Thanks Applestar for the warning about potentially bad bacteria in the fish water.
A brief internet search on human pathogens in fish tank water lead to [url=https://www.freshwater-aquarium-fish.com/articles/human_aquarium_pathogens.htm]this article[/url]:
Looks like there is a chance of salmonella being in the water. I would HOPE that restricting the water and filter rinse to the compost pile and fruit trees would be ok. An internet search on composting to remove salmonella indicates that a hot pile will destroy the bacteria but it is unclear if the bacteria is killed in a more typical cool pile.
I should have elaborated earlier when I said I watered my plants with aquarium water - I was referring to the houseplants. Until I find out otherwise I will NOT be using it to water my veggies (and I'm not sure on the compost pile now either)!
Any insight here on eliminating salmonella from compost or landscape water would be appreciated. It would be a shame to restrict this nitrogen rich source to only landscape shrubs!
Lazygirl,
Thank you for the website.
I guess the aquarium water can harbor several types of nasties. What could we treat our aquarium water with to innoculate the unwanted bacteria and the like, so we can use it on the garden?
Any ideas?
I wonder what temperature the hot pile has to get upto to kill the salmonella?
Thank you for the website.
I guess the aquarium water can harbor several types of nasties. What could we treat our aquarium water with to innoculate the unwanted bacteria and the like, so we can use it on the garden?
Any ideas?
I wonder what temperature the hot pile has to get upto to kill the salmonella?
- applestar
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This might be a radical idea, but I don't think it's always about "killing" the "bad" bacteria. What kills bad bacteria can also kill GOOD bacteria. What we think of as bad -- salmonella, e. coli, anthrax, ... whatever ... are naturally OUT there (oops! a bird pooped in my pile! ), but a sufficiently diverse compost community would provide competition against or even overcome the offenders so that live compost would still be safer than dead contaminated soil, or, in this case, "unprocessed" (I.e. not having passed through the composting process) suspect material straight into the veg garden. JMO Don't get me wrong, hot compost is great if you can achieve it, but for the rest of us , I'm just saying we don't have to sweat it as long as we're not overloading the pile with concentrated BAD stuff. (Again, JMO)
Check out local grocery stores veggie departments. Some will be happy to give the rotten veggies/clippings away for free or next to nothing. Saves them the work of hauling it out to the dumpster, and means less trash so it's cheaper for them.
If they do charge you for the stuff, figure out the math before buying loads of it. Sometimes what seams really cheap isn't when you compare it to what you can buy good soil for (provided you have a local source of course)
If they do charge you for the stuff, figure out the math before buying loads of it. Sometimes what seams really cheap isn't when you compare it to what you can buy good soil for (provided you have a local source of course)
- rainbowgardener
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beyond the coffee grounds (we make coffee every day at work, sometimes twice, I just bring in a bucket for people to put the grounds in), I have a pond at the bottom of our hill that tends to get covered in duckweed. I take a net and skim the duckweed off and throw it in the compost. Not only is it high in nitrogen, but it breaks down very easily into a very fine soil, like potting soil and seems to help everything else break down too...
I realize this is an ancient thread but the principal of aquaponics is using fish waste to grow vegetables. I would have to think cleaning your filter and using the water to heat up your compost pile would be a great use for said water. Or pour it right In your garden.
If your concerned about salmonella or other things like ecoli use a dripper system and keep it away from the edable parts. But as was said above the soil is full of bacteria as long as you aren't seeding your bed with very high levels of offending bad bacteria it will be taken care of. This is also why we are supposed to wash our veggies before consumption. Never mind the bird that left you a present on your tomato or lettuce. Just my 2c worth.
If your concerned about salmonella or other things like ecoli use a dripper system and keep it away from the edable parts. But as was said above the soil is full of bacteria as long as you aren't seeding your bed with very high levels of offending bad bacteria it will be taken care of. This is also why we are supposed to wash our veggies before consumption. Never mind the bird that left you a present on your tomato or lettuce. Just my 2c worth.