Do commercially available bacteria supplements work?

[Spare time]

One thing that seems like I and others experience when dosing heterotrophic bacteria is filter socks getting clogged less frequently.

 

[brandon429]

Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact

Call me old school, back in the day we placed a deli shrimp in a tank to kick start the cycle. When tank reached 1.5-2 ppm ammonia we pulled it out and waited sometimes weeks to months for bacteria to colonize and drop ammonia and nitrites down to 0 to make tank safe for livestock. With recent...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[sghera64]

What you feed your bacteria may be as important as the bacteria you add. Meaning the source of carbon can shift the balance of bacterial biodiversity.

I recently read an article/study that indicated certain bacterial populations thrive on molasses better than other carbon sources. I have been dosing molasses and it dropped my phosphate level to non-detect. Whoops - so I dosed a lot more Reef-Roids that next week.

I’ve used Dr. Tim’s and MB7. I also go to the seafood counter and buy fresh and raw clams, crab, and other crustaceans. I take the shells and mix with some tank water in a sealable container, add some vinegar and molasses and let it “brew” for a few weeks. I only open the container outdoors (H2S smell) and then aerate it. I don’t know what bacteria is growing from all those shell surfaces, but when I dose that brew to my tank, I get clearer water and the brown haze on the sand reduces quite a bit.

 

[Sleepingtiger]

Cuts down cycle time from weeks to days. After adding, within 24hrs, my ammonia begins to lower. Within days, my ammonia drops by 2-3ppm per day.

 

[PotatoPig]

Used MB7 and some caribsea rock in an all dry rock setup. Objectively, it’s clearly processing ammonia.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

I use Microbacter7 regularly to set up and stock quarantines the day I bring home fish. I also redose it regularly to keep ammonia down so I can get fish through 30 days of copper without having to do water changes.

And I've used both Microbacter7 and Biospira to set up and stock reefs same day with 0 issues. Even put an Acropora in within 6 hrs of filling my 75 gallon, and I still have it doing well.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I believe they work as well, as I've seen people use them to great success on this forum. But the thing is, I don't really know how to determine they are working. I guess I am wondering if anyone has even verified if they are indeed alive in the bottle, and also verify that they live on in the tank once added.

Hello, The verification is in the cycle with out it it takes a very long time. With the bottles bacteria added the cycle takes days. You can see it day to day in the water test you are taking hopefully daily.

 

[GARRIGA]

Know this much. Prior to bacteria in a bottle my cycle took six week or more.

BioSpira took four days to solve anmonia, nine days to solve nitrites then added MB7 & an expired bottle of Stability plus NoPox and solved nitrates but took 21 days after dosing mb7 and NoPox. Had to raise my phosphates which then dropped nitrates from 80 ppm to 10 ppm within a few days.

No clue if Redfield matters to an exact ratio but made me believe both N & P appear they need to be present.

 

[ccunningham]

I concur on MB7 and I also use clean weekly as a supplement. I’ve never had issues with cyano or dinos (nuisance algae also knock on wood) when dosing these products on a schedule.

So I am currently fighting Dino’s and cyano. I’m on day 3 of a total blackout with 2 more days to go. Problem is I have some in sump also but have macro algae that I don’t want to kill again… with chemical treatment. My parameters are great except my nitrates. They have remained very high when I test. Would either the MB7 or the weekly clean you are talking about help drop my nitrates to a normal level? And what is the weekly clean you are talking about?

 

[blazn]

So I am currently fighting Dino’s and cyano. I’m on day 3 of a total blackout with 2 more days to go. Problem is I have some in sump also but have macro algae that I don’t want to kill again… with chemical treatment. My parameters are great except my nitrates. They have remained very high when I test. Would either the MB7 or the weekly clean you are talking about help drop my nitrates to a normal level? And what is the weekly clean you are talking about?

After reading the R2R thread (link below), I'm convinced a "Donovan's Nitrate Destroyer" is the solution to high nitrates and I'm purchasing the parts to build one now... https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/poor-mans-nutrients-control-donovans-nitrate-destroyer.302685/

 

[JohnD4g]

I've used Dr Tims to start up new tanks and MB7 to manage algae and cyano with great results.

 

[mckinney0171]

So I am currently fighting Dino’s and cyano. I’m on day 3 of a total blackout with 2 more days to go. Problem is I have some in sump also but have macro algae that I don’t want to kill again… with chemical treatment. My parameters are great except my nitrates. They have remained very high when I test. Would either the MB7 or the weekly clean you are talking about help drop my nitrates to a normal level? And what is the weekly clean you are talking about?

It’s called Microbacter Clean. I dose both MB7 and Clean weekly per the bottles recommendations for normal tank levels. I believe there is a temporary dose on the bottle that can be used to help reduce nitrates as well.
I view these products as a good part of a weekly maintenance plan. If you are already battling cyano and or Dino’s you will still need to do some mechanical removal. But I really do feel like these two products help maintain a stable bacteria colony in my tank.

 

[jda]

I would be wary of anything that you have to keep on adding. If they actually worked and had beneficial things for our tanks, then if you add once, then you have them and they will grow to equilibrium with the environment.

 

[Spare time]

I would be wary of anything that you have to keep on adding. If they actually worked and had beneficial things for our tanks, then if you add once, then you have them and they will grow to equilibrium with the environment.

Alternatively, the could be being eaten by things like coral and other predators, like phytoplankton which can reproduce and bloom in a tank but most often doesn't.

 

[jda]

If that is a reason that a manufacturer gives for continued dosing, then I would stop their product. Extinction event due to coral eating is not even worth considering.

 

[ccunningham]

It’s called Microbacter Clean. I dose both MB7 and Clean weekly per the bottles recommendations for normal tank levels. I believe there is a temporary dose on the bottle that can be used to help reduce nitrates as well.
I view these products as a good part of a weekly maintenance plan. If you are already battling cyano and or Dino’s you will still need to do some mechanical removal. But I really do feel like these two products help maintain a stable bacteria colony in my tank.

Thank you kindly. My cyano is gone after the blackout. Now just have light brown stringy looking algae. I do manual removal almost daily.

 

[Aeiyr]

Yes they do, I use MB7 for maintenance and Biospira for start up, there is a member here who is on a crusade to end these but they work and work quite well.

Think I know who you mean by that too. I see the post crop up from time-to-time and the rant about how bottled bacteria has ushered in an age of "instant gratificationists" etc. etc. Followed by a rant on "Live rock is the only way" and all these newfangled products are a waste of time or a slight of the old ways.

Honestly I roll my eyes every time I've seen it. It just comes off as a granddad complaining about "the good ol days"
As if they've never stopped to consider the ethics involved in harvesting live material from the ocean. I'd rather drop marcorock in a bucket for 6 months and cook it with bacteria and pods etc. than ever purchase ocean rock.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

As if they've never stopped to consider the ethics involved in harvesting live material from the ocean.

The "ocean live rock" is essentially Marco rock dropped on the ocean floor (in an area designated for such use) and allowed to become populated with naturally occurring flora and fauna. It robs nothing from the larger environment and actually contributes to ocean health by giving fish a place to feed, etc.

(But I don't disagree with the rest of your comment ;) )

 

[Aeiyr]

The "ocean live rock" is essentially Marco rock dropped on the ocean floor (in an area designated for such use) and allowed to become populated with naturally occurring flora and fauna. It robs nothing from the larger environment and actually contributes to ocean health by giving fish a place to feed, etc.

I was unaware of this bit. thank you for enlightening me. That said I still think I'd rather cook a bucket for half a year under a kitchen cabinet! Then again I'm someone who teared up while watching the documentary "Chasing Coral" (on netflix btw, highly recommend)

To chime in of the efficacy of bottled products, I've used them in freshwater systems for 20 years since I was a teen and they worked, and as a first time reefer with a one month old tank, I can say using Dr. Tims all-in-one with ammonia chloride did work. My cycle is complete at approx. 25 days, and I'm the proud owner of a glass box with a diatom farm and nothing else atm, lol. Now I just need to keep the bacteria fed every few days with a small pinch, and I will be adding Pods and CuC next week or so and focus on microfauna and diversity to make the system robust.

Would I purchase bacteria products again in the future? Yes. Yes I will. I may even branch out and try some of the ones I've seen mentioned here like MB7 on my current system when I add the first couple fish to bolster things.

 

[jda]

The bacteria that you add from a bottle is probably less than 1% of what live rock offers. No worms, pods, starfish and other critters that make a whole ecosystem. I don't think that bacteria in a bottle is a scam. Ones labeled to use over and over probably are. Bottled bacteria is a good start, but that is all that it is. Eventually, you need real ocean critters that don't come in bottles.

One could argue that keeping fish with just bottled bacteria has questionable ethics for most fish taken from the ocean with now way for the tank to fight disease. The things that come on rock do eat ich tomonts.