Aquarium

[austinpcherry]

Hello all, the first thing that I used as a worm bin was an old aquarium that was not in use. I thought it would be neat to watch the worms work. I filled the aquarium half full of dirt, bought some worms at a bait shop and through them in. Later I read that red wigglers didn't live in dirt and that they did better in paper and cardboard, oops! So I started diggin around in the aquarium only to find that all of the worms except 10 were dead. I took the living worms out and moved them to a plastic rubbermade bin full of cardboard. They are doing much better now. However, this past weekend I was going to clean out the aquarium and to my suprise I found worms. There were about 30 or so live, healthy, full grown worms in the aquarium. So I guess red wigglers can live in dirt, they just do better in the other media. I packed on about 8 inches of newspaper and cardboard on top of the dirt and plan on top feading them for a while, until they get used to the paper.

[Jay Blair]

An aquarium will build up cO2 as it cant be properly ventilate as a rubbermade bin can be with small air ventilation / drainage holes.

"Red Wiggler" is a generalized term. Various eartworm species prefer different types of decomposing organics. E. fetida thrive in aged precomposted manure or an approximate equivilent as predigested grass clippings.

E. rubellus thrive best in leaf mold from my observations of some of the localy found species.

[austinpcherry]

Oh yeah, an aquarium is a horrible place to keep worms. I am trying to draw them up so that I can take them out easier. I already have a large plastic bin prepared for them.
And I also have no clue what species my worms are, is there a way to tell the difference to someone who is not worm smart?

[Jay Blair]

Many large volume and commercial sites provide visual aid sections with pictorials.

I do not specifically endorse any commercial site over others as I am of the school of mind that research of a growers area of indigenous worms and growth of stock is best achieved using locally harvested worms or a few cups of locally grown bait worms purchased at #10 or less.

The small volume start in my opinion , provides the grower with an adequate growth time for the worms to educate the grower as they increase their herd size to levels to meet requirements they wish to achieve. Also with the low initial investment, the grower has better opportunity to survive a total wipe out of their bin herds as they learn without causing a financial hardship to the new worm farmer.

While not endorsing any commercial site, some with useful pictorial information are :

Happy D Worms in California. Their page is at

www.happydranch.com/invertebrates.html


Wriggler Wranch in Manitoba Canada. Their page is at

www.standinghorse.com


and the site by the late Mary Apelhoff, who wrote the book Worms Eat My Garbage. Her site is at

www.wormwoman.com


You can also go to your local library and see what texts they have on shelf on earthworms and worm farming.

My library had books on worm farming dating from the 1940s to present and by different authors offering various perspectives.

[austinpcherry]

Well I am pretty sure based on the pictures that my worms are E. Fetida. They still are living in the dirt, they are coming up to eat but going right back down. I am just content to let them live how they want. I may go ahead and split them and put some in the container with the newspaper.