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Remo
14-10-2004, 04:59 PM
Has anyone here ever cultured earthworms as I would like to start to breed some up for fishing purposes and to feed to my sons axotols (mexican walking fish).

Is the easiest way to start, would be build a composite heap or is there a better way?


regards

Ray

Dug
14-10-2004, 05:46 PM
Buy some commercial worms and a worm farm setup easy as pie or just a good compost heap and wait.

Glug
14-10-2004, 06:16 PM
Doug when you buy worms do you get the pedigree? It would be a waste of time farming if they were all going to be to ugly to attract the fish. ;D

bidkev
14-10-2004, 06:34 PM
Quickest way to get 'em to multiply is to start off with a worm farm (basically just a box of worms for breeding stock...Bunnings do 'em the cheapest. Get a large bin and take the bottom out and stand it in a shady place in the yard Put in a mixture of soil and kitchen waste (no onion peel) and tip the "culture" box into it. Best way to start is to place a layer of soil, then waste, then soil etc. Always keep it moist by placing a sack or an old towel on the surface and it will thrive in about 5 weeks. Don't be tempted to remove your breeding stock before they multiply. Lettuce and cabbage leaf seem to get 'em going the most, but any waste will do, even grass cuttings. Shouldn't be any need to dig if you keep the sack moist as they will feed on the surface and all you need to do is lift the sack.

Be careful not to overfeed the axolotyls and remove any waste from the tank immediately.

Good luck

kev

bungie
14-10-2004, 06:40 PM
Anybody who has dogs, the same worms will eat dog crap, get a good quality bucket with a tight lid and cut the bottom off, dig it into the ground so the lid is level with the ground, add worms and dog crap. But you can not mix the two for some reason. One set of worms for waste food and one for the dog crap

Fishinmishin
14-10-2004, 09:46 PM
Kingtin has it pretty spot on. You can even buy worm kits from major garden shops but the bin is fine. Try digging the bin into the ground in the shade as the outside edges can heat up thus reducing liveable space. Many years ago I worked with someone starting a worm farm in tweed. He had rows of raised soil covered in old moist carpet under a greenhouse sort of structure. Before minor harvests he would give a bit extra water to bring them to the surface.
The best way to get worms is to eat lotsa raw meat or come wait behind my dog. ;D ;D ;D

Brenno
15-10-2004, 06:03 AM
you could also throw and old towel on a grass in a shaded area of your back yard and wet it and make sure it stays wet, within a few days you'll have a few worms living under it, all you have to do is pick them up.

then just follow what the other guys have said and your on your way to breeding your own worms.

they also make good fresh water bait.

Mark

Fishin_Dan
15-10-2004, 06:27 AM
Do earthworms make good salt water bait? I am guessing that they would mainly be for targeting bream/whiting....??? What would they be used to catch?

SCOTTYGC
15-10-2004, 07:46 AM
i recently did a tour of the gold coast casino kitchens and they put all the food waste into a machine that turns it in to pallets (like chook food) and they sell it to worm farms for food
I was thinking it might be a good burley?
cheers
scotty

Volvo
15-10-2004, 08:41 AM
:)Start a Vegy patch n you'll have more worms than you can poke a stick at ;)..Nice big fat buggars too..
Otherwise, shallow trays, soil, heaps of potato peelings ,wet hession bags ontop n they'll breed like buggary..Or should do..
Cheers

AussieMozzie
15-10-2004, 08:50 AM
Yep once you got them going their is no stopping them breeding. Most important is don't let them dry out otherwise they will be scooting off to find a new home.

Dug
15-10-2004, 02:17 PM
Doug when you buy worms do you get the pedigree? It would be a waste of time farming if they were all going to be to ugly to attract the fish. #;D #

You have to sort out the ugly ones from the pretty ones.

Many years ago I bought mail order worms form a company called "the big worm" I had to get a bank cheque so went into a bank and got the teller to make out the cheque.

After filling in the cheque she looked at me and broke down and said "OK I give up, Who is the big worm and why are you sending him money?"

Chrisso
15-10-2004, 02:30 PM
Fishin Dan,

Mate I reakon the worms would make good saltwater bait. Only thing is they may get dried out by the salt water. The water would be excreeted from the worm in order to try and bring the salt water outside the worm and the water inside the worm to an equilibrium. The process is osmosis if I recall correctly. :P (I don't know if this is relevant ::) )

I know the old Italian fella who owns the local fruit shop took some down the Tweed adn scored some good whiting. ;)

Chris

Remo
15-10-2004, 04:45 PM
Fellas great advice, I'll start up this weekend, I'll let you know how I go.

Fishinmishin
15-10-2004, 04:49 PM
Yep, I fish earthworms regularly for the estuaries. I've even picked up a whopper Jew on them.

flattymattyb
16-10-2004, 11:01 AM
HI remo,

Couple of other tips

1: If you want to use the castings (soil worms have pi**ed & sh*t in) in your garden only put food on one half of the farm and after a couple of days all the worms move to this side and you can take out some castings without disturbing the worms.

2: scrunch up pages of news paper, soak them in water and bury them in the farm as the worms will lay there eggs in the paper.

3: If you buy any hosre manure to put in your farm let it sit for at least 7 days before putting it in as this is how long it takes for the wormicide that they give to horses to break down (found this one out the hard way).

Cheers
Matty