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earthworms for sunfish

Started by Guest_dsaavedra_* , Feb 03 2009 07:15 PM

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21 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 03 February 2009 - 07:15 PM

how healthy are earthworms for sunfish?

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#2 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 03 February 2009 - 08:01 PM

here is one company's break down
Our Red Wigglers are tested for nutritional value to assist the customer in providing a diverse and healthy diet. The nutritional make up of a Red Wiggler is approximately 84.8% moisture, 10.5% protein, 2% fat, .7% ash and 2.0% other.
see there web page for more info

http://www.songbirdg...?idproduct=4889

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#3 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 03 February 2009 - 08:12 PM

jeez! how many worms do you get for $40 bucks? that seems kinda high!

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#4 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 03 February 2009 - 08:18 PM

Earthworms are the staple for my orangespots. Luckily I can dig them out of my backyard compost heap year-round....

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#5 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 03 February 2009 - 08:23 PM

yeah, earthworms are the staple food for my sunfish and mudminnows. the reason i'm asking about them is because i only have a few worms left. doesn't petco sell earthworms by the 50's or 100's? i'll have to call them and get a price.

when it warms up and starts raining, i can go out on my driveway or the road and just get hundreds of earthworms. thats what i did to get my current stock, but now they're almost gone.

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#6 Guest_AndrewAcropora_*

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Posted 04 February 2009 - 10:20 AM

Sounds like you guys need to learn how to fiddle up some worms.
My grandfather could call up hundreds of worms within a few minutes.
Google Worm Fiddling if you have any free time or desire to be impressed.

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#7 Guest_dafrimpster_*

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Posted 04 February 2009 - 02:12 PM

Sounds like you guys need to learn how to fiddle up some worms.
My grandfather could call up hundreds of worms within a few minutes.
Google Worm Fiddling if you have any free time or desire to be impressed.

I am definitely gonna try that in the spring. I culture earthworms with my grindal worms. It allows me to have smaller ones for my darters and such.

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#8 Guest_kevinb_*

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Posted 04 February 2009 - 02:52 PM

yeah, earthworms are the staple food for my sunfish and mudminnows. the reason i'm asking about them is because i only have a few worms left. doesn't petco sell earthworms by the 50's or 100's? i'll have to call them and get a price.

when it warms up and starts raining, i can go out on my driveway or the road and just get hundreds of earthworms. thats what i did to get my current stock, but now they're almost gone.

Petco might..
Also check your tackle shops. This is where I get my nightcrawlers and they are really cheap.
I use to dig up my own worms but even with a healthy rinsing there was plenty of dirt building up in the rocks...overtime of coarse.
I then started purchasing the worms and much less dirt build up....My "Theory" is they don't get nearly as much dirt in them since they are
raised in more of a dirt/sawdust mix.

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#9 Guest_schambers_*

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Posted 04 February 2009 - 03:11 PM

Most of my worms come from bait shops.

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#10 Guest_panfisherteen_*

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Posted 04 February 2009 - 04:25 PM

i live where the big juicy nightcrawlers come out to play, can easily get a worm/minute if the conditions are good :cool:

my pond goldfish love to pounce on earthworms

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#11 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 04 February 2009 - 06:08 PM

Sounds like you guys need to learn how to fiddle up some worms.
My grandfather could call up hundreds of worms within a few minutes.
Google Worm Fiddling if you have any free time or desire to be impressed.

i'm definitley giving that a shot when it warms up!

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#12 Guest_dafrimpster_*

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Posted 05 February 2009 - 10:27 AM

As I mentioned I culture earthworms. One advatantage of culturing is that my worms eat mostly vitamin enriched baby cereal and scraps of vegetables so I believe they should have better nutritional value that pet store or bait shop worms. I can't prove that but it stands to reason IMHO.

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#13 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 05 February 2009 - 02:27 PM

how do you culture worms?

is it as simple as keeping them in a tub of topsoil and tossing some cereal in there every once in a while and waiting for them to reproduce?

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#14 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 05 February 2009 - 02:37 PM

Petco might..
Also check your tackle shops. This is where I get my nightcrawlers and they are really cheap.
I use to dig up my own worms but even with a healthy rinsing there was plenty of dirt building up in the rocks...overtime of coarse.
I then started purchasing the worms and much less dirt build up....My "Theory" is they don't get nearly as much dirt in them since they are
raised in more of a dirt/sawdust mix.

You can eliminate the dirt by removing the worms from the dirt in their containers and putting them in a tupperware with clean damp papertowels. Store them in the fridge for a few days and they will process the dirt in their gut.

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#15 Guest_dafrimpster_*

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Posted 05 February 2009 - 02:41 PM

how do you culture worms?

is it as simple as keeping them in a tub of topsoil and tossing some cereal in there every once in a while and waiting for them to reproduce?

I got them from Aquabid with my grindal worm culture. I keep them in plastic shoeboxes with 50% coir fiber and 50% potting soil. I add food daily. They reproduce pretty quickly. I am going to expand into large styrofoam fish shipping boxes soon. I can post pics but there's not a lot to see. I also mist the container to keep the substrate moist but not dripping wet. Temps are room temp in my basement. It's very easy.

Edited by dafrimpster, 05 February 2009 - 02:42 PM.

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#16 Guest_dsaavedra_*

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Posted 06 February 2009 - 04:26 PM

how do you harvest them?

just go digging around till you find a few?

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#17 Guest_dafrimpster_*

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Posted 06 February 2009 - 05:40 PM

I can turn over the surface anywhere in the box and find worms. right under the last place I sprinkled food is always densely packed with earthworms and grindals too. I will post some pics sometime this weekend.

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#18 Guest_panfisherteen_*

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Posted 06 February 2009 - 07:27 PM

another way to get worms easy is to soak some cardboard and place it somewhere on your lawn and keep it moist, you'll attract some worms

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#19 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 07 February 2009 - 02:33 PM

You can eliminate the dirt by removing the worms from the dirt in their containers and putting them in a tupperware with clean damp papertowels. Store them in the fridge for a few days and they will process the dirt in their gut.

Hey Mike,
Have you perhaps figured out a way to gutload them without the dirt? Now THAT would be cool.

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#20 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 07 February 2009 - 04:54 PM

Hey Mike,
Have you perhaps figured out a way to gutload them without the dirt? Now THAT would be cool.

I have never bothered trying but I bet it could be done.
Maybe use what ever you want to gut load them with as the only substrate?
I've always worked under the assumption that they are meaty enough with empty guts. No doubt gut loading could improve their nutritional value though. Might be worth an experiment.