Introducing worms & bacteria to new system

[Elan yadan]

Hello to all. How should I go about introducing bacteria and worms into the growbed (hydroton) and what kind of worms should I use? I found a product called photosynthesis plus by microbe life that lookw like it should get the bacteria going. This is my first time so i just wanna make sure i start out right. I plan on starting w wheatgrass then moving on to lettuce and herbs. Thanks, -Elan

[Alex Veidel]

I don't think photosynthesis plus gives you the kind of bacteria that most people are referring to when they talk about cycling in aquaponics. (Does hydroponics use ammonia converting bacteria?) You are looking for the bacteria that will convert the toxic waste that your fish produce and convert it into a form that is less harmful for fish and is taken up faster by plants (nitrosomonas and nitrospira) These bacteria will show up in your system on their own as long as there is ammonia present in your water, you don't have to do anything. However, you can speed up the process by taking some water from an already cycled fish tank (freshwater) and dumping it into your system. I don't think there will be any problems with adding the photosynthesis plus to your system as an addition, although I don't know very much about the product. As far as what worms to use, red worms are the poster child of composting (eisenia fetida). These worms are the best for any kind of composting due to the fact that they are small, lively little suckers that wander aimlessly through their media, eating and crapping as they go. Something like a nightcrawler is not ideal due to the fact that they create permanent burrows and come up to the top to feed and deposit waste. When you go and bury anything for them to eat (which is what you would do in a worm composting system, or in the case of aquaponics, move your media, bury seeds, etc.) you destroy their homes, causing a lot of stress for the little buggers. To add them to your grow bed, you will be taking advantage of their natural fear of light. Light causes them to bury themselves deeper to escape, so if you place them on the surface of your grow media, they will flee to the dark, moist depths of the bed on their own accord.

[Elan yadan]

Great! Thanks. I'll be gettinf started w a 100 gallon grow bed & 50 gallons volume water tank and a 75 gallon sump tank in case of a worst case scenario if the pump fails then it won't overflow? What do u think. And how many red worms would I need to use. Thanks again!

[Alex Veidel]

The cool thing about worms is that they self regulate their population according to the availability of food and space. So, there isn't really an exact amount of worms you need. Most red worm distributors sell by the pound (a lb. is about 1,000 red worms) If you can order 500, that would probably be sufficient, but a whole pound ain't gonna hurt you either.