Can I use urine to maintain bacteria??

[Mortie31]

Hello All
First off this isn’t a joke question lol... recently I’ve had my tank devastated by velvet, (details are on my thread) I now have a hugely reduced fish load and will be going fallow in the next week or so. I have a mature tank which was home to 24 fish and hence had a well established bacteria system, I don’t want to lose this during this period, hence the question, I have seeded my tanks and koi ponds with urine to feed bacteria during the cycle phase, but never to maintain the bacteria bed, I could use food but I actually think urine may be a better way? Any thoughts?? #Lasse was discussing this recently but I cannot find the thread.,

 

[Hitman]

I would think the Ammonia in it would be counter productive.

 

[Water Dog]

I would think the Ammonia in it would be counter productive.

Don’t we dose ammonia to start the nitrogen cycle in new tanks?

 

[McPikie]

I'd let it go fallow and just add some bottled bacteria when you re-stock. ******** to urinating in my fishtank

 

[Hitman]

I never have. If you use wet live rock and live sand it will kill the bacteria already there and could stall the cycle. I personally have always used a bottle or several tank size depending of Bio-Spira with live rock / sand. Tests show cycle done within days although I still let it sit for over 3 months adding a bit of vinegar daily before slowly introducing any livestock. And only 1 to 2 fish the first week to allow the bacteria to grow.

 

[Water Dog]

For dryrock cycling, I’ve used the bottled pure ammonia from Dr. Tim’s and nothing else but time to get a bacteria population going and fully cycle my tank.

 

[Katrina71]

+1 Bio spira

 

[Mortie31]

I never have. If you use wet live rock and live sand it will kill the bacteria already there and could stall the cycle. I personally have always used a bottle or several tank size depending of Bio-Spira with live rock / sand. Tests show cycle done within days although I still let it sit for over 3 months adding a bit of vinegar daily before slowly introducing any livestock. And only 1 to 2 fish the first week to allow the bacteria to grow.

Not sure why it would kill my existing bacteria, I’m only talking a very small amount

 

[Water Dog]

The way I see it, dosing urine is no different than dosing fish waste in order to maintain and existing population of beneficial bacteria in an established tank.

 

[brandon429]

No help is needed, if hydrated the bacteria live forever same as if you kept fish. We have three year fallow testing threads on the matter and several recent threads in the general forum covering the fact. The number one thing the public doesn't agree with is what occurs.

Surface area, not your fish loading, controls bacteria population in hydrated media in a home. There are myriad ways to demonstrate this neato fact. If you remove all your fish, fallow not a drop of food for five years, then put original +3 fish back, it still handles the bioload. The reason why is, they still fed the whole time. Hydrated bac in a home eat like kings, always.

We anthropomorphize. To feed them also didn't hurt, but not required at all. Cycles never uncycle without meds.

 

[Breadman03]

I expect that it would work fine, but I think just getting some bottled ammonia would be a better option.

 

[Mortie31]

No help is needed, if hydrated the bacteria live forever same as if you kept fish. We have three year fallow testing threads on the matter and several recent threads in the general forum covering the fact. The number one thing the public doesn't agree with is what occurs.

Surface area, not your fish loading, controls bacteria population in hydrated media in a home. There are myriad ways to demonstrate this neato fact

Thankyou, I didn’t know that, I will need to maintain nitrate and phosphate levels to keep my dozens of SPS happy, so will need to dose something, my thought was by using urine I will keep all levels high enough and keep all the bacteria happy, but maybe just need to dose nitrate and phosphate

 

[KrisReef]

Hello All
First off this isn’t a joke question lol... recently I’ve had my tank devastated by velvet, (details are on my thread) I now have a hugely reduced fish load and will be going fallow in the next week or so. I have a mature tank which was home to 24 fish and hence had a well established bacteria system, I don’t want to lose this during this period, hence the question, I have seeded my tanks and koi ponds with urine to feed bacteria during the cycle phase, but never to maintain the bacteria bed, I could use food but I actually think urine may be a better way? Any thoughts?? #Lasse was discussing this recently but I cannot find the thread.,

I have a visual of you making a video with people looking on as you transfer the subject liquid from "storage" into the tank as you narrate; "I'm feeding the hungry bacteria in this reef tank."

If you post that video here I think you will get banned. If on the other hand you choose to employ fish food in a similar topical video I think you will have a brighter future and generally be more popular at local frag swaps.

Let us know how this shakes out for ya. (And this reply is only kind of a joke).

Truly sorry about the velvet outbreak.

 

[fermentedhiker]

As was mentioned feeding the bacteria to maintain them is unnecessary. As to using urine instead of ammonia it would certainly work but I seem to remember it being discussed in the past and was not recommended because human urine would likely contain many contaminates from dyes etc... In our food as well as any medicine we take or other chemicals we may have absorbed through our skin that our kidneys might process out.

 

[brandon429]

Nice call on meds for sure. With coral in tow people will usually feed, knowing they don't require heavy nitrogen loading at least helps suppress invasions from blooming while steady state is changed up a while.

 

[Mortie31]

As was mentioned feeding the bacteria to maintain them is unnecessary. As to using urine instead of ammonia it would certainly work but I seem to remember it being discussed in the past and was not recommended because human urine would likely contain many contaminates from dyes etc... In our food as well as any medicine we take or other chemicals we may have absorbed through our skin that our kidneys might process out.

The meds etc was a concern of mine too, or a really heavy Friday night lol, but maybe that would combine my vodka dosing as well lol

 

[Rover]

This is something I didn't know, despite all the diving I've done into articles on it! Can you point me at some of those threads? I'd love to read into this some more.

No help is needed, if hydrated the bacteria live forever same as if you kept fish. We have three year fallow testing threads on the matter and several recent threads in the general forum covering the fact. The number one thing the public doesn't agree with is what occurs.

Surface area, not your fish loading, controls bacteria population in hydrated media in a home. There are myriad ways to demonstrate this neato fact. If you remove all your fish, fallow not a drop of food for five years, then put original +3 fish back, it still handles the bioload. The reason why is, they still fed the whole time. Hydrated bac in a home eat like kings, always.

We anthropomorphize. To feed them also didn't hurt, but not required at all. Cycles never uncycle without meds.

 

[brandon429]

Sure deal I work very hard to make bacteria specific threads or find significance in others threads
longest fallow testing I've seen:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/might-start-a-nano-15gal-column-need-advice.429907/


And our microbiology of cycling thread:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/

 

[brandon429]

If there was a mosh pit solely dedicated to, and participated by, aquarium nerds then this is shred fest 2018
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...d-compare-answers.472919/page-10#post-5265196


If you can find any direct challenges to that work pls pls post we only want real deal science.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Let us know how this shakes out for ya. (And this reply is only kind of a joke).

I just about spit Coke on my keyboard.

Could you? Probably, but why WOULD you? I fertilize my lawn each spring but I don't save up the family's you-know-what over the winter to do it. There are better solutions available that are easily obtainable.