Earthworms/Compost worms.

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Darkness9876

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Aug 11, 2008
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No Where Kansas
I love having as much of my tank populated as I can.
Therefore I have Mts under the gravel, nerites and Ramshorn above gravel, Corys on the bottom and danios filling out the rest. Then out of the water I have Anoles to live in the plants and I'm looking at getting a Long tailed Grass Lizard as well.

Heres my question though. Can I put Earth or Compost worms in my substrate?
Wouldn't this help aerate my soil and decompose detriutus and plant matter that falls to the ground?
 
I agree. I think the substrate will be too moist for the worms. You could look at adding springtails to it if you want. You can order them from most dart frog suppliers.
 
My land area is pretty dry. I guess I don't understand what you mean.

Maybe I should explain a little. The water area is completley divided from the land area by plexiglass. There is only water in the rock drain area below the substate which is a mixture of jungle earth and coir. The substrate itself is moist. Not water logged.

I guess I should have been more definitive in what substate I was talking about.
 
Yes but it still might be too moist for them in a humid tank like that. But give it a try and see what happens. If that doesn't work and you are still looking for an animal to break down your plant waste and also provide food for the other critters in the tank, look online for springtail cultures.
 
Just an anecdote: red wrigglers (Eisenia foetida) can survive extended periods in water. I no longer use gravel in my turtle tanks, but when I did I would often find live wrigglers in the gravel; this was usually days or even weeks after I had last offered worms to the turtles. They also survive long periods in the dank of my Ambystoma tanks. I never saw any little ones, and I can't say how effective they were at breaking down wastes, but they at least can survive highly saturated soil.

Nightcrawlers, on the other hand, drown swiftly.
 
I think compost worms though can take the wet, I will search around and see what I can come up with and try it out.

I'll post the results in a month or so I guess.

Thanks.
 
it has nothing to do with moisture.. worms have no lungs.. they transfer oxygen through their skin.

if you can get your water oxygenated enough, they will not drown.
 
earthworms are only good in mineral soils like clay based substrate.
compost worms need an organic substrate, which they quickly reduce to slimy muck(not something you want to happen)
I think you would be better off with isopods and springtails to deal with organic wastes in your tank.
There has been a lot of discussion about this over on dendroboard about this btw.
 
Thanks for the information ohlby.

J Double R your still missing it though. The soil doesnt have standing water in it. Its full of air pockets. Its not connected in anyway to the "tank" area of water that my fish live in. Its the soil/substrate that my land plants grow in which is placed above 2" of peagravel with a piece of screen covering it. The substrate itself is 6" thick. This section is completley sealed off from the water with a piece of plexi.

I'll
 
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