Bacteria maintenance. What do you dose?

[Rick Gaas]

Just getting an idea of what bacteria people dose.

Please list what products, how often, and why you dose them.

Do you have a specific bacteria product you dose for dirty sand, algae, to lower nutrients???

Share what works fo you!

Thanks!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I'm cheap, so I do the sponge effect. I got two large sponges, clean throughly, then leave in sump. Every morning squeeze one, then other in evening. See crab, I think it's in deep thought.

 

[greekspec2]

Tropic Marin nitribiotic once a week

 

[Rick Gaas]

Tropic Marin nitribiotic once a week

Thank you for the reply. Have you noticed any positive/negative effects from dosing this product? Why did you chose this bacteria?

 

[Quietman]

I was using Microbacter7 but I gotta say I have serious doubts it added any measurable benefit.

Others will disagree with my statement I'm sure and have seen good results. I haven't.

Didn't see any negative effects either.

 

[greekspec2]

Thank you for the reply. Have you noticed any positive/negative effects from dosing this product? Why did you chose this bacteria?

I never had algae issues but since I've been using it my film algae is way less to none

 

[Quietman]

I should also say that I carbon dose, so I am relying on bacteria for my nutrient control and that's been very successful for me. My questions on bacteria supplements revolve around the need for any bacteria additions or diversity beyond what naturally occurs.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Just getting an idea of what bacteria people dose.

Please list what products, how often, and why you dose them.

Do you have a specific bacteria product you dose for dirty sand, algae, to lower nutrients???

Share what works fo you!

Thanks!

Never dosed any in 20 years of reefing.

 

[AquaBiomics]

I was using Microbacter7 but I gotta say I have serious doubts it added any measurable benefit.

Others will disagree with my statement I'm sure and have seen good results. I haven't.

Didn't see any negative effects either.

I appreciate your thoughtful conclusion. So often I hear people say "I added this bottle of bacteria and it worked well for me". Really? In comparison to what? If there isnt a control tank right next to it, identical in every way except the dose, how could a person conclude it had "worked"?

I'll go ahead and say it: I suspect most of these bottled products are effectively placebos, and have seen no evidence that they produce any lasting effects in aquariums. I personally find it a little surprising so many are adding bottles of unknown ingredients without evidence these products do anything at all, let alone have the stated effect.

 

[EddieM]

Unless your tank is really new, I would think there is enough bacteria already in there and adjusted for your bioload. In 20+ years, I've only added bacteria for new setups.

 

[brandon429]

Live rock systems will never need it and will never skew out of balance with normal export habits and tank maintenance. Bottle bac sellers are riding a huge feel good wave for a long time, I'm determined not to make their vette payments for them

when to use bottle bac: to make a dry rock cycle speed up or to try and battle dinos in a dry rock system.

 

[hart24601]

I use Dr Tim's waste away gels since it's supposedly time released over a month.

Can't say that I have noticed anything from using them in the tank. They do get a nice slime coat over the bars so at least the bacteria are alive and doing *something*, however if I stopped using them I doubt I would notice any changes in the display.

 

[Pntbll687]

I dosed bacteria when setting up my tank. I'll add some bacteria if adding multiple new fish.

Other than that I've tried vibrant, and waste away. Can't say I saw much of a difference. I think the multiple water changes did more for the algae than the bacteria did.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I dose mb7, vibrant and fritz 460 weekly

 

[Silent]

I dose Microbactor7, Zeobac, and Vibrant

 

[Rick Gaas]

I dose mb7, vibrant and fritz 460 weekly

Did you notice any change in the tank when you started dosing?

 

[Rick Gaas]

I dose Microbactor7, Zeobac, and Vibrant

Did you notice any change in the tank when you started dosing?

Why do you dose each of them? For different issues? Diversity?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

People talk about bacterial diversity as if it was an inherent virtue. Even if adding bacteria increases diversity, why is that desirable?

 

[ReefGeezer]

I've been operated my tank for a while to encourage 3 types of bacteria: 1) Nitrogen reducing bacteria i.e. that are responsible for reducing ammonia to nitrogen gas; 2) Bacteria free in the water column that binds N&P as it uses organics and is then exported i.e. carbon dosing; and 3) Bacteria that is added to reduce algae & organic detritus i.e. Vibrant.

As the tank has matured, I have cut back carbon dosing. I'm down to 18 ml/day of vinegar in a 100 gallon system. That's probably not enough to appreciably reduce nutrients, but I like the idea of free bacteria as food for other organisms in the system. I've also cut the Vibrant dosage to 5ml every other week. I have observed that this small dose helps with water clarity and reduces film build-up on the glass.

 

[adjwoolley]

I stuck with MicroBacter7 because I used it to cycle my tank & have always stuck with the low maintenance dose afterwards.