CATDOLL : CATDOLL: I would like to ask the teachers, does anyone know how to breed red worms and how to reproduce red worms?

【Document 1】

In turtle and tortoise breeding ponds, small red worms often appear, swimming in groups or patches on the surface and corners of the pond, forming a layer of red water bloom on the surface of the pond water. The real name of "red worms" is cladocerans, which is a type of zooplankton in the water. It is composed of many planktonic fleas, with an average body length of about one millimeter. The normal body color of cladocerans is grayish white, and it will only turn red when the water is lacking in oxygen, so "red worms" are mostly found in stinky ditches. When a large number of "red worms" are found in turtle and tortoise ponds, it means that the pond water has begun to deteriorate and is developing towards corruption, and it should be adjusted quickly. The reason why cladocerans turn red in oxygen-deficient water is that their blood contains a spineless hemoglobin, and when the water is lacking in oxygen, its content will increase significantly and turn red.

The food of cladocerans is mainly protozoa, rotifers and some large algae in the water, and of course bacteria. So when there are too many of them in the water body for turtle breeding, they will swallow a large amount of floating algae that can photosynthesize and increase oxygen. In life, they need to consume a large amount of dissolved oxygen, so the pond water will deteriorate. However, because cladocerans can also swallow a large number of bacteria, maintaining a certain number can also control pathogens and prevent turtle diseases. Through experimental research, it is better to control the number of cladocerans within 15,000 per liter of water. If the number exceeds this, they should be fished out in time.

The cladocerans that have been fished out are excellent feed for turtles and fish, and can be added to turtle feed as fresh feed. The reason why cladocerans are a good feed is that they are rich in protein, which not only contains all the amino acids required by various fish, but also has the highest content of various essential amino acids, which is difficult to match with other feeds. Cladocerans also contain fat and calcium necessary for the growth and development of fish and turtles. As experiments have shown: when carp are completely fed with cladocerans, their metabolic intensity can be increased by 100%. Experimental studies have also found that when breeding fish, if only one kind of fresh feed is fed, the fish will often grow poorly and suffer from various diseases at the same time, but feeding cladocerans is an exception. The same is true for feeding turtles. When young turtles are fed with mixed feed with a large proportion of cladocerans, less feces are discharged and water pollution is slow. However, the growth of turtles is faster than that of the control. Therefore, "red worms" are good feed for turtles and tortoises. The water bodies where we raise turtles and tortoises are the best for cladocerans, so they reproduce very quickly. When the number of their groups exceeds the standard we require, we can fish them out and feed them to turtles and tortoises. This can not only effectively regulate the water body and transform it in a good direction, but also save a lot of feed, so it is a good thing to kill two birds with one stone. When using, first disinfect and wash the cladocerans that have been fished out with 2% salt water, and then mix them into the feed at a ratio of 5%-8% of the feed amount and feed them. If the number is large, dry them in the sun or dry them in an airtight seal after the above treatment and add them gradually.

【Document 2】

Red worms are also called "water fleas", commonly known as "fish worms". People who love goldfish often feed them with fish worms to make them grow faster and reproduce more. Fish worms are neither fish nor insects. They are a type of zooplankton that lives in fresh water. They often jump in the water, which is very similar to the movements of fleas, so people call them water fleas.

How to collect

Fish worms like to live in slow-flowing fertile water, and the water depth is generally about 0.5 meters. Every year in late spring and early autumn, it is the season for fish worms to reproduce in large numbers. Fish worms float on the water surface, often making the water surface brown-red, and people can easily find them. In southern my country, fish worms can be collected all year round, and they are easier to collect in spring and autumn.

Before collecting, you need to prepare the collection net. The handle should be long, preferably 3-4 meters, the diameter should be small, preferably 20-30 centimeters, and the depth should be 50-60 centimeters. You should also cover the net mouth with a layer of plastic green yarn, the mesh of which is just enough for fish and insects to pass through. In this way, you can prevent aquatic plants and other debris from entering the net when collecting.

Collection method: First choose a suitable collection location, find fish and insects, and use the collection net to slowly and repeatedly catch them on the water surface. Repeat this several times, and you can catch a large number of fish and insects, and move them into a plastic bucket or plastic food bag filled with a small amount of water.

Careful observation

After bringing the fish worm back to the room, use a pipette to suck up some fish worm liquid, drop a drop on a clean slide, and observe it under a magnifying glass or binocular dissecting microscope. You can see that the fish worm is 1-3 mm long, flattened, transparent, and divided into two parts: head and trunk. There is a movable compound eye in the center of the head, and a smaller simple eye behind the compound eye; there are also large and small antennae on the head. The large antennae are both branched and segmented, and are the movement organs of the fish worm. The small antennae are neither branched nor segmented, and are the sensory organs of the fish worm. There are 5-6 pairs of thoracic limbs on the ventral side of the trunk, which are auxiliary organs for movement and help with feeding and breathing. There are also obvious shell spines at the end of the trunk.

How to feed

In the natural environment, fish worms mainly feed on bacteria, yeast, algae and organic debris (fragments of plants and animals). To cultivate fish worms artificially, you need to prepare the culture solution in advance. Take 4.5 kg of fertile soil (soil from the garden or vegetable garden) and 1 kg of straw (cut into 2 cm), pour them into a large tank, add 50 kg of water, stir them thoroughly, place them at a temperature of 15-18℃ for 3-4 days, and then filter them with gauze. The filtrate is called the stock solution. Take a certain amount of the stock solution and pour it into another tank, then add 2-4 times the pond water, so that the culture solution is prepared. At this time, you can put a small amount of fish worms into the culture solution, and keep the water temperature at 18-25℃. The fish worms grow very fast and will multiply in large quantities to feed goldfish or other fish. In the process of cultivating fish worms, add the stock solution at any time to ensure that the fish worms have enough feed.

Parthenogenesis

Fishworms are dioecious. In warm seasons, when food is abundant in the water, the eggs laid by female fishworms do not need to be fertilized. They lay a few to dozens of eggs each time, and they develop directly into small fishworms in the mother's hatching sac. These small "fishworms" are usually female. A female fishworm can reproduce continuously in batches, and the small fishworms produced will reproduce the next generation after they grow up. This parthenogenetic reproduction method allows fishworms to reproduce in large quantities in a short period of time. The eggs laid at this time are called summer eggs. When the environment becomes unfavorable, some of the summer eggs will hatch male worms. Male worms are smaller than female worms and have slightly different body shapes. At this time, fishworms turn to bisexual reproduction, and the eggs produced are called winter eggs. Only 1-2 eggs are laid each time, and they must be fertilized before they can develop. The winter eggs dormant for a period of time, survive the adverse environment such as severe cold or dryness, and then continue to develop. The hatched ones are female worms, and a new generation of parthenogenesis is carried out. According to experiments, winter eggs can still hatch "fishworms" after being dried for more than 20 years.

I have a method for breeding hornworms here! It can also be mass-produced!