worms and E coli

[Paul Westberg]

Okay, so I just read the latest email from Friendly Aquaponics where Tim Mann blasts worms in aquaponics on the basis that they are diseased and are potentially lethal. Wow! That's an eye opener. I have only heard and been exposed to the positive side of vermiponics, this is a new concept for me. Anyone else questioning this information?

[TCLynx]

You are not the only one to disagree with Tim's attitude on worms.  I believe there has been another discussion started on that topic as well.  http://aquaponicscommunity.com/forum/topics/aquaponics-worms-and-e-...

[Converse]

People really need to do their research about this. Go to Ohio State Univ. Soil Lab publications on vermicomposting and vermiculture.  This is the most higly respected forefront of reasearch in the USA.  Then look at what is going on in India (world hot spot for vermiculture and research. Very top knotch.)

  In third world countries (India is a leader in this) where there are open sewers that cause disease, redworms are being used to stop this problem.  The redworms added to these open sewers consume and kill the pathogens that cause human disease.  Thus the disease problem associated with open sewers is being tackeled and won....

   Moving along to redworms, vermiponics and redworms in aquaponics.  Care needs to be used that when redworms would be introduced to an aquaponics system, they are not carrying any undigested matter with them sticking to their skin ( such as animal manures or rotten veggie matter) that might be harboring bad bacteria.  Only after it passes through the gut of the redworm would this be completely safe...So if your redworms are introduced along with a handful of matter that does not get consumed by them, you have in effect just possibly contaminated your aquaponic system.   So you need to be sure that redworms that are introduced are not plopped in the aquaponic medium with any of the bedding they were living in.  Better yet, purge their systems ( guts) by putting them in wetted down corn meal for 24 hours ( okay, be sure it is not e-Coli harboring corn meal - or use oatmeal or cream of wheat wetted down).  Then wash off the redworms, and introduce them into the aquaponics system. 

 

   How do I know all this?  We run a commercial redworm farm, and come from a natural sciences back ground. We do consulting work for organic farms in our area, and teach this for many organizations.   We make it our business to keep up on all the latest research (dry reading, but worth it to keep up on the Biz).  Do we "know it all"? No, but we do come from a stand point of scientific knowledge and constant research reading, and our own daily practical application in the field of vermiculture and vermicomposting and vermiponics. No redworms do not harbor diseases.

   I'll be happy to help out with any further questions.  I'll be out of town for a bit, so be patient. 

 

[Sahib Punjabi]

Thank you for pointing this out Converse.

 

One of the Organizations that I support  (http://www.ekal.org/), and hopefully will be introducing the way that I practice Aquaponics, that is Hybrid Aquaponics, have been using vermiculture and have experienced no negative results ...only increased yields and better crop production :-_

Converse said:

People really need to do their research about this. Go to Ohio State Univ. Soil Lab publications on vermicomposting and vermiculture.  This is the most higly respected forefront of reasearch in the USA.  Then look at what is going on in India (world hot spot for vermiculture and research. Very top knotch.)

  In third world countries (India is a leader in this) where there are open sewers that cause disease, redworms are being used to stop this problem.  The redworms added to these open sewers consume and kill the pathogens that cause human disease.  Thus the disease problem associated with open sewers is being tackeled and won....

   Moving along to redworms, vermiponics and redworms in aquaponics.  Care needs to be used that when redworms would be introduced to an aquaponics system, they are not carrying any undigested matter with them sticking to their skin ( such as animal manures or rotten veggie matter) that might be harboring bad bacteria.  Only after it passes through the gut of the redworm would this be completely safe...So if your redworms are introduced along with a handful of matter that does not get consumed by them, you have in effect just possibly contaminated your aquaponic system.   So you need to be sure that redworms that are introduced are not plopped in the aquaponic medium with any of the bedding they were living in.  Better yet, purge their systems ( guts) by putting them in wetted down corn meal for 24 hours ( okay, be sure it is not e-Coli harboring corn meal - or use oatmeal or cream of wheat wetted down).  Then wash off the redworms, and introduce them into the aquaponics system. 

 

   How do I know all this?  We run a commercial redworm farm, and come from a natural sciences back ground. We do consulting work for organic farms in our area, and teach this for many organizations.   We make it our business to keep up on all the latest research (dry reading, but worth it to keep up on the Biz).  Do we "know it all"? No, but we do come from a stand point of scientific knowledge and constant research reading, and our own daily practical application in the field of vermiculture and vermicomposting and vermiponics. No redworms do not harbor diseases.

   I'll be happy to help out with any further questions.  I'll be out of town for a bit, so be patient. 

 

[Earl ward]

 

I have read the same news letter and happen to agree with the statements made. I’m not saying not to add worms to the bed, what I’m saying is what I think was the intent of the article. You have to know the source of what you’re adding to your systems.  Just like adding fish to your system, you would never want to add fish to your system without knowing the source same goes for the worms.