Can I just keep adding ‘bacteria’?

[Spare time]

There is lots of bacteria additives available on the market where the nitrogen cycle is not the intended use of the bacteria.

I know right? Why has everyone seemed to have forgotten that on this thread lol

 

[BeanAnimal]

For some reason this thread is full of people who forgot that bacteria exists outside of nitrifiers and that you can buy bottles of these. If you are interested in adding (or culturing bacteria), I'd look at adding something like PNS probio or something else that can have a functional role with coral or be food.

I didn't forget - and realize that with the whole biome frenzy more products are coming to market... but alas, most everything out there is nitrifying bacteria

Better- where is the scientific study that a particular for-sale bacterial product is consumed by coral as food and/or how long does it live in a captive reef and/or does it multiply?

 

[Dan_P]

Evening All

Tank is 7 months old now. Zoas looking good. SPS are struggling. Can one keep adding bacteria to improve a new tank? What type of bacteria? Any particular brand to work some magic?

Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks all.

Why do you think the SPS are struggling because of bacteria? Aren’t there many things that make SPS difficult to grow?

 

[homer1475]

I also did not forget.

Someone with a tank thats only 7 months old, is probably going down to the local petco or LFS and buying a bottle of fritz, Dr. tims, or biospira, which are just nitrifying bacteria. Which will do no good for his struggling SPS.

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

I think you put way too much scientific stock and attributable outcomes into "work threads". There are just too many variables.

As For "Sunny" and success.... Randy is spot on.

If I twirl around 3 times before feeding my BTA Reef Frenzy and then tap on the glass 3 times and do a water change exactly 71 minutes later and then throw 1 ice cube per 10 gallons in the sump... and my BTA is pretty....

And 71 other people do the same thing and most have "pretty" BTAs... what part of that is actually making the BTAs Pretty?

Sounds silly right? Just because somebody comes up with a workflow that appears to "work" and others follow the same workflow, does not mean that all of the steps or ideas have validity.

Is there a benefit in dumping nitrifying bacteria in a mature tank over and over? I would guess not and until somebody shows me a controlled experiment proving otherwise, my opinion is not going to change.

My question I guess, is there are multiple types of bacteria advertised for sale. Are they all just cycle bacteria or has some brand/vendor come with something other than just the nitrogen cycle bac.
I ask because my understanding is that the level of ammonia produced is directly proportionate to the amount of these bacteria strains that can be sustained. Thus why you can’t just drop a dozen fish in a “cycled” tank. If that is true there would be no benefit of dosing say stability to an established tank except when making new additions.
However if some manufacturer has developed the (let’s call them mature tank) bacterial strains that can be, A. Kept alive in a bottle and B. Introduced into the tank allowing them to colonize and not just starve out, then I could see that these would help to establish (mature) a tank faster.

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

For some reason this thread is full of people who forgot that bacteria exists outside of nitrifiers and that you can buy bottles of these. If you are interested in adding (or culturing bacteria), I'd look at adding something like PNS probio or something else that can have a functional role with coral or be food.

That’s the question that I have been looking for the answer to. I believe many of us are answering the original question from the OP that just asks if he should keep dumping in more bacteria.

 

[Hats_]

Never dosed a single bacteria in my life to my tank, neither did my uncle, who had the nicest reef tank in the netherlands for multiple years... I am all for innovative ways to improve reef tanks but most of these 'bacteria in a bottle' things sound like snake oil to me and as previously mentioned dosing nitrifying bacteria or any native marine bacteria makes no sense since the population will grow to carrying capacity in no time and then your just dosing carbon and aminos at that point since it just dies off.

If someone can prove me wrong with an experiment in a controlled environment then i am open to that, but i have yet to be convinced.

 

[MnFish1]

I think the issue has been scientifically studied - and this topic has been discussed for years - and I'm not sure there is any new science. But, in general (except in a brand new tank) - rather rapidly, bacteria will colonize the surfaces that meet their individual needs. After this adding new bacteria (whether nitrifiers or heterotrophs will result in one of 2 scenarios, the new bacteria take over the last bacteria - or more likely - the new bacteria will die off. BTW - every time you feed your fish, coral, etc anything at all - whatever the fish do not eat - is rapidly consumed by bacteria.