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Post by Bumblebee on Aug 18, 2005 10:01:22 GMT 10
Some australian aquarists collect these larva simply by leaving tubs of water outside under cover, within a week they are filled with wriggling larva. These soft bodied 'wrigglers' are readily consumed by guppies and form part of their diet in the wild. Larva should all be harvested or 'destroyed' by any means before they reach adulthood. There are unconfirmed reports that these larva provide fairly good growth on young fish.
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Post by vippin on Oct 3, 2005 0:19:11 GMT 10
Alrighty then. I tried this about a month ago after looking up various sources of info. It was uppose to work in about a week, didn't. I am using some potato rind, few apple cores, and whatever dead bugs that have fallen in. Apparently slugs are good to chuck in as they decompose quickly.
Tonight I went out and checked because I was bored, holy crap, there were HEAPS of 'wrigglers' in there. Probably about 50 or so. The annoying this is that they were really hard to scoop out of the disgusting water the way I have set it up. But I managed to get most with a strainer into a tub of water, then restrain that water, then restrain again. So after about an hour, i've got a little tub of half grown mosquito larvae ready for tommorow night. Worth it? Probably not the way i've done it. Although the experiance was worth the one time.
Edit: Make sure to check at night with a torch, they'll avoid it like a plague. It seems impossible to see 'em in the daylight.
I'm off to Bunnings tommorow, i'm going to make some kind of custom scooper dealy. Will be back in a week or so with pics and results.
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Post by Bumblebee on Oct 3, 2005 12:50:14 GMT 10
I did nothing but leave a tub of conditioned tap water on the back porch, it had collected a few dead leaves and was full of them a week later, they were tiny enough to feed newborn fry which put on really good growth. Best collections of wrigglers I have seen are in stagnant seaside pools that are full of rotting sea-weed. I think I will get some and add it too the mix next time.
a good by-product of my first experement was bloodworm (midge larva) appeared in the tub after 3 weeks.
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Post by vippin on Oct 3, 2005 16:26:54 GMT 10
Alrighty. Before we start, i'm happy to say, I HAVE PICS! WOOHOO!  What I made actually turned out well. It's two bucket-type-things, i've cut out the bottom of one and put shade-cloth in the bottom, hot-glued it up nice and tight. So what happens is: You fill up one bucket with yucky water complete with anything that will decompose nicely, put the bucket with the cut out bottom on top, the water should go through the shade-cloth nicely. When it's filled up with wrigglers, the water should drain through leaving the little things at the bottom of the cloth. The bucket with the cloth in the bottom  The bucket with the cloth in the bottom - side view  How it 'should' look  The decomposing stuff, and a few insects I chucked in for good measure, apparently slugs are good for that  Finished product!  The main product from the wheelbarrow I was using, minus all the RUST, bleh. About 100-150 wrigglers, nicely drained now in tank water.  |
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Post by bettagupp on Oct 3, 2005 16:51:16 GMT 10
I have'nt had wrigglers all winter  . Must get the tubs out this week....I love feeding them to fish. I usually use watermelon and vegies, I've never tried the seaweed before, or slugs either which there is plenty of here, must give them both a go. Fantastic shots Rob....well done!!!  ;D |
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Post by Bumblebee on Oct 3, 2005 17:53:18 GMT 10
Great invention and pics  . I like the idea of keeping the wrigglers and 'muck' separate. Now to get into the research on how good they are nutritionally and what it is they actually eat. The other great thing about harvesting these guys is they never hatch into nasty biting mozzies! www.mosquitoes.org/LifeCycle.html : the lifecycle of mozzies. |
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Post by vippin on Oct 3, 2005 20:09:53 GMT 10
Thanks guys. Just fed them all, wow didn't last long! |
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Post by Cyberguppy on Oct 5, 2005 9:28:16 GMT 10
great setup. Love the invention. especially of good use in the aussie summers, you can never beat free live food. ;D
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. Must get the tubs out this week....I love feeding them to fish.
;D
. I like the idea of keeping the wrigglers and 'muck' separate. Now to get into the research on how good they are nutritionally and what it is they actually eat. The other great thing about harvesting these guys is they never hatch into nasty biting mozzies!
