Dwarf African Redworms
by Randy Ison
First published in The Darter, Missouri Aquarium Society
Aquarticles
Dwarf redworms are a worm from Africa that makes an excellent fish food. They are easy
to take care of and they reproduce quickly.
The first thing you need are about 6 to 10 adult worms. The next thing you need is a
container to raise them in; I use a Styrofoam fish box. Once you have your container you
will need a medium for your worms to live in. I use Magic Worm Bedding, but you can use
potting soil as long as it does not have any insecticides in it. You will need to add
enough water to make the soil moist but not overly wet. The way you can tell if you have
the right consistency is to grab a handful of soil and squeeze. If when you squeeze water
comes out you have your soil too wet and you need to add some soil. If when you squeeze
and no water comes out but when you open your hand the soil falls apart, your soil is too
dry; you need to add water until the soil stays balled together when you open your hand.
When you have your soil at the right consistency you can add your worms. It is important
that you keep your soil at this consistency so you need to check it once in a while.
After put your worms in you will need to feed them. I feed mine oats. I mix the oats
with water and let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes; this allows the oats to absorb
the water. You don't have to feed oats - they will eat about anything: bread, oatmeal,
table scraps, etc. When I feed I dig a trough in the center of the soil for the food. I
then cover it with soil.
The worms are very easy to find - just look where you put the food. They will usually
be in a large ball. You just pick out the ones you want to feed to your fishes. The small
worms will be about an inch long while the larger ones will be about 3 inches long. The
really small ones will be less than an inch and they will be white, so don't think you
have some type of invasion when you see these little white things in your culture. Also,
if you look really closely in your culture you should be able to find some things that
look like an apple seed only larger. Those things are egg sacs.
So if you're looking for something different to feed your fish I suggest you try
redworms.
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