Frozen Bacteria

[Empress]

Hi everybody. I received my bacteria-in-a-bottle yesterday from UPS and it was frozen solid in the bottle. The cap and the bottom popped right off the product. I put the "frozen cylinder " in a bowl to thaw out.

Now that it's completely thawed, is the bacteria still alive and is it still safely useable for seeding sponge in QT? I don't want to risk using it if it's no good now.

 

[jsker]

It should be fine, as long as you did not enhance the thawing process by using a microwave;):)

 

[Brew12]

Hi everybody. I received my bacteria-in-a-bottle yesterday from UPS and it was frozen solid in the bottle. The cap and the bottom popped right off the product. I put the "frozen cylinder " in a bowl to thaw out.

Now that it's completely thawed, is the bacteria still alive and is it still safely useable for seeding sponge in QT? I don't want to risk using it if it's no good now.

Which product was it? Not all are prepared the same way.

 

[Brew12]

If it is Dr Tim's or Biospira, they are probably no good anymore. If it is Stability, it will be fine to use.

 

[Empress]

If it is Dr Tim's or Biospira, they are probably no good anymore. If it is Stability, it will be fine to use.

It's MicroBacter 7.

 

[brandon429]

it is fun to dissect which conditions would alter the filtration bacteria in our tanks measurably
in this case, the holding container for the bac


so many things are claimed to kill or destabilize bacteria-big water changes are one
removing the sand
moving the rocks
having the rocks in the air

the actions that truly kill bacteria in our tanks to the point filtration (ammonia oxidation) becomes measurably altered are highly limited but this could be a case of one set of variables imo. many times its not loss of bac registering an ammonia event, its a dieoff of some sort that overcomes bac otherwise doing just fine having been through the same event that killed a macro animal

would be curious to see if any of that bac survived inside the container after thawing. I suspect some will, and many will have died. temp extremes are on the scale of antibiotic measures for isolated cultures so I wouldn't be surprised either way

TW want to know something hilarious, I need yours or Jasons scoping skills for a project

I have a He man snake man from 1984 (where you press on his head and he squirts water) that is in a toy case and still filled from my last 4th grade venture with it. shake it, and his chest cavity is filled with El Paso tap water from the east side in 1984 lol

33 years locked in PBA infested dyed plastic, in the dark, with only the original fill contaminants in tow. Would it self sterilize? id be willing to mail it out, we'd have to devise a nice aseptic extraction technique to get down inside the neck and extract the sample, but what a neat article that would make. people could state their predictions ahead of time before the results. I predict sterile.

 

[Brew12]

It's MicroBacter 7.

Sorry, can't help with that one! It's an unusual product compared to some of the others on the market. And I can't find anything useful on their website after giving it a quick look.

 

[Empress]

Ok. Thanks, Brew. I left an email with the vendor and if they get back to me I'll ask them to send me Stability instead. I've used that before and know it works; I just thought I'd try something different when I picked out MicroBacter. I should have stayed with Stability. And yes it is in the single digits overnight. Next shipment will probably be frozen too. Stay warm.

 

[Brew12]

Ok. Thanks, Brew. I left an email with the vendor and if they get back to me I'll ask them to send me Stability instead. I've used that before and know it works; I just thought I'd try something different when I picked out MicroBacter. I should have stayed with Stability. And yes it is in the single digits overnight. Next shipment will probably be frozen too. Stay warm.

Wish I could have been more help. MicroBacter has much more than just nitrifying bacteria in it which confuses the issue. Stability contains bacteria spores which have no problem with being frozen as opposed to Dr Tims which uses active bacteria.
I just wish I knew if I needed to stay warm or stay cool.. weather has been crazy. Friday, high of 40F. Saturday, high of 72F. Sunday, high of 35F with sleet. High of 44F today. Calling for almost 70F on Christmas... :confused:

 

[Empress]

Wish I could have been more help. MicroBacter has much more than just nitrifying bacteria in it which confuses the issue. Stability contains bacteria spores which have no problem with being frozen as opposed to Dr Tims which uses active bacteria.
I just wish I knew if I needed to stay warm or stay cool.. weather has been crazy. Friday, high of 40F. Saturday, high of 72F. Sunday, high of 35F with sleet. High of 44F today. Calling for almost 70F on Christmas... :confused:

Thanks for your help. Weather wise you got it easy. My pond is almost frozen over. My poor koi fishes. I'll be glad when spring gets here. Have a very Merry Christmas!![emoji319] And a wonderful New Year! Talk again soon.