Jim "cbudz's" RTCxTSN hybrid

[Viktor Jarikov]

A few shots of the "NY" fish basking in wonderful FL sun... as Jim puts it "at least someone from the family gets to go to FL"... Jim's donation, called "Jim Jr.", is about foot long and is living it out alone in a 150 gal rubbermade tub for now... if he is lucky, he will move to seveal thousand gal tank soon.

[Viktor Jarikov]

...

[Redtailrob]

Lovely looking fish.
Nice photo's too.
Enjoying that sunshine

[Viktor Jarikov]

You're way too kind Rob or your standards are low Nice is what I'd say about photos like those of Amiidae. These photos are taken with the simple consumer-grade Kodak camera and my primitive processing of them didn't take more than 1 min each. A nice pic usually requires an SLR camera and a few hours of selecting good ones and playing with them in e.g., Adobe Photoshop, at least. But still, thanks much!

It's a bit hard to believe but Jim grew this guy from a small baby to over 1 foot primarily on earth worms in under 1 year or even 9 months. I fed mine fish and shrimp but the growth rate was 1/2 of that.

[cbudz]

When i first purchased this fish ( I believe in late August last year) it was about 3 inches, starving from lack of proper sized food the shop offering only "rosey reds" almost as big as itself,not the least bit interested in any pellet food, I decided to dig some small worms to see if maybe it would trigger some interest... after a whisker touched the first one, it hit them like a ton of bricks ! I saw growth in leaps and bounds in the first few months untill winter when it was introduced to frozen krill, which it seemed were not quite accepted so eagerly and were only eaten after lack of it's favorite treat, growth and vigor seemed to slow down , and uneaten food was removed daily. then I tried the local bait shop ... and worms were back on the menu.. and he changed back into a eating machine...and eight to ten nightcrawlers were easily eaten. he would sometimes steal an algae wafer from the pleco, but theres something about that Live food ! not sure how the gound is there for worms in FLA, but if you can find a nice place with no chemicals used on it, next time it rains get a flashlight out at night and go worming !!!!

[Redtailrob]

Hi all.
Earthworms are a Fantastic food source & wonderful for getting new Fish feeding.
Think the biggest Key to their value as a food source is that they are live & stimulate a feeding response from your fish!
They're packed with protein & dont foul the tank if not eaten, simpley remove if your fish doesn't eat them
One good way of keeping them is to collect them on wet nights and store in a cool ventilated bucket with damp newspaper.
After a few days they will have excreted any waste products & are then perfect for feeding.
I started off nearly all by Big Cats on earthworms especially the really fussy ones such as Planiceps, Yarrelli, Goslinea etc.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Very good to know, fellas. This piece is still missing from my experience. I will make it a point to try with smaller cats. The FL ground, Jim, is terrible for worms - just sand, coral sand, and pieces of coral make up 99.9% of it, it appears - not much to eat for them. I will mull over a "bath tub" worm farm - some people say just dig an old tub into the ground fill with dirt and introduce couple dozen nightcrawlers. Soon, it will be teeming with worms. My problem is drainage - how will they not drown in the rain? ... As for feeding them, some say wheat flour is good. Any other thoughts? Sure manure is good but the odor might be a problem.

[MatsP]

Grass cuttings make a good food for worms, as does (dead) leaves from trees, and general compost material (e.g. potato peelings, cabbage leaves, etc - a good mix is not a bad idea here).

--
Mats

[Viktor Jarikov]

I thought they have no teeth, no good way to bite anything - the way they feed is by passing the dirt through their stomach, spanning the entire body length, and extracting edibles. How can they feed on glass clippings, peelings, leaves, etc. which are too big and too tough for them to swallow even if you mulch them?

[MatsP]

Well, they probably need some help from other detrivores, such as bacteria and such.

--
Mats

[cbudz]

A compost may be just the thing ! as the vegetation decomposes it would provide plenty of food for the worms. Leafs mixed with vegetable waste, even some old coffee grounds, will decompose and turn into a good substrate to grow worms in , only problem I see where you are is how to keep it cool enough ... possibly instead of a buried bathtub, just fill a deep hole in the ground in a shady place with compost and the worms will stay in that soil rich area.

[Myric]

For an easy, year round supply of worms, I would suggest starting a vermicomposting system. If done right, it doesn't smell at all. I've known people keeping their vermicompost inside their apartment.

[Viktor Jarikov]

nice, thanks for the tip

here are a few links
http://www.nyworms.com/vermicomposting.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenia_foetida

[Viktor Jarikov]

Hey Jim, bad news I'm afraid. Little Jimmy decided to leave us today. I have little idea why. He had started off really well in FL, enjoying his pellets to the max. Then, he's hit some rougher times refusing various kinds of food and sluggishly accepting others but still grew well. For the last 1.5 month, he's been making good comeback, albeit would not eat anything but shrimp. He has just eaten 3 days ago very eagerly.

You gave him to me in May at 12" TL. His last measurement today was 25.5" TL, about 7 pounds. Post-mortum exam showed nice clean insides and gills etc. Nothing suspicious. Clean, nice exterior. Water: zero NH3, zero NO2, zero NO3 (the water was continuously flowing through his tank), pH 6.5, 72 F, low hardness, plenty of aeration.

I'm quite heart-broken and sorry.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Nine years later.

In retrospect, I am 100% sure the hybrid died of indigestion as a result of low DO, exactly as it occurred in the case of these RTCs: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=34778.

When I said "plenty of aeration" above, I was rather clueless and inexperienced, or rather stupid, because "plenty" depends on bioload, and I have not increased the aeration in the 150 gal tub as the hybrid was growing and growing and growing...

[sauvewilfrhy71]

Hi all.
Earthworms are a Fantastic food source & wonderful for getting new Fish feeding.
Think the biggest Key to their value as a food source is that they are live & stimulate a feeding response from your fish!
They're packed with protein & dont foul the tank if not eaten, simpley remove if your fish doesn't eat them
One good way of keeping them is to collect them on wet nights and store in a cool ventilated bucket with damp newspaper.
After a few days they will have excreted any waste products & are then perfect for feeding.
I started off nearly all by Big Cats on earthworms especially the really fussy ones such as Planiceps, Yarrelli, Goslinea etc.

indeed, you are right, I didn’t think about it ..