Nitrifying Bacteria Die-Off

[Dom]

I just read something in a thread that raised a question. I didn't want to hijack the thread, so I'm posting my question here.

Could a die-off of your nitrifying bacteria colony cause an ammonia spike?

 

[Dan_P]

I just read something in a thread that raised a question. I didn't want to hijack the thread, so I'm posting my question here.

Could a die-off of your nitrifying bacteria colony cause an ammonia spike?

If you managed to kill the bacteria, the answer is yes. A relevant question is how would one go about killing these bacteria? Bacteria are very hardy.

 

[Converted to Saltwater]

I just read something in a thread that raised a question. I didn't want to hijack the thread, so I'm posting my question here.

Could a die-off of your nitrifying bacteria colony cause an ammonia spike?

I was just thinking about that. But what could cause the die off? Are you experiencing this?

 

[EmdeReef]

I just read something in a thread that raised a question. I didn't want to hijack the thread, so I'm posting my question here.

Could a die-off of your nitrifying bacteria colony cause an ammonia spike?

Not from the die off itself, but if a significant number of bacteria were lost that would impact the nitrogen cycle.

 

[Dom]

I was just thinking about that. But what could cause the die off? Are you experiencing this?

No. I was reading this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-crash-during-night.539845/
And it left me wondering about this.

Rather than hijack the thread, I started a new one.

 

[EmdeReef]

No. I was reading this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-crash-during-night.539845/
And it left me wondering about this.

Rather than hijack the thread, I started a new one.

That case wasn’t caused by a bacteria die off rather likely due to a bacterial bloom after adding an additive.

 

[Converted to Saltwater]

I bet it was the addition of the pack. He stated no problems before that I saw. Nitrates were high, but everything was dead. Every time I've fixed something not broken it backfired. I've heard bad review on those anyway.

 

[Converted to Saltwater]

If the tank was established wouldn't adding any bacteria additive change chemistry somehow? I know if I don't stay with the same product and swap out ill have water or algae or even disease problems. Or am I blaming this issue on something that's totally not at fault?

 

[EmdeReef]

If the tank was established wouldn't adding any bacteria additive change chemistry somehow? I know if I don't stay with the same product and swap out ill have water or algae or even disease problems. Or am I blaming this issue on something that's totally not at fault?

Waste away comes with a warning against dosing too much the first time as it may cause an ammonia spike. I don’t know what strains of bacteria are used, can guess, but that would not impact the nitrifying bacteria. Although it could overload the nitrogen cycle as the populations of nitrifying bacteria are kept in check by the available nitrogen.

The resulting O2 depletion can hurt some bacteria but I doubt in OP’s case there was sufficient depletion for that.

 

[Dan_P]

No. I was reading this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-crash-during-night.539845/
And it left me wondering about this.

Rather than hijack the thread, I started a new one.

Not much information to go on. Addition of time release bacteria in the Waste Away gel is meant to minimize overdosing bacteria and sudden oxygen loss. We don’t know whether the tank was overstocked to the point that just a small oxygen depletion would cause a problem. The jump in nitrates suggests an ammonia release, maybe from the fish die off or maybe the ammonia release was the cause. The limited information in this post does not suggest a nitrifying bacteria die.

 

[Converted to Saltwater]

Not much information to go on. Addition of time release bacteria in the Waste Away gel is meant to minimize overdosing bacteria and sudden oxygen loss. We don’t know whether the tank was overstocked to the point that just a small oxygen depletion would cause a problem. The jump in nitrates suggests an ammonia release, maybe from the fish die off or maybe the ammonia release was the cause. The limited information in this post does not suggest a nitrifying bacteria die.

Really I have read about waste away do this. I believe it was caused by adding it with other bio supplements.