200 redworms

Verminponics – loosely defined (and I don’t know by who) by the addition of red worms to an existing aquaponic system.  Why add worms? Isn’t the fish waste already broken down by beneficial bacteria? Yes it is, but worms help to take it one step further.

A worm consumes dead organic matter – dead leaves, rotting veggies, fish poo.  Although the bacteria do the same job, worms can do it a little quicker and get to the things the bacteria haven’t yet.  Worm castings (worm poo) are immediately available fertilizer for the plants.  They don’t cloud water, don’t harm fish, and release fertilizer slowly…so you don’t burn out your plants.  Castings contain nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, phosphates & potash.  So they help give an aquaponics system balanced nutrition.  Worms also help to spread & increase the amount of beneficial bacteria. There is also a theory (though I haven’t seen anything confirming) that the gut of a worm is able to chemically alter iron into chelated iron – which is the form plants need it in to take it up.

Let’s get one thing out of the way – yes, worms can survive underwater as long as there is sufficient dissolved O2.  Worms absorb O2 through their skin, not with lungs.  They can stay under for a LONG time while feeding…some worms have even been found living in the threads of pumps.  Lots of flowing water and food there! There are also lots of places to hide out of the water if they need to escape.

To provide a good home for my worms I need lots of water circulation and not too warm (hot water holds less dissolved O2 than cold) Is there enough O2 in my tank? I believe so – especially in the tower because of the high churning of the water cascading down and the large surface area exposed to the air.  Not to mention there are plenty of actual air pockets in the tower.  Another benefit f the worms in the tower is they will act as a clean up crew for dead roots and help prevent any blockages in the tower’s water flow.

Worms being added to the main filter

I’ve also added worms to each of my houseplants filters, they have visible solids in them that I can’t really clean out.  The bacteria are breaking them down (you can see them softening over time) but I’m hoping the worms will give them a boost.

I got to see some of the root development of my starts as well.  The picture to the right

Broccoli start

is my broccoli start.  I moved the tomato start that was with it up with the other one (that’s the beauty of aquaponics in hydroton -REALLY easy to move plants around) The roots on this were about a third of the size when I planted them on the 9th of May, less than two weeks ago. Everything is growing really well right now, and I’ve decided to take advantage of the PNW’s cool spring start.

Lettuces love cool weather and are also really good nitrogen scrubbers for a tank – I have a great supply of nutrients, so I figured I might as well use them.  This just a red leaf romaine lettuce.  I decided to go with seeds to see how they fare in my system.  I tried some plant seeds during the winter which failed to germinate – but I believe the cause to be insufficient warmth & nutrients.  My tank is very mature right now, tons of light, and the heater is good.

There are two videos below of the worms going in the tower and also in to my main filter. Don’t forget to subscribe to my videos so you are alerted for future updates.