To Start can I ask if by aquaponics are you refering to a fish waste water system feeding back to a soil less growing area, or are you refering to a hybrid system that includes sand or soil as a medium. I ask as it is difficult toget some nutrients to enter into solution from organic sources(phosphorus in particular).

It might be much easier to incorporate a dry feed into a Sand or soil feed back System than trying to get a full range of nutrients into liquid solution.If the goal was to compliment fish waste water for feeding plants this could be an Option.

I do remember beneficial microorganism culturing systems explained and a finished product offered for sale in old issues of growing edge magazine that is likely availabe through the publisher. Should be easy to find through google.

Contact Elaine R Ingham President, Soil Foodweb inc [email protected]. President of Sustainable Studies Institute, www.sustainablestudies.org and author of The compost tea brewing manual. She may be able to help

Hi Jessica:

Yes we have ongoing replicated experiments using vermi-compost teas in aquaponics systems. Our primary focus has been on enhancing the nutrient load and its subsequent effect on water quality, fish health and plant growth. Continuing trials are now looking at microbial populations both beneficial and otherwise. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have please feel free to contact me.

Regards, Brook

Any result for using compost tea as a way to increase beneficial microbial populations aquaculture systems???

I too have been looking for research on what adding compost tea does in an aquaponics system. Sounds like Brook Murphy is doing that, and I will look forward to the results. Dr. Wilson Lennard in Australia makes a point that "pure " aquaponics should only need calcium, potassium (for fruiting plants), and iron. He suggests that other things are not needed if the system components are in the right size and configuration, and the fish feeding rate is correct. Of course compost tea is excellent for soils and potentially might be used in hydroponics. Please share any references you come across and I will keep looking too and share with you if I find anything. Wishing you well.

I found a reference to using compost tea as a foliar spray that increased production. This was from Dr. Salam's group at Bangladesh Agriculture University.

Effects of molasses and compost tea as foliar spray on water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) in aquaponics system

• Liza Akter Bethe, Ma Salam, Umme Kaniz Fatema, Km Shakil Rana
• Biology
• 2017 (First Publication: 1 May 2017)

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar spray with molasses and compost tea on water spinach in aquaponics system. Nutrient Film Technique was employed for water spinach culture under three different treatments with molasses (T1), compost tea (T2) and no spray as control (T3). Tilapia fingerlings, fed on a commercial diet, were reared in the aquaponics system. Waste water from the fish tank was re-circulated through the plant grow bed where nitrifying bacteria resided to convert toxic elements into plant available nutrients and supplied clean water to fish tank in return. 180 days trial revealed that T2 yielded the highest production of 5.56 kg water spinach, followed by T1 (4.73 kg) and T3 (4.39 kg). The average productions of water spinach (2.17 kg/m2/month) and tilapia (22.38 ton/ha/month) with an FCR of 2.33 suggest a prospective use of compost tea and molasses as foliar spray to produce organic vegetables. (Less)