some local authorities sell them for £5 to encourage recycling. Saves money buying worms, good for the environment and you get free compost too!

My axolotyl loves earthworms but didn't know fish ate them. Which fish like earthworms - must be big fish, or do you chop worms up?

 

[markandhisfish]

i used to just dig em up out of the garden for my sevs. they loved em . much less hassle

 

[always4lora]

i'll get some more worms of ebay and let nature take its cause. All my fish take them which is good, so the stingray, polypterus's , oscar, datnoides, gar , barbs, midas rope fish. oscar really likes them and can eat a tonne in one feeding.

Mark- i would dig em up but i dont have a garden so dont think my parents would appreciate me digging up theirs

 

[anon02]

Earthworms are very easy to breed, I have 100s- must be worth a fortune!

Started last year with some tiger worms in a composter and added a few common garden earthworms. They've been breeding throughout spring and summer so now I have lots of baby 1-2in worms. Feed them on leftover veg, peels, rotten fruit and newspaper. They basically fend for themselves outside kitchen door but you need to protect compost bin from excessive heat in summer (not this year!!!) and frost in winter so wrap bin in bubblewrap.

You can buy plastic composters (the kind that look like dustbins with tap at the bottom) for around £30 and some local authorities sell them for £5 to encourage recycling. Saves money buying worms, good for the environment and you get free compost too!

My axolotyl loves earthworms but didn't know fish ate them. Which fish like earthworms - must be big fish, or do you chop worms up?

Tiger worms are dendrobaenas, and they do breed easily

 

[talisker]

you got to be careful digging them up in case anyone has been using pesticides.

 

[zophie]

Earthworms are very easy to breed, I have 100s- must be worth a fortune!

Started last year with some tiger worms in a composter and added a few common garden earthworms. They've been breeding throughout spring and summer so now I have lots of baby 1-2in worms. Feed them on leftover veg, peels, rotten fruit and newspaper. They basically fend for themselves outside kitchen door but you need to protect compost bin from excessive heat in summer (not this year!!!) and frost in winter so wrap bin in bubblewrap.

You can buy plastic composters (the kind that look like dustbins with tap at the bottom) for around £30 and some local authorities sell them for £5 to encourage recycling. Saves money buying worms, good for the environment and you get free compost too!

My axolotyl loves earthworms but didn't know fish ate them. Which fish like earthworms - must be big fish, or do you chop worms up?

If you chop the worms up you can feed them to any size fish- as long as they are a good size. But the true eaters of earthworms are def the big fish- My Oscars absalutly go crazy for them. They are popular with big Cichlids, especially, but Tetas love 'em too!

 

[fishnovice]

Earthworms are very easy to breed, I have 100s- must be worth a fortune!

Started last year with some tiger worms in a composter and added a few common garden earthworms. They've been breeding throughout spring and summer so now I have lots of baby 1-2in worms. Feed them on leftover veg, peels, rotten fruit and newspaper. They basically fend for themselves outside kitchen door but you need to protect compost bin from excessive heat in summer (not this year!!!) and frost in winter so wrap bin in bubblewrap.

You can buy plastic composters (the kind that look like dustbins with tap at the bottom) for around £30 and some local authorities sell them for £5 to encourage recycling. Saves money buying worms, good for the environment and you get free compost too!

My axolotyl loves earthworms but didn't know fish ate them. Which fish like earthworms - must be big fish, or do you chop worms up?

If you chop the worms up you can feed them to any size fish- as long as they are a good size. But the true eaters of earthworms are def the big fish- My Oscars absalutly go crazy for them. They are popular with big Cichlids, especially, but Tetas love 'em too!

Would my convicts, jewels and severum like worms then and would they eat whole worms or do I neeed to chop into small pieces?

 

[always4lora]

bought a wormery of ebay and also got a kilo of worms too, should get it moving, should i just harvest extra worms every couple of months? or do they breed faster than that? i got the dendrobaenas worms btw

 

[anon02]

bought a wormery of ebay and also got a kilo of worms too, should get it moving, should i just harvest extra worms every couple of months? or do they breed faster than that? i got the dendrobaenas worms btw

A lot will depend on the maturity of the worms in your culture.If you just take off the worms that are under 30mm you`ll keep the breeding stock in tact, then it`s just a case of keeping them at an even cool temperature (garage floor is good), and feeding them

I had a culture that I used for fishing bait and it still had a mass of worms about the size of an orange when I threw them onto the garden after two and a half years

Just remember to pick over them once a week as dead worms infect the rest of the culture very quickly

 

[kribensis12]

Try Black Worms. They are what every serious fish breeder feeds their fish. They are very high in protein, and breed like no ones business. When you buy them, they come with a cold pack so any temp extremes won't kill them. They are usually around 5 dollars for 1/4th of a pound. Very good for treating fish as well. Once or twice a week is a wonderful idea. The fish fatten up, color up, and if your lucky, start breeding.