Can I use urine to maintain bacteria??

[Water Dog]

I would never pee in my tank... I use Dr. Tim’s pure ammonia for cycling. That and I think it’s gross! But aside from the bacteria you mentioned (which I hadn’t thought about), be it human pee or fish pee, as a waste product, aren’t they both capable of serving as a food source for the growth of beneficial bacteria?

Also totally off topic, I’ve heard in a life or death situation, urine is a “sterile” appropriate source of hydration, at least initially (before the concentration of waste levels become dangerous). Any merit to that claim/ bar chat rumor?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would never pee in my tank... I use Dr. Tim’s pure ammonia for cycling. That and I think it’s gross! But aside from the bacteria you mentioned (which I hadn’t thought about), be it human pee or fish pee, as a waste product, aren’t they both capable of serving as a food source for the growth of beneficial bacteria?

Also totally off topic, I’ve heard in a life or death situation, urine is a “sterile” appropriate source of hydration, at least initially (before the concentration of waste levels become dangerous). Any merit to that claim/ bar chat rumor?

Human urine is mostly urea (pictured below). You may mostly generate urea consuming bacteria, not ammonia consuming ones.

 

[dantimdad]

Actually, its a wives tale.

During survival training they told us that salt and glucose (both present in urine) dehydrate. One of the main reasons, soda is a terrible thing to drink when you are thirsty.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I would never pee in my tank... I use Dr. Tim’s pure ammonia for cycling. That and I think it’s gross! But aside from the bacteria you mentioned (which I hadn’t thought about), be it human pee or fish pee, as a waste product, aren’t they both capable of serving as a food source for the growth of beneficial bacteria?

Also totally off topic, I’ve heard in a life or death situation, urine is a “sterile” appropriate source of hydration, at least initially (before the concentration of waste levels become dangerous). Any merit to that claim/ bar chat rumor?

My Aunt a nurse mentioned once, if a person polks an eye accidentally, use urine to keep sterile. Wild

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Also totally off topic, I’ve heard in a life or death situation, urine is a “sterile” appropriate source of hydration, at least initially (before the concentration of waste levels become dangerous). Any merit to that claim/ bar chat rumor?

Urine is not always sterile. Many people have bacteria growing in their urinary tract, even if they do not recognize and symptoms. Among women, for example, 5-8% of nondiabetic women have such infections, as do 16-19% of diabetic women.

https://www.id.theclinics.com/article/S0891-5520(05)70383-4/abstract

 

[Lasse]

Urine is normally sterile when it leaves the body. It contain urea that will be broken down to NH3/NH4 by bacteria in water. Around 80 % of the surplus of nitrogen from the human body will be transported out with the urine. Urine is very high in nitrogen concentration.

Saltwater fish will not transport out much nitrogen by the urine. They hardly not pee of osmotic reasons. Surplus Nitrogen leave through active pumps in the gills. The form for active transport is NH4 - some will be transported out trough passive transport as NH3. It is also the pathway into the fish of NH3 - passive concentration depended transport if there is to high concentrations in the water

Sincerely Lasse