DOES ADDING LIVE BACTERIA HELP CLEAN YOUR TANK

[Reef By Steele]

When preparing to partner up with an additive vendor for our business we spent a lot of time researching the different companies and products. Coming from prehistoric reefing days, when our tanks were made of carved bone (ok just the 80’s when the internet was just developing and not packed with the information available today) bottled bacteria was believed to be voodoo. Today we seem to have a consensus that bottled bacteria is both beneficial and viable. I always thought bottled bacteria was used only to cycle a tank, or to add additional bio-load capabilities when adding new fish. With all of my reading I have found claims that dosing certain products like Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter7 https://brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter7.php will reduce nitrates and phosphates when dosed over a two week period as it breaks down organics including detritus and improves the bacteria in the substrate.

There are multiple threads here on R2R where people add bacteria in fighting Cyanobacteria and Dinos. I am wondering what experience people have had using bacteria products in these battles. As a strong proponent of doing things the natural way, I am not strong on adding chemicals to our aquariums, but much like carbon dosing I have the belief that bottled bacteria is natural vs chemical. At one point I purchased Vibrant as it was touted as a bacterial remedy to help control algae, and I was fighting a terrible outbreak of a turf algae in a tank set up with used rock that was deeply loaded with phosphates. However, as I was getting ready to use it I discovered one of the threads on here which shows it as being an algaecide vs bacteria, so I still have the unopened bottle. Brightwell Aquatics makes claims about MicrobacterClean https://brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter-clean.php as well, and that it can be used with RazorMarine https://brightwellaquatics.com/products/razor-marine.php in neglected or heavily stocked tanks, and that RazorMarine helps to clean residue off of live rock. I am wondering if anyone has first hand experience using these products, and what their results were.

We would also love to hear from the R2R community as to what Brightwell Aquatics products people are using and what their results are.

I have been amazed at how open Brightwell Aquatics has been to work with. As a brand-new wholesale customer, I received a call from the owner, Jack Kent. This man has been in the industry for a very long time and is one of the original innovators who brought many of the products we use to fruition. Our conversation was very pleasant and personable, as well as informative. We are so excited to be able to offer their products.

Brightwell Aquatics

We are pleased to announce our partnering with Brightwell Aquatics by offering their High Quality Reefing Supplements and Products.

reefbysteele.com

 

[Oldreefer44]

Suggest watching last episode of Reef Therapy. Discussion about which bottled brands contain actual marine bacteria versus those that contain human gut bacteria.

 

[Lavey29]

When preparing to partner up with an additive vendor for our business we spent a lot of time researching the different companies and products. Coming from prehistoric reefing days, when our tanks were made of carved bone (ok just the 80’s when the internet was just developing and not packed with the information available today) bottled bacteria was believed to be voodoo. Today we seem to have a consensus that bottled bacteria is both beneficial and viable. I always thought bottled bacteria was used only to cycle a tank, or to add additional bio-load capabilities when adding new fish. With all of my reading I have found claims that dosing certain products like Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter7 https://brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter7.php will reduce nitrates and phosphates when dosed over a two week period as it breaks down organics including detritus and improves the bacteria in the substrate.

There are multiple threads here on R2R where people add bacteria in fighting Cyanobacteria and Dinos. I am wondering what experience people have had using bacteria products in these battles. As a strong proponent of doing things the natural way, I am not strong on adding chemicals to our aquariums, but much like carbon dosing I have the belief that bottled bacteria is natural vs chemical. At one point I purchased Vibrant as it was touted as a bacterial remedy to help control algae, and I was fighting a terrible outbreak of a turf algae in a tank set up with used rock that was deeply loaded with phosphates. However, as I was getting ready to use it I discovered one of the threads on here which shows it as being an algaecide vs bacteria, so I still have the unopened bottle. Brightwell Aquatics makes claims about MicrobacterClean https://brightwellaquatics.com/products/microbacter-clean.php as well, and that it can be used with RazorMarine https://brightwellaquatics.com/products/razor-marine.php in neglected or heavily stocked tanks, and that RazorMarine helps to clean residue off of live rock. I am wondering if anyone has first hand experience using these products, and what their results were.

We would also love to hear from the R2R community as to what Brightwell Aquatics products people are using and what their results are.

I have been amazed at how open Brightwell Aquatics has been to work with. As a brand-new wholesale customer, I received a call from the owner, Jack Kent. This man has been in the industry for a very long time and is one of the original innovators who brought many of the products we use to fruition. Our conversation was very pleasant and personable, as well as informative. We are so excited to be able to offer their products.

Brightwell Aquatics

We are pleased to announce our partnering with Brightwell Aquatics by offering their High Quality Reefing Supplements and Products.

reefbysteele.com

I dose weekly PNS probio which is a natural heterotrophic bacteria that eliminates organic waste. My filter socks stay clean for weeks now.

 

[Andrews_aquarium]

If they worked you would only have to dose it once. Many of these bottles have been tested now and do not contain Marine Bacteria.

 

[Lavey29]

If they worked you would only have to dose it once. Many of these bottles have been tested now and do not contain Marine Bacteria.

Wouldn't that be contingent on how suitable the environment is for them? Bacteria in the tank are in constant battles good guy versus bad guys. Why not help the good guys now and then?

 

[Andrews_aquarium]

Wouldn't that be contingent on how suitable the environment is for them?

I wouldn’t think so, It’s not like we have to add more live rock every couple of months. Even if conditions are perfect the bacteria in these bottles aren’t Marine species so why would they survive?

Telegram has tested many of these bottles with AquaBiomics and some of them actually have Pathogenic strains in them.

 

[TARHEEL78]

Suggest watching last episode of Reef Therapy. Discussion about which bottled brands contain actual marine bacteria versus those that contain human gut bacteria.

Can you give those of us who have no idea what reef therapy is a run down?

 

[Lavey29]

I wouldn’t think so, It’s not like we have to add more live rock every couple of months. Even if conditions are perfect the bacteria in these bottles aren’t Marine species so why would they survive?

Telegram has tested many of these bottles with AquaBiomics and some of them actually have Pathogenic strains in them.

So why does nitrifying bacteria in a bottle work at start up while cycling the tank and then continue to work from then on if conditions are good?

I do agree with you though some bacteria are short lived in our boxes of water.

 

[Andrews_aquarium]

So why does nitrifying bacteria in a bottle work at start up while cycling the tank and then continue to work from then on if conditions are good?

I do agree with you though some bacteria are short lived in our boxes of water.

Dr.Tims Nitrifying is a Marine species from what I’ve read, it’s one of the very few Marine species that can be cultured in the lab. Dr.Tim did an interview with Reefbum a year or two ago and even he said that around 95-98% of marine bacterial species cannot be cultured in the lab. We are still very much in the dark ages in being able to culture marine bacterial species. luckily it seems that Nitrfying species are one of the species that we can. It was a great interview i’d give it a listen.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Today we seem to have a consensus that bottled bacteria is both beneficial and viable.

Do we?

Unless the purpose is to add bacteria that will coat surfaces and outcompete something else on that surface, such as dinos, I don’t see a reason to add bottled bacteria in most reef tanks.

 

[theMeat]

Agreed. On an established tank I don’t see the benefit

 

[Oldreefer44]

There are ongoing tests using Aquabiomics so more to come.

 

[Andrews_aquarium]

Do we?

Unless the purpose is to add bacteria that will coat surfaces and outcompete something else on that surface, such as dinos, I don’t see a reason to add bottled bacteria in most reef tanks.

Exactly

 

[Oldreefer44]

Can you give those of us who have no idea what reef therapy is a run down?

Reef therapy is a Reef Builders Podcast.

 

[Reef By Steele]

Do we?

Unless the purpose is to add bacteria that will coat surfaces and outcompete something else on that surface, such as dinos, I don’t see a reason to add bottled bacteria in most reef tanks.

Thanks Randy,
By that statement, I was referring to the viability of the product, unless using live rock, I see a consensus on dosing some type of live bacteria from just about everyone for cycling a tank. As the rest of the quote says “I always thought bottled bacteria was used to cycle a tank, or to add additional bio-load capabilities when adding new fish.”

The question is whether future dosing does anything to help with tank maintenance. Brightwell claims that Microbacter7 and MicrobacterClean contain non-pathogenic aerobic and anaerobic microbes and polymers that enhance nitrification, denitrification and organic waste refraction through complete nutrient remineralization. Your next statement was not seeing a reason to add future bottled bacteria unless trying to outcompete something on the surfaces. Should I interpret that to mean that bottled bacteria can be helpful in cleaning a tank, dependent on what issues you are fighting.

My understanding is also that there is a threshold for the amount of bacteria that can be sustained in an aquarium, based on available food. If only so much is able to sustain, would more added assist the current colony?

These are all questions that I have, to fully understand the products. Especially as we are now offering it for sale, and I do not want to make any claims without a genuine belief.

 

[Lavey29]

Well I'm no scientist for sure. Science was not my best subject in school either.

I have been using PNS probio for several years and I can visibly see the results in my tank coupled with the test results showing my stable nitrates number.

@SunnyX has some pretty good threads on bacteria driven systems and his tanks are spectacular so the bottle stuff must be doing something right for him.

 

[Cheezle]

So if I had an Ammonia and Nitrite spike in my established reef, adding Fritz Turbo 900 would not help reduce those numbers and restore balance to my tank?

 

[Reef By Steele]

Well I'm no scientist for sure. Science was not my best subject in school either

I have been using PNS probio for several years and I can visibly see the results in my tank coupled with the test results showing my stable nitrates number.

@SunnyX has some pretty good threads on bacteria driven systems and his tanks are spectacular so the bottle stuff must be doing something right for him.

Thanks, I will take a look. I searched live bacteria but didn’t really find anything. I will search his threads.

 

[Reef By Steele]

So if I had an Ammonia and Nitrite spike in my established reef, adding Fritz Turbo 900 would not help reduce those numbers and restore balance to my tank?

I would believe they will. I have created bad situations over cleaning tanks, and unanimously from the fish medics told me to dose bacteria to at least lessen the impact on the fish.

 

[GARRIGA]

Been known to dose MB7 yet without scientific proof it matters I consider it a placebo considering once established bacteria multiply so quickly I highly doubt it needs replenishment. Look no further than UV flow and wattage ratings based on how quickly bacteria replicate.

After having my eyes open to several Brightwell potions for raising pH claiming no affect on alkalinity and their claims of Kalk plus magnesium that left a sour taste in my mouth and lets just leave it at that.

I'll keep dosing MB7 cause it's cheap and I want to believe but then often find myself wanting to believe in Santa too