Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all,
Just starting in AP and was wondering how worms can be used for feed (I have bathtubs full of worms) and which fish are they best for.
Cheers

Most fish will happily eat worms... but you'd need a lot of them to feed fish...

And on their own they probably wouldn't constitue a balanced diet...

Put most of them into your growbeds... and toss a few every now and then to the fish... as a treat...

I think there are other threads on this but couldnt you combine them with BSF larvae and a few other bits and pieces for a balanced DIY food ?
supplemented with maybe 10% commercial stuff ?

Supply is not an issue to be honest. I have a bathtub full as a worm farm and my Dad has four producing constantly.In fact he produces so much he sells them as a sideline. Have commercial feed as well so was wondering how much we could supplement it with the worms. Always good to be self sufficient if possible.

Thanks for the replies guys!

On the worms in growbeds topics. What is thier main function, just to clear up sludge?

Worms are actually really healthy. Depending on the worms and fish you have, it should be no problem (size is the only real issue).

I would probably supplement with other types of feed only because it helps to vary the diet, although fish do get spoiled if you feed them live foods all the time and then throw in dried commercial stuff.

Keep in mind that in that study, worms and maggots were not the only food source. They were dried and turned into meal and mixed with other ingredients. That study was looking to replace the fish meal in fish feed with maggot and/or earthworm meal as a protein source.

It is important to note that maggots, worms and BSF larva area all fairly high in Fat and so not an appropriate sole feed for most types of fish.

If you really are eager, you can process worms or bsf larva or whatever into a feed ingredient for your fish but most people I know of who have tried it have been banned from the kitchen by their significant other so plan your worm rendering to utilize alternative cooking equipment (and perhaps do it outside) so you are not banished from the house. You may find that trying to formulate your own feed can be very time consuming and it takes a lot of worms to make a worm meal since they are mostly water and once dried you don't have much left.

I know some people who are working on ideas for pellet meals and fish feed mix but I have a feeling it will be prohibitively costly to operate such things.

I love this idea and always have! One day when I have a couple acres and a lot of time (that's not going to happen) I'm going to grow, formulate and freeze dry my own fish food. Yum... uh, for the fish, not me .

The fish type is important in determining the most appropriate level of protein and fat. The age of the fish is also significant as you juveniles do well on a high protein/fat diet during growth.

I think that study indicates that, since you can see, for replicate one, there was a larger difference between the three feeding regimens.

However, I do have one problem with this study. It didn't indicate the percentage of protein in the fish meal. Doing a quick search, I did find a study that used European Anchovy Meal (same as in this paper) and it indicated the protein is 70% with this paper indicating that fish meal with 60% is 'good source'.

So Earthworm 12% and Maggot is 45%. However, fat is essential for processing protein and values for lipids in earthworm and fish meal are not provided.

Also, the results based on protein level alone is a little misleading. Studies have found that diets of 45-50% is actually the value for optimal growth in juvenile fish. Anything less or more hinders growth (less protein because raw material not there for growth and more protein because energy is expended in processing excess for removal from the body).

That being said, the study is proposing an alternative to fish meal, it's not stating that fish meal is inferior (or if it did, I missed that).

The question then should be, is production of maggot/earthworm meal cost-effective as compared to fish meal. If I can double the amount of fishmeal in my feed and get similar results, is maggot/earthworm feed at most the same cost as 2x the fish meal. I'm thinking not, since fish meal for feed is typically extracted from processed waste (fish heads, intestines, etc).

But if you have an 'unlimited' supply of worms, you can certainly make that a significant part of your fish feed and it would save a lot of money. I am planning red wrigglers as part of my system. It's also something to consider when growing out fry.

The source and culture medium of maggots and worms makes a difference too as does the species to a certain extent.

As TCLynx said, fish will get fat.

Instead of drying out your homemade fishfood, another option is to just blend it all up and freeze it in chinese containers very lightly oiled with vegetable oil. Then when you need to feed your fish, pop the frozen solid block out onto a chopping board (the light oil coating helps with this), and chop off required amount pushing your weight down onto a big cleaver.

Being frozen it slowly sinks. Have been doing this for a few months now with a mixture of duck weed, brocolli, lettuce, prawns, fresh fish heads and about 20% commercial fish food and my fish love it. A little bit more work cutting it up every day (about 2 mins) but it's a process I enjoy.

How about freezing it in ice cube tray or sticks? I like the worms as we growthe worms using garden and vegetable waste so it is a kind whole cycle thing. Also have them in my growbeds and they seem pretty happy. Will be growing Sp till itstrout season.

That's not a bad idea Badger.. mate I'm gonna try that out. Could use those smaller iceblock trays which make a 1cm x 1cm approx sized iceblocks.

My adult fish don't seem to mind tackling big chunks of frozen food. One fish usually grabs hold of it and does a runner with about 20 others hot on his tail chasing him around the tank until he drops it and another grabs it. Fish footie. Quite funny to watch

Another idea is to put them in zip lock bags. I do this with beef heart, lean turkey and seafood.

My mix usually consists of three parts:

1) Protein: Fish (use salt water to reduce pathogens, Beefheart (may not be a good idea for aquaponics, not sure though), and turkey ground. Can replace it with worms no problem...
2) Secondary protein and binder: Scallops and/or shrimp
3) Vegetable matter: Spirulina, kale, spinach, green peas
4) Binder: gelatin, banana, fish flakes
5) Absorbing matter,filler: flakes, pellets, freeze-dried bloodworms, brineshrimp
6) Supplements: calcium, multivitamin, paprika, garlic

Ground it up in a food processor. Put in ziplock bag. Flatten. Freeze. Then you can chop it up or break it by hand. I prefer breaking it by hand. Fish love it.