Worms and Larvae Arrive

I finished the BFL collector/compost bin several days ago.  I added a bin from a discarded refrigerator as the catch tray which is handily held in place with the wire handle of the bucket from which I made the bin.  You can see the top flap which is cut out of the upper part of the bucket and then secured on one side with Gorilla Tape (a sort of super duct tape) and has a tab on the other side which serves both as a handle to open the flap when I want to add more compostable materials and keeps the flap from going into the bucket.
The BFL, or Reptiworms arrived in good odor.  There was a smell of ammonia, but I would expect that if they are busy eaters.  They were very active so I dumped them in the bucket and will wait to see what they make of the escape ramp.  I should probably place the entire setup under a net to prevent birds from feasting on the mature larvae in the catch tray.  The tray can easily be detached and put in my chicken coop.  I plan to scatter some of the mature larvae in places where they can continue the process by turning into Black Soldier Flies and mating. 
The worms arrived in the same post.  They were wiggling nicely and had an earthy smell.  I put most of them into the prepared tray of my Vermihut and scattered the remaining worms in the damper areas of my grow bins.  I only put them in one bin each of the two sets of three bins.  I expect they will migrate from bin to bin since the holes in the shower drains I used as connectors are easily large enough to let the red wrigglers pass.

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The truth about the Aquaponics Gardening Course

Here is a review of the course that I had taken this winter. Its a nice and easy course, yet very informative.  I would like to take further in depth training at one of these facilities to have hands on training.  This lecture gives all the basics that one should know before getting into the aquaponics. I think aquaponics is very rewarding at the end of the day when you sit back and see what you have done and how a well tuned your system is and can be.

Please like and share this video

here is the link

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Win Some

I planted a lot of seeds in vermiculite and waited for them to grow as I finished setting up my system.  Alas, my dread brown thumb curse seems to have struck.  The only seedlings popping up have been a few errant elm seedlings, and I have been harvesting a lot of those from my grow tanks.  While shopping for a few extra feeder bases for my chickens I purchased bedding plants at at 75% discount, making them almost disposable if they dont thrive.  While planting them I had evidence that the red worms are spreading through the bins. 

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Aquaponics In a recycled Ice cooler

Here is just something I decided I had to do when the compressor shut down and was told that it was going to cost $300 to fix it!

 

After the snow and -2 degrees

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What is needed to test my aquaponic water

   Before your Aquaponic system is completed and you buy your fish, it would be handy and cost effective to pre-buy all the test that you will need before your set up is done and for your weekely maintenance.

   There are plenty of digital gauges out there from $20 to $1500. To start out I recommend just getting basic test strips. You can get the five in ones or you can get the individual ones. Ph is the one you will need the most of. But besides Ph you will have to test your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, oxygen, and even light, come winter time, or if you are growing indoors.
All these can be easily purchased at a pet store but may be cheaper online at amazon, e-bay, or the aquaponic source. Pool supplies carry some also, but can be higher.

   This way if you have all the test strips before hand, you will be able to kick your system off faster and if problems come up, you will get a general idea of whats wrong just with some basic test.

   May be wise to get some ph up or down for aquariums too, just in case, but no need and making it too complicated right off.

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Worms in Aquaponics

When I first heard of putting worms in Aquaponics, I just coulnt understand how.

I just assumed that the worms would drown, after all when it rains hard you see worms coming to the surface all the time, so I thought they were drowning, but in fact the water was just pushing the oxygen out of the soil, so the worms had to surface to breath.

As long as you are producing plenty of oxygen whether it be from aeration stones or flooding and draining your beds, then the worms do well. I have even seen worms in the tank, up against an aerator doing well, even very lively.

So now that we can say that worms can survive, why would we even think about putting them in our aquaponic system?

Well there are many reasons, more than I will even list but the basic purposes are as follow:

• They break down solid waste from not only your fish but the decaying plant matter.
  
• Suppress parasites, diseases, and pest including mites, aphids, mealy bugs, and even tomato worms. Basically, keeps your plants healthy.
• Cuts down on how often you have to clean your grow beds.

• Loosens up your grow beds so that the water and nutrients can flow freely to get to all the roots of the plants.

Again, That is just the basics with out getting into the technical mumble jumble.

When deciding to put worms in your system, it is recommended that you  try to buy from a reputably company that sells worms for gardens. Using places like craigs list is ok, but you nver know  what the worms have been growing in, which means you dont know what kind of diseases that may be with them.
If you are using them from your own property say from under stones or where ever you will be harvesting them from, make sure you wash the worms first to get any excess dirt off of them, just in case their is a contaminate on them, not a big deal in my opinion, but it only takes a second to rinse them.

But by adding a few worms here and there to your system, it will give your plants and fish a healthier life.

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