Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all,
just after people's ideas regarding the use use of worms in grow beds. Is it a good idea or not? What are the pros and cons?? I've read somewhere that it can be beneficial but I'd love to hear from people who have tried it out.
Cheers!

+1 for Good

...make sure they are composting worms and not big ol' fat earth worms... red wrigglers I think is what some call them.

How can they be bad.... ?

They break down waste into better waste!

No bad things to report.

A number of the aquaculture/Ap people say they are bad. One goes as far as to say that they are a sign of impending biofilter crash.

Says who?... and why?..... link please...

What on earth would composting worms in a grow bed... have to do with a biofilter crash...????

i cleaned out a bucket filter (full of scrubbie pads) the other day, it had quite a few worms living quite happily in the media..i don't see how that could be a bad thing

I think an Aquaculturist would think that if there is enough solids for worms to live off of then the biofilter isn't operating efficiently.

In Aquaponics/Soil, they are the best biofilter ^_^

I have no idea. I stopped listening after he said it. Sorry I don't have links because it came from conversations with people who were trying to convince me to retain them for their expertise and services. I was glad he said it though because it made sense of a lot of other things he was saying. Namely that it was all rubbish.

Stuart, maybe if you reckon that what your contact said was rubbish then it should have been filtered out before being introduced to the pristine intellectual waters of this forum.

Ha ha. It was more a comment on where the idea that worms could be bad was likely to have come from.

I think you will eventually find worms in your growbeds anyway. If the environment is good for them they will come

Cheers all! I have had a worm farm for years and yes, they are the so called "red wrigglers" as Mr. Damage called them. A handful of the little darlings went into my beds this afternoon!
Cheers!

I suppose the only downside is that they may add more sludge in to the growbed?

Perhaps when referring to animal species we should be more specific in order to avoid unnecessary confusion. I am no expert but I believe the two most common worm species used for composting in home worm farms are both of the genus Eisenia and are the Tiger Worm (E. fetida) and the Red Worm (E. andrei) - the red wiggler.
The longer worms that we typically find in our gardens (in Australia) are either of two native species called respectively the Indian Blue Worm (Perionix spenceralia) and the Cod Worm (Amynthus sp). Whilst Tigers and Reds are great for composting in a worm farm situation I believe that they are not much cop when let loose in the garden. On the other hand, Blueys and Cods (also known as the gardener's friend) help increase nutrient levels with their castings and develop soil structure to quite some depth with their frenzied tunneling.
Which worms perform best in an AP environment I couldn't say but I am sure someone reading this thread will be able to tell us.