Nightcrawlers for Corals and Fish

[Reefs of Space]

This is awesome. I have been interested in composting for a while. Vermiculture greatly speeds up the process. I like the idea of growing my own fish food that also has a dual purpose.

Yes! Any way to make this hobby more sustainable is the right path to take.

 

[cracker]

I'm between Jax & St Augustine .

 

[sundog101]

@Paul B What do you think? You’re the expert

 

[Salty.Reefer]

Yes! Any way to make this hobby more sustainable is the right path to take.

agreed

 

[BryanD]

I've been feeding my fish, fresh and salt, earthworms for like 35 years now. They love them, just chop 'em up small. Shrimps, crabs, they go nuts. Only coral I've ever given any is a plate coral, if I remember correctly it spit it out. Didn't hurt it, but I haven't tried again.

 

[BryanD]

This is very interesting, I'm just curious what made you start feed night crawlers, that is not something I would have thought of? I'm assuming you bought your first batch at a bait shop and dropped in a new compost pile. Then just feed them from time to time. Correct?

Living in the country, digging up worms at one time to go fishing when I was a kid, I thought "Mmm, I bet the tropical fish would love this". Couple worms, a dissecting scalpel and an old cutting board later, and I had neons, angels, gouramis, and others going crazy. Been feeding them straight from the ground ever since.

 

[Reefs of Space]

I considered using ones I've seen in the dirt, but a lot of people around here use fertilizers and pesticides. They're so cheap and renewable. I'm still working on the first batch I bought 6 months ago.

 

[Reefs of Space]

I've been feeding my fish, fresh and salt, earthworms for like 35 years now. They love them, just chop 'em up small. Shrimps, crabs, they go nuts. Only coral I've ever given any is a plate coral, if I remember correctly it spit it out. Didn't hurt it, but I haven't tried again.

Definite long term success!

 

[Reefs of Space]

So far the corals respond well in my tank. I'm actaully picking up a green plate coral today from a fellow reefer. I'll be sure to test it out. I've fed blastos, acans, lobos, anemones tube and bubble tip, trumpets, and bubble coral whole chunks. I ground some up with a mortar and pestle and fed zoas, palys, mushrooms, hammer, and even chalices. I tried it on an acro but not sure if it took any in.

 

[Dude60415]

They love them...

 

[Reefs of Space]

@Dude60415 nice!

 

[OriginalUserName]

Heck, I knew "somebody" that used to feed mice to the triggers at the pet store he worked at in high school.

On the topic, that kinda makes me wonder what other feeders used for reptiles or FW fish would be useful for marine fish. I have to imagine super worms would be excellent.

Edit, found a post talking them up for use in aquaculture and I believe some use them as bait.
http://e-extension.gov.ph/elearning/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=26

 

[wowkingjames]

Great info thanks all....

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Can someone post some culture setup pictures? I bet my anemone would take them, he seems to be avoiding other foods as well, so this would be great.

 

[Reefs of Space]

Can someone post some culture setup pictures? I bet my anemone would take them, he seems to be avoiding other foods as well, so this would be great.

It's just a bin with peat and soil in it. You can put dead leaves or shredded up newspaper in there too. Just put some holes in the top of the lid and keep it moist. Also add some kind of food every once in a while, potato, carrot or other non meat scraps.

 

[Reefs of Space]

This baby plate coral really puffed up after a high protein snack.

 

[Reefs of Space]

Aussie lobophyllia almost done with it's meal.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

I'm sure my duncan, frogspawn, and acans will love these

 

[Crashjack]

Night crawlers are huge (6”+ long and as big around as my pinky) so a whole one is a lot of food unless you have pretty big fish or a really big tank. I would have to cut off chunks and then chop up the chunks. I used to feed my FW fish red worms, which are much smaller and thinner. Those you can just pinch off wiggling pieces that most fish can eat. They might work well in a reef tank.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Dwarf African Red Worms are the smallest earthworm type that I've worked with (great for raising Killifish and Cichlids). Not sure how their fat content compares to your basic nightcrawler, but they could be a good choice for the apartment dweller since they can be cultured in a small ice chest.