Re: Red Wrigglers... (was Live Black worms and other cultures...)

["Cory and Susanne Williamson" <webwill@infinet.net>]

I use damp peat moss as a medium and the box gets to eat whatever
vegetable/fruit scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags and eggs shells that we
have left over (the compost box eats about 2 lbs a week). I say the compost
box eats the scraps, b/c the worms actually feed on the microorganisms that
break down the veggies and not the veggie scraps per se. Works great though-
it always amazes me how many thousands of worms are in the box- there are so
many of them sometimes you can actually hear them moving around in the soil
(sounds like rice crispies in milk)- I am not joking.  If you want to try it
out and want more info- just use any of the web search engines and search on
'worm composting'. Your fish and your plants will love you for it-  (less
garbage going to the landfill too!). The thing that amazes me most is that
there is absolutely no smell (unless overload the box with compost scraps)
and you can keep in your house (under the kitchen sink- in the basement
etc.- just cover it with a thin sheet to keep fruit flies from finding it
(you won't even notice it until it is time to feed your fish).

Cory
----- Original Message -----
From: Phil Eaton <peaton@hotmail.com>
To: <apisto@majordomo.pobox.com>
Sent: February 23, 2000 8:04 AM
Subject: Re: Red Wrigglers... (was Live Black worms and other cultures...)


> Cory,
>
> How much do you feed your earthworm culture?  And, what kind of a medium
do
> you keep them in to start out?
>
> Phil
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: "Cory and Susanne Williamson" <webwill@infinet.net>
>
> I do the same thing- I chop the worms whole- straight out of the compost
box
> (a 20 gal Rubbermaid bin in the kitchen) and then feed them to the fish- I
> remove most of the soil off the worms, but I don't get too picky out it. I
> figure that the gut load of the worms is good for the fish (i.e.. extra
> nutrients and vitamins etc.) When the fish get worms for more than a few
> days in a row they seems to spawn almost on command. My butterfly rams
spawn
> like clockwork (every one or two weeks) when they get worms as a
supplement
> to spirulina flake and bloodworms. Red earthworms (red wrigglers) are the
> easiest live food I have used yet. The great thing about them is that they
> are not messy like you would expect from chopping them up- all the blood
and
> goo from chopping coagulates with their body slime and the food is
actually
> quite clean and is eaten up readily(provided you don't overfeed). You can
> even freeze it and it still holds together.  Oh- like Gabriella said house
> and patio
> pot  plants love the stuff.
>
> Cory
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: gkadar <gkadar@idirect.ca>
>
>  > My fish absolutely love the red wriggler worms.  The bigger cichlids
eat
>  > them whole, the smaller ones, get them cut up. That's a gross job, but
a
>  > sharp pair of scissors does the trick.
>  >
>  > I agree with the statement that they are safe seeing as how I know what
> they
>  > are getting in their diet.  It's marvellous because they eat all the
> stale
>  > mouldy bread, veggie peelings, chopped up plain corrugated cardboard
and
>  > every so often I add crushed egg shells to keep the pH from going to
> acidic.
>  > 3 times a year I separate the worms from their castings and use those
for
> my
>  > house plants.  It's a really great way to recycle, reuse and have
healthy
>  > fish. :)
>  >
>  > Gabriella
>
>
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