African Night Crawlers

[yngggru]

These are the most available worms I could get and am planning on breeding them as feeders for my polys and would like to ask a couple of questions to the experts:

1. Are they as easy to breed and keep as others say?
2. Are they good feeders, better than bloodworms or mealworms (I was planning on replacing frozen bloodworms with these)?
3. Nutrional value?
4. Do you know of any better feeders (when it comes to nutrition) that are as easy or easier to care for than nightcrawlers?
5. Any suggestions or comments?

Thanks all! The thought of breeding something as easy and as fast as these worms got me interested. I think this would really be awesome.


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[dogofwar]

I'm not familiar with those or the other worms available in the Philippines, but I culture red wiggler worms. They reproduce rapidly, eat veggie waste and paper and thrive in warm temperatures...

Matt

 

[yngggru]

I'm not familiar with those or the other worms available in the Philippines, but I culture red wiggler worms. They reproduce rapidly, eat veggie waste and paper and thrive in warm temperatures...

Matt

Thanks. Im guessing they pretty much have the same nutritional value? How much do you feed your fish and how often?


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[Drstrangelove]

This one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchaetus_rappi

Not familiar with them.

The common earthworm (called nightcrawlers by many) is lumbricus terrestris. From my research, they are about 60.7% protein, 4.4% fat, 5% ash and .9% phosphorus. I don't have anything on their vitamins/minerals. Lack of vitamins and minerals is an issue unless someone can correct my data.

If the African version (which seems to get much bigger is the same), I'd say they are not a good staple as is, but if gut loaded with veggies or injected with vitamins via syringe, they will be a good food item.

 

[yngggru]

This one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchaetus_rappi

Not familiar with them.

The common earthworm (called nightcrawlers by many) is lumbricus terrestris. From my research, they are about 60.7% protein, 4.4% fat, 5% ash and .9% phosphorus. I don't have anything on their vitamins/minerals. Lack of vitamins and minerals is an issue unless someone can correct my data.

If the African version (which seems to get much bigger is the same), I'd say they are not a good staple as is, but if gut loaded with veggies or injected with vitamins via syringe, they will be a good food item.

I think its this one
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudrilus_eugeniae

So earthworms arent really good food for my polys then? I wanted to max out growth and based on what Ive read vitamins are more essential in order for my fish to grow properly. Gonna do more research then. What do you feed your fish?


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[E.C.]

Night crawlers is one of my poly's staples, got em from a near pig farm from my uncle's. Free food, no need to cultivate or whatnot, just collect, wash, and feed. Just gut load em with veggies so that you'll have extra nutrition. But really it's just my grow out food, can't over feed it, Just like everyone would agree, variation is the key.

 

[E.C.]

additional info, this nightcrawlers are really active on night, it means they have the huge tendency to escape, and they will escape, they tend to eat at night so basically you should have a modified escape-free container.

 

[yngggru]

additional info, this nightcrawlers are really active on night, it means they have the huge tendency to escape, and they will escape, they tend to eat at night so basically you should have a modified escape-free container.

Okay thanks a lot for the info! Gonna start my own culture. Gonna buy a pound for around 4 dollars then everything else will be recycled stuff.


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[E.C.]

You might have some free food with em also by going to your local marketplace go and get some almost rotten veggies, put em in a blender, spread it in a top of a newspaper, should be replaced every 1-2weeks, pretty reuse stuff if you do read newspapers, and here's a link for earthworms as fish food.

http://www.thekrib.com/Food/worms.html

 

[yngggru]

You might have some free food with em also by going to your local marketplace go and get some almost rotten veggies, put em in a blender, spread it in a top of a newspaper, should be replaced every 1-2weeks, pretty reuse stuff if you do read newspapers, and here's a link for earthworms as fish food.

http://www.thekrib.com/Food/worms.html

I tried to make my own box using an improv bucket with a lid. I filled it with wet paper and soil, stirred it all up and added 3 worms I got from the garden. Just gonna test this out. If nothing happens then I guess I'd be better off buying a kilo of worms lol. Whay kind of substrate do you use for yours?


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