# Red Wigglers - West Texas Style



## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

Folks:

*Chapter One - My Experience With Feeding Red Wiggler Worms*

I have found that my fishies "love" red wiggler worms.

I originally began growing them in order to feed to full grown angels although at that time these angels were approximately 1".

Red wigglers are small earthworms but are still large with respect to the size of most of my fish.

This one is a "Ripley's Believe It Or Not".

I now feed approximately 50 of these worms once a week or every two weeks.

It is unbelievable!

Platties swimming around with the worms in their mouths and other fish trying to take them away (and the worms are typically more than half the length of the platties).
Same with the silver dollars although they are now much larger than the platties.
Same with the angels and "believe it or not" the Red Phantom Tetras also "get in on the act".

I typically feed them late in the afternoon and approximately half of the worms remain on the bottom after the above cited fish "have their bellies full".

Although not reported in the literature red wiggler worms will survive submersed for periods of 4 to 8 hours.

For "some reason" currently unknown to me the sterbai cories will only "get after them" after the lights are out.

I also believe that the gold nugget plecos and the queen plecos "munch down on them at night" (although I have observed this behavior only once)

I believe that the yoyo loaches "clean up the left overs" as I do not observe any evidence of the remnants of the worms when I turn on the lights the next morning.


*Chapter Two - My Experience With Raising Red Wiggler Worms*

Please review the information at
http://www.wormwoman.com/acatalog/index.html

A brief overview is that these worms
can be raised in a home as the there is no odor emanating from a properly maintained worm bin
and can be fed organic material which would otherwise "go down the food disposal".

I maintained a worm bin








in my laundry room for many months.

I have two of these worm bins now set up at my offices in order that the staff can contribute "what is termed in fish keeping as bioload" to them.

Two products of these bins are:
1) the red wiggler worms for feeding fish and
2) the vericompost for fertilizing terrestrial plants.

I if "knew then" what I "know now" I may not have purchased these bins as much less expensive bins which are not manufactured as worm bins will work "just fine".

These links, although not dedicated to red wiggler worms, will exemplify the above paragraph:

http://www.compostsantacruzcounty.org/Home_Composting/Worm_Composting/worm_bins.htm

http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-3-81-1396,00.html

One last item based on hard earned experience:

Red wigglers can tolerate higher exterior ambient temperatures,ie. 100F to 110F, for brief periods, ie. a couple of hours a day.
They will migrate to the middle of the bin where the temperature is "more to their liking".
Red wigglers cannot tolerate (and I know that this contrary to some of the literature) extended periods of ambient temperatures external to the bin of 40F to 50F.

This hard earned experience is based on an episode last winter.
The bins at my offices are kept in the "shop area" where we park the surveying suburbans, keep the surveying supplies and the surveying equipment, etc.
This area is not heated or cooled but the attic area is not "walled off" from the offices "finish out area".
As best as I remember last winter we had several weeks of outside temperatures of high 20's as lows and high 40's as highs.
My estimation is that the ambient temperature in the shop varied from 40F to 50F .
All the worms died "before we knew it".

If any questions please post and I will incorporate my responses, if indeed I know the answers, into this treatise.

TR


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## Ice Prince (Jun 15, 2007)

ive been wanting to get some of these worms to turn leaves and stuff into compost because the dirt in my yard sucks and nothing will grow in it and to treat my mollies now and then. you think i could get some if my dad will pay using paypal?


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

Ip:



 Ice Prince said:


> ive been wanting to get some of these worms to turn leaves and stuff into compost because the dirt in my yard sucks and nothing will grow in it and to treat my mollies now and then.


The bins set forth in my original post will only produce enough vericompost for several very large potted plants.

In order to produce enough vericompost to utilize as an amendment to the soil for an area the size of even a small back yard "several old refrigerators" full would be required. 




Ice Prince said:


> ... you think i could get some if my dad will pay using paypal?...


I would be "more than happy to do this" if you "still want to" based on the above paragraphs.

We will need to do this later in the fall when ambient temperatures are not extreme.

There would obviously be no charge for the worms but I anticipate that you would pay the shipping charges (UPS or FedEx two day or USPS priority).

If you do want to do this please advise me as I will "need to crank up the feeding" of the worms.

TR


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## Ice Prince (Jun 15, 2007)

It all depends on if my dad will pay because its his paypal account. My back yard isnt very big (i live in a mobile home park) i have about 3 feet from the back of my house then i would go in the neighbor's yard. Im at my mom's house right now and ill be going back to my dad's house later today so ill ask him if he'll pay the shipping.
Edit: What's your zip so i can see how much it would cost to ship.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

76903

Tr


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## Ice Prince (Jun 15, 2007)

Im at my dad's house and he said he would pay for the shipping, depending on how many worms you are gonna give me.


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## christina55 (Mar 20, 2010)

I've been vermicomposting with Red Wiggler worms for a while and never thought that they are good as food for fishes. My brother is really fond of fish and has 2 aquariums of them, maybe I'll try feeding his fishes with some of the worms from my bin.


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