do you feed earthworms?

[salty joe]

I threw a couple earthworms in the tank today and the shrimp jumped on them right now. People feed white worms and black worms all the time-I think they are every bit as terrestrial as earthworms.

I'm thinking now and then it might be a good thing to feed earthworms.

 

[Old Fritz]

I dont feed earthworms because most times they come in a plastic cup with dirt in it and dirt clings to them. I have no idea whats in that dirt and i like to play it safe in what i add to my tank even though im 99% sure its safe i dont like taking chances

 

[Rjukan]

There is also dirt inside the earthworms since that's what they eat lol. I wouldn't feed them to my tank.

 

[KrisReef]

When I die, I suppose I will.

I have fed them to freshwater fish in the past.

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

I have a butter container full of red wigglers AKA compost worms that I keep under my tank. Feed them and you’ll know exactly what they’re eating. Mine eat spent tea leaves (similar nutritional composition as spinach) and when I’m ready to feed them to fish, I sprinkle fish food on top and the next day whatever worms are up eating it get fed to fish. They don’t eat soil. The eat the organics in soil and they’ll actually go into survival mode and start reproducing tiny little worms like crazy if you hardly ever feed them.

 

[salty joe]

Good point about the soil within the worms.
Great idea with the compost worms!

 

[Mikedawg]

 

[Paul B]

Yes I feed earthworms, but it is hard to get that spoon in their mouths.
Oh you mean to the fish. Yes a fantastic food mainly "because" of the dirt in their guts. You can freeze them and chop them up if they are too big or just throw them in if your fish can handle them. One of the best foods. Anemones also eat them.

 

[RichReef]

I rinse in RO and throw one in my LTA once a week and it's gone in seconds. Far more nutritional then a slice of shrimp or scallop.

If my filtration system can't handle the dirt or what's inside then it's useless. I guess. lol.

 

[CB06]

I have a butter container full of red wigglers AKA compost worms that I keep under my tank. Feed them and you’ll know exactly what they’re eating. Mine eat spent tea leaves (similar nutritional composition as spinach) and when I’m ready to feed them to fish, I sprinkle fish food on top and the next day whatever worms are up eating it get fed to fish. They don’t eat soil. The eat the organics in soil and they’ll actually go into survival mode and start reproducing tiny little worms like crazy if you hardly ever feed them.

does this mean that earth worms for a compost bin would be fine to feed. It had organic on the box so I think the dirt was fine but could there be anything dangerous in the dirt to worry about?

 

[KrisReef]

does this mean that earth worms for a compost bin would be fine to feed. It had organic on the box so I think the dirt was fine but could there be anything dangerous in the dirt to worry about?

Estuaries are where the dirty worms get washed out into during floods. The estuary is a highly productive environment because the dirt and the worms and a lot of nutrients flow into it.

If you have organic labeled worms then the dirt should be pesticide free. I suppose it could have silicates, nitrates, phosphates, feces, along with the dirt but probably in less amounts than the worm itself.

Is it safe to feed these to our tank? Probably, most likely it is. I collect live clams and mussels from the ocean to chop up and feed whole. The ocean can naturally have domoic acid and whatever else chemicals in it. The clams and mussels filter feed in the water and are know to concentrate domoic acid in their tissues. I still feed my fish freshly shucked clams, they love them! I don't culture worms because I am too lazy (and I am afraid to ask my wife if I can start a culture here, she runs the home!)

So, I would not eat those earthworms myself but I would not hesitate to feed them to my fish if the worms were alive and eating fish food or whatever else they put in the box to keep them alive. Rinse them off, I might do. I don't like looking at stuff floating around in the water, I think worms I have seen came in wood shavings? Most of my fish now are too small to eat an earthworm, but when I had big fish I fed them earthworms and grubs that I came across in the garden.

They never would eat a Japanese beetle grub? I bet they don't taste good.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Yes, have been feeding wrigglers from our compost bin for years as a special treat once a week to the fish and any other animals that can consume them.

The nutritional profile of earthworms is relatively high protein and lower fat, so they can arguably be fed safely and more often (most other terrestrial worms have a higher fat content can lead to fatty liver disease in marine fish if fed in greater quantities/too often).

But being a terrestrial organism, I still limit the frequency of feeding.

Another fun fact is that for inshore reefs, at least, around 3% of the fishes' diet was found to be made up of terrestrial insects/arthropods. So no worries if that little house spider or annoying mosquito lands in the aquarium and gets eaten.

 

[WVNed]

I have dropped them in a tank a few times. I have never seen one of my fish eat them like they do white worms.

 

[KrisReef]

I have dropped them in a tank a few times. I have never seen one of my fish eat them like they do white worms.

Have you tried freezing and chopping them? I chop large clams to get my little fish bite sizes, if I toss in large chunks of fresh food it sinks and is ignored, so I chop large food to avoid this issue with fresh food.
I also chop bbq salmon flakes of flesh to get them devoured. The fish alway like it when we have bbq salmon!

 

[CB06]

Cool thanks guys very good to know my clownfish love the little pieces of earth worms I thrown in.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I've fed steak and hot dogs before.
D

 

[WVNed]

Have you tried freezing and chopping them? I chop large clams to get my little fish bite sizes, if I toss in large chunks of fresh food it sinks and is ignored, so I chop large food to avoid this issue with fresh food.
I also chop bbq salmon flakes of flesh to get them devoured. The fish alway like it when we have bbq salmon!

I started a white worm culture with some dirt from the hillside. Some small earthworms appeared in it. So I used them.
Fish mouthed them and spit them out.

 

[Nano sapiens]

I have dropped them in a tank a few times. I have never seen one of my fish eat them like they do white worms.

I started a white worm culture with some dirt from the hillside. Some small earthworms appeared in it. So I used them.
Fish mouthed them and spit them out.

Spoiled fish...

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

does this mean that earth worms for a compost bin would be fine to feed. It had organic on the box so I think the dirt was fine but could there be anything dangerous in the dirt to worry about?

Yes. You are gutloading them with things you would like your fish to be eating like New Life Spectrum, Hakari, etc right before putting in the tank same as any other live food.

They are compost worms but I keep them in a separate container from my compost pile because it has coffee grounds and other things. The ones intended for fish are fed more mindfully.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Yes. You are gutloading them with things you would like your fish to be eating like New Life Spectrum, Hakari, etc right before putting in the tank same as any other live food.

They are compost worms but I keep them in a separate container from my compost pile because it has coffee grounds and other things. The ones intended for fish are fed more mindfully.

I used to do this with freshwater fish and dwarf red worms and it can certainly be done for saltwater fish, too.

For my reef though, I just toss them in directly and uncleaned from the compost heap along with all their inner and outer bacteria. Seems to be beneficial as even my small nano fish typically live relatively long lives.