The best earthworms around?

[Ganoderma]

Is there anybody here who is familiar with earthworms and relatives? I am looking for incredibly fast breeding eating machines. I am looking to add them to an aquaculture project and need them to serve 2 purposes. First is eat vegetable matter, mainly leaves and stems. The bulk will be leafy green, but there will also be cellulos epacked stems like con stalks. Are there any worms that can break this down? i will likely be adding a mushroom step into the system so if htat happens its not a big deal.

second is i need then to grow fast and breed heavily as this wil be a large part of the fish food. Anyone know of anything that would be fitting? are red wigglers fast at decomposing?


Thanks for any input

 

[dtknow]

I raise worms for fish food and use the red wiggler for this purpose.(Eisenia foetida). Lumbriculus rubellus oftened refered to as the redworm and usually confused with the above worm is very similar. Red wigglers are probably the best all around worm for this purpose...and the easiest/cheapest to buy by the pound. Worms do break down paper eventually(or rather, bacteria in the soil aided by the worms), so I'd imagine you'd be fine. If you want things to happen faster sending them through a shredder or similar would do the trick.

 

[Ganoderma]

from he little i have read about read wrigglers ( i saw them referred to as L. rubellus) they seem to eat a good amount of vegetation compared to other worms which eat more of the soil than raw vegetation. do you find this to be true? do you keep and breed? how prolific do you find them?

here is a link that states L. rubellus can have "79-106 cocoons per year per worm" and each worm "Mature in 179 days; longevity 682-719 days"

Do you happen to know how many eggs are in 1 cocoon? is it just one like other sp? I am also a little worried about how long they take to mature. Is it normal for earthworms (I am looking for ones in the Lumbricidae family) to take 6 months or more to mature? their first mission is to feed fish ( a specie which i have not decided on yet ) their second role is to decompose and provide nutrients for vegetable and fruit plants.

Does anyone happen to know a resource for nutrient levels not only in earthworm species but in their feces? would this be highly dependant on what they eat?

Thanks for any help

 

[Randolph XX()]

hey kyle
guess u havn't seen this yet
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=35760

 

[Ganoderma]

jesus...thats awfully lardge! do you know the species? its definatly a little big for my pojects, but how ood of a decomposer is that thing? I am needing more of a working worm than a pet worm

 

[dtknow]

Not sure, but red wigglers are compost pile type worms and generally do not live in soil.

I have no idea how long it takes for them to mature. A guideline is that 1 pound of worms will double in about a month. They are prolific enough for me to take about 10-20 per day out of a small recycling bin. I was worried about slow reproduction...but I now harvest them without seeing any dent in the population.

 

[Randolph XX()]

Hey Kyle
that one is unknown, cuz those are not the one u see everyday
i only know the japanese took a huge one back to japan and pickle it in 1910
cheers