Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm a newby and getting my system cycling. I've got about 8 grow beds, sump tank and 3 IBC fish tanks set up. Im a little concerned about adding worms to the grow beds. I only have a few hours a week to work on the system and cleaning grow beds would require a lot of time. Question is what about adding worm tea frequently to give added nutrients , would this work instead of the actual worms ?

The whole point of the worms is that they keep your grow beds clean for you.

why are you concerned about having worms in your grow beds?

Seams like worms would make you have to Cleaning the grow beds faster

Again, the worms are your own private staff of grow bed house cleaners. They hasten the breakdown of organic matter and convert it into valuable soluble casings. That includes fish waste, uneaten good, dead roots...

As Ronmaggi has pointed out, they are actually extremely beneficial to the system, and greatly increase the usable time you can get out of a grow bed before it would require cleaning/rinsing of the grow media.

The output of the worms is also harmless to the fish, and a great (arguably one of the best) natural fertilizer for the plants.

Does anyone here know anything about how beneficial external worm tea proves the trace elements that don't occur in the aquaponics system naturally (ex: Iron, Calcium, Potassium) or does it risk introduce exposure to external pathogens

I prefer worm coffe...

the trace elements do appear in ap naturally if you use a good quality fish food
you'll see folks adding supplements, it's usually due to high ph (which does inhibit nutrient uptake)

As I'm about a week away from cycling, and introducing fish, which constitutes a GOOD fish food vs. a Bad?

The only guidance I read about was the %protein, which is base on the fish type. I'm sorry we're a bit off topic with this.

i've used silvercup and aquamax.. aquamax is a purina product, with different iterations for different fish, i found a local purina dealer through the purina website, and the local dealer orders whatever i need, so i don't have to drive to the grain mill to get the silvercup..but i think they (silvercup) may have been bought out by another company.. maybe skretting

M.S.A., there are quite a few threads that cover your question. There are a lot of things that you have to ask yourself, such as if you are willing to use GMO laden feed to save some money or not. Personally I am not. I spend the money on organic feed.

Ronmaggi
Looking to NOT have GMOs. (marching on Monsanto when time permits)

Thanks for the help. I'll look for the other treads.