Re: "Red wigglers" as killie food supplement?

["killiman" <killiman at iquest_net>]

You want photos of the worm bed with the pillows?

D.B.N.B ( reply by private e-mail for translation)
Gotta go pick eggs so there will be plenty when you come visit.
as the water changes automatically.

killiman at iquest_net
317 253 2170
Al Anderson
317 253 2170
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marshall E. Ostrow" <mostrow at midsouth_rr.com>
To: <killietalk at AKA_Org>
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 5:42 PM
Subject: RE: "Red wigglers" as killie food supplement?


> Bruce,
>
> Would you consider expanding this message, taking some photos and
producing
> an article on the red wigglers for JAKA. In order to get JAKA on schedule
> regularly and close to the beginning of the cover date, I need to build up
> an "editorial bank." My goal is to have enough editorial material on hand
to
> produce a year's worth of journals, then to keep this bank up to that
size.
> I would like to introduce a little more of the how-to stuff, but not at
the
> expense of anything else. That may take a few magical flicks of the
> editorial wrist, but I think I can do it, with some help from good
hobbyists
> like you. If you will do it, I would like to have it ASAP. Hope we have
the
> opportunity to meet in New Jersey.
>
> Marshall Ostrow
> Exec. Editor, JAKA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-killietalk at AKA_Org [mailto:owner-killietalk at AKA_Org]On
> Behalf Of Bruce J. Turner
> Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 11:35 AM
> To: killietalk at AKA_Org
> Subject: Re: "Red wigglers" as killie food supplement?
>
>
> I have used red wrigglers (E. foetida) for many years for larger killies
> like blue gularis.  They are an easily cultured and very good food.
>
> In the last four or five years, we have used them for feeding of Rivulus
> marmoratus two or three times per week (our colony is once again up to
> about 1500 animals, most iniindividual containers).  After harvest, we
> rinse the worms and chop them into small pieces.  The Rivulus quickly
learn
> to eat them avidly.  We only feed them two or three times a week because
we
> keep the animals in small finger bowls with false bottoms (for collecting
> eggs) and uneaten food and soil from the worms' guts can be a problem (we
> change water once per week in each bowl, completely).  Egg production is
> excellent, and the fish do not seem to get tired of them (in contrast,
> after a couple of feedings of dried krill or pellet food they  start
> ignoring them, and we have to switch off to a different food for a couple
> of weeks).  The only problem we have had with the red wrigglers is that
> some of my work-study helpers do not like to cut them up---even with
> scissors...
>
> We culture the worms in standard polyurethane fish shipping boxes with a
> couple of holes drilled in the bottom and blocked with fine screen.  The
> culture medium is 2 parts top soil (sifted to remove larger debris---you
> would be surprised at the garbage that some brands of top soil contain) to
> one part fine sphagnum peat moss, moist but not actually wet.  We feed
> exclusively corn meal.  These are probably not optimum culture conditions,
> but they nonetheless produce quite adequate amounts of worms and we have
> had no incentive to change the recipe (though I suspect that composted cow
> manure instead of the peat moss would perhaps work a bit better).  We
> maintain 18 such culture boxes and rotate through them, feeding the worms
> themselves about once a week on average.
>
> Though we also culture white worms and grindals, I would not be without
the
> red earthworms.  However, I do not think I would use chopped worms
directly
> over a peat moss substrate.  I used to breed blue gularis commerically,
> with two or three full grown trios per 10 gal tank.  The bottoms were
> covered with peat moss (I'm too lazy to collect eggs unless I have to),
but
> I put some flat ceramic saucers on top of the peat and dropped the worm
> pieces (and whole baby worms) right onto the "platter."  The fish quickly
> learned to go to the saucers to feed.  Egg production was obscenely
> prolific.
>
>
****************************************************************************
> **
>
> Bruce J. Turner
> Assoc. Professor of Biology
> VPISU, Blacksburg, VA 24061
> (540)-231-7444
> fishgen at vt_edu
>
>
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