adding Maxicorp liquid seaweed

[boats4906]

is it ok to add a quart of  liquid seaweed while you have fish in the system ? i have a 300 gallon system

[Keith Rowan]

you can find just about as many answers for questions as there are systems..

when my system was new (the first year) i had 4 growbeds, and added 1 or 2 caps full distributed at the water outlet in each growbed.. i would see results within a couple of days..

as an fyi,, young fish consume anywhere from 8-12% of their body weight daily, and are more active, both of which result in them producing almost as much waste as mature fish that consume about 2% body weight a day.. and younger fish are usually fed higher protein feed to promote growth..

i found red wigglers (composting worms) at my local bait shop and they're something like 1.00/dozen.. i put 2 dozen in each gb..they'll reproduce on their own.. there's lots of great info on worms.. a quick search of the innerwebs turned up these nuggets:

Testing has shown that several microorganisms found in worm castings work as effective repellants for a large array of insects. A key element for insect repellency is the level of chitinase-producing organisms. Chitinase is an enzyme that will dissolve chitin. The exoskeleton of bugs is made of chitin [so obviously they don't want to hang out where their skeletons will get dissolved!]. Bugs have various detection mechanisms to determine the level of chitinase in plants and soil. Once the chitinase level is high enough, they will leave the area. Worm castings test with a very high level of chitinase-producing organisms.

Also, some elements in worm castings are able to activate the chitinase-producing organisms found inside plants. Once triggered, these organisms multiply to a level that can be detected by the insects. The repellency effectiveness has been tested and confirmed for white fly, aphids, spider mites and various other bugs. Twenty various plants have been tested showing effectiveness. The rate of repellency is in direct relation to the size of the plant. Spider mites will leave houseplants in about 2 weeks, aphids leave roses in about 6 weeks, and white flies will leave full sized hibiscus in about 3 months.

 

another:

Earthworms derive their nutrition from many forms of organic matter in soil including decaying plant parts, decomposing remains of animals, and living organisms such as nematodes, protozoans, rotifers, bacteria, fungi. They can produce their own weight in castings every 24 hours. During the digestive process, many insoluble minerals are converted to a plant-available soluble form and long-chain molecules such as cellulose are partially broken down by bacteria in the digestive tract. Investigations show that fresh earthworm casts are several times richer in available nitrogen, available phosphates and available potash than the surrounding topsoil.
Worm castings also contain many beneficial bacteria and enzymes. The analysis of wormcastings reveals that the number of beneficial bacteria in the ejected worm casting is much higher than in the material ingested by the earthworm.

 

[boats4906]

Yes i have added red wigglers to each grow bed ,, also is it ok to add worm juice?

Keith Rowan said:

you can find just about as many answers for questions as there are systems..

when my system was new (the first year) i had 4 growbeds, and added 1 or 2 caps full distributed at the water outlet in each growbed.. i would see results within a couple of days..

as an fyi,, young fish consume anywhere from 8-12% of their body weight daily, and are more active, both of which result in them producing almost as much waste as mature fish that consume about 2% body weight a day.. and younger fish are usually fed higher protein feed to promote growth..

i found red wigglers (composting worms) at my local bait shop and they're something like 1.00/dozen.. i put 2 dozen in each gb..they'll reproduce on their own.. there's lots of great info on worms.. a quick search of the innerwebs turned up these nuggets:

Testing has shown that several microorganisms found in worm castings work as effective repellants for a large array of insects. A key element for insect repellency is the level of chitinase-producing organisms. Chitinase is an enzyme that will dissolve chitin. The exoskeleton of bugs is made of chitin [so obviously they don't want to hang out where their skeletons will get dissolved!]. Bugs have various detection mechanisms to determine the level of chitinase in plants and soil. Once the chitinase level is high enough, they will leave the area. Worm castings test with a very high level of chitinase-producing organisms.

Also, some elements in worm castings are able to activate the chitinase-producing organisms found inside plants. Once triggered, these organisms multiply to a level that can be detected by the insects. The repellency effectiveness has been tested and confirmed for white fly, aphids, spider mites and various other bugs. Twenty various plants have been tested showing effectiveness. The rate of repellency is in direct relation to the size of the plant. Spider mites will leave houseplants in about 2 weeks, aphids leave roses in about 6 weeks, and white flies will leave full sized hibiscus in about 3 months.

 

another:

Earthworms derive their nutrition from many forms of organic matter in soil including decaying plant parts, decomposing remains of animals, and living organisms such as nematodes, protozoans, rotifers, bacteria, fungi. They can produce their own weight in castings every 24 hours. During the digestive process, many insoluble minerals are converted to a plant-available soluble form and long-chain molecules such as cellulose are partially broken down by bacteria in the digestive tract. Investigations show that fresh earthworm casts are several times richer in available nitrogen, available phosphates and available potash than the surrounding topsoil.
Worm castings also contain many beneficial bacteria and enzymes. The analysis of wormcastings reveals that the number of beneficial bacteria in the ejected worm casting is much higher than in the material ingested by the earthworm.

 

[Verna Gross]

Thank you Keith. This info is so useful for us new bees. We just added worms to our 4 grow beds yesterday. I have been adding plant nutrients by trial and error as well because my fish are still very small and my plants are getting quite large. I went to the local hydroponic store and they have given me many samples to try for free and so far I have had no negative results. I still add liquid kelp as well.
I find sometimes that questions go unanswered on this forum from new bees and that can be very frustrating

[Keith Rowan]

welcome....

regarding "worm juice".. are you talking about brewing a "tea" from worm castings?  applied as a spray to plants is good.. you don't need to add this to the growbeds, since you have worms there..

be very careful with any "hydroponic" solutions, since these aren't made for systems with fish you may want to eat someday..

if you "think" your system is lacking something, look at your evidence, plenty of photo's online showing specific deficiencies.. most of them, (once identified),,, will have a fish safe method to add to your system.... (like eggshells for calcium, bury a banana/skin in the gb for potassium etc)

[boats4906]

I have added fish and the garden is doing better ,, i now have 75 fish and they seem to support the garden,, i have new growth and the leaves on the plants are staying green.

boats4906 said:

The videos have not been attahed

Tom Dumas said:

Your fish can't support the size garden you have.  A good nitrate level would be between 40 and 80.  Watch the two just added videos they are wonderful and very informative. Tom

boats4906 said:

using the API test kit ,testing is as follows : ph=7.2  ,, amonia = 0.25 ,, nitrite = 0 ,, nitrate 5.0 my fish are about 3-5 inches , my system has been running for 5 months

Tom Dumas said:

If your fish weigh one pound each, 40 pounds total, you have enough.  If not several of your plants are heavy feeders and need additional nutrients. Do you have a test kit for the water?  What are the readings for Nitrate, PH, Ammonia, and nitrates?  All these effect plant and fish growth among may other things.  Tom