Tadpole like creatures in the wormery liquid

[Boudicca21]

title says it. Just took the first liquid off my relatively new wormery and it is full of little tadpole like creatures swimming around.

What are they? Beneficial or sign of a problem?

[WillyWorm]

Interesting! Firstly it's not a disaster, their are hundreds of different species of life living in our worm bins, some are easy to see others need a powerful microscope to see. Our bins need this diversity of creatures in order to work, our worms would not be able to eat the food we put in the bin unless it's worked over by microbes and bacteria first.

I don't know what your tadpoles are and would need a lot more information before I could even guesss! Does the liquid smell bad? If it smells OK then it should be good to use. If you have any doubts put it in a screw top bottle and leave it for a month, after which any harmful pathogens will have died off, sadly so will most of the good microbes that we wanted.

How long have you had your bin and how much liquid has it produced? How wet is bedding in your bin. If you are producing a lot of liquid in a short time then this can be a problem. If you think your bedding is too wet mix some shredded paper or cardboard into it to help dry it out. Your bedding should feel like a well helps out sponge.

Hope that helps
Willy

[Boudicca21]

No nasty smell, so I went ahead and used the liquid. The tadpole like creatures were about half the size of frog tadpoles.

I certainly got more liquid than I expected - the wormery has only been going for about 8 weeks. Maybe it is too wet, though there are a few ants in there which I thought meant it was dryish!

[WillyWorm]

Hi, ants can be an indicator of dryness but a few can find their way into the bin when you feed. If you bin is outside then a few ants are not all bad, they are part of natures composting system, they take on woody martial which the worms can't handle. A few ants visiting your bin looking for some food is one thing but a ant nest is another!!!!!!
If your bin has only been up and running for eight weeks and you are getting that much liquid then I would say it indicates your bin is too wet. Get some shredded paper and cardboard mixed in to the bedding you already have. Look at where the moisture is coming from and manage them eg if the bin is outside and rain is getting in cover with a plastic sheet, if the worm food you have is very wet mix with paper before feeding, if you are adding water to the bedding STOP I have not added water to my bedding for three years it just don't need it. The big worry with an over wet bin is the danger of it becoming anorobic (without oxygen) if this happens it can quickly kill your herd.

Please keep us updated
Willy

[WormyMcWormerson]

Speculating here, but they could be mosquito larvae, if your bin is outside.