Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just wondering, is there any possibilities of having the system grow the wrong type of worms?

I am not good with the camera... the pic obviously won't help much

Can worms grow this early? I don't even think I am fully finished cycling.

From the look of it, it's a "spiral twirly whirly short fat" worm. They grow to 8 feet long and eat small children and Nuns!
They later transform into sand worms that you find on the spice farming planet of Aracus; refer Dune!

Really don't have any idea what it is! Are you sure something just couldn't have fallen in the sump from somewhere else? I wouldn't worry about it, if the fish don't eat it, something else will.

Cheers IanK

Hmmm, 8 feet long ehh, profit is good.

But yeah, this is an indoor system... very small scale. I started the cycling on Sept. 7th are worms supposed to show up this early?

You sure it's a worm... and not a caterpiller...

lol, not sure. damn i hope another one shows up in the sump tank again...

did you add any worms to the system? Or worm castings? Or any dirt on the roots of a plant that might have had a worm cocoon in it? I kinda doubt an earthworm or composting worm is going to fine it's way into an indoor system all on it's own. They tend to dry out when trying to make it across a dry floor.

Most people who remark that worms just appeared in their grow beds have outdoor systems where a worm might have a chance of climbing in on a wet night. Most of the rest of us actually add a few composting worms into our grow beds on purpose.

I would probably start wearing a safety helmet just in case and start sleeping with one eye open!

No to all questions except the plant addition. I did put one of them green onions from the supermarket into the system to see what would happen... I gave the roots a nice rinse though. Hmmm, yeah maybe that?

Hmmm, could it be from the gravel itself?



nah, I'll install some motion sensors

Hmmm, can worms grow from fish poop? I remember I vaccumed up the goldfishies' poop and dumped it into the grow bed.

This photo shows just one scoop full turned over the whole bed is like that

If I want to harvest some worms out of one of my grow beds, I've found it is pretty easy to do by scooping a little depression in the gravel and setting a flowerpot of compost so that just the very bottom gets moistened at the flood cycle. Many worms will come up to check out the variety of snack treats for them in compost. Just make sure to put something over the compost so opossum, rats, and raccoons can't easily come eat the worms out of the compost. I used to try starting lots of seeds in compost set into grow beds like this but the rodents kept digging them up to get at the worms.

So.... how long does it take for these worms to reproduce and overpopulate my grow bed?

Well, we don't know what kind of worm you have there so I'm not sure on that note, not even sure if the worm you got is a good thing or bad.

As to composting type earthworms, they won't overpopulate (no such thing as too many) they will simply populate to the extent that the food source and environment allow.

As to how fast they can breed and fill up a grow bed, that will depend on the type of worms, the temperature, how well they like the environment, how many worms you have to start with. Even though they are hermaphroditic, they still need a partner to reproduce and two worms in a grow bed might take a while to find each other to mate.

Now if you read the statistics about some type of composting worm you might think OMG they will take over my room in 6 months. But the truth is entirely more mundane. If you find someone with a worm bin, perhaps you can talk them into giving you a hand full or cup full of worms and castings to put in your grow bed. Then perhaps in 6 months to a year, you could have a grow bed with lots of wonderful worms in it if they are getting enough fish poo to eat.

Well said

Hmm, probably more inclining more towards the bad side though - right? If worms shouldn't magically appear in your grow bed...

Nope, worms are generally not like bacteria, they can't just appear from the air to colonize your grow beds. They need some way to get there.

Now, baby earth worms can hitchhike in on plant roots but they tend to be kinda skinny and pink. The photo I saw looked kinda fat and I couldn't tell it if was a live thing or just a smear or curl of debris.