Microbacter7 - does it actually do anything?

[DmitryB]

So is there any kind of consensus about a product like Microbacter7? We all know what Brightwell claims, but have there been any "studies" on whether this does anything at all? Is it worth to keep spending money or is it just a false sense of security? It's hard to prove a negative, but has anybody really seen a positive? I can't quite tell, to be frank, and that money could be spent on something else, right?

 

[exnisstech]

I can only say when I stopped using it nothing changed in the tank that I could see. It may be useful during and shorty after cycling but I don't feel the need to add bottled bacteria after that. I've ran enough tanks to know it's not needed. Maybe it's beneficial maybe not. There have been several people that have tested various bottled bacteria and posted here. I've only skimmed a few threads but didn't read anything that convinced me there was any reason for me to continue using it.

 

[JonasRoman]

So is there any kind of consensus about a product like Microbacter7? We all know what Brightwell claims, but have there been any "studies" on whether this does anything at all? Is it worth to keep spending money or is it just a false sense of security? It's hard to prove a negative, but has anybody really seen a positive? I can't quite tell, to be frank, and that money could be spent on something else, right?

My view of this is that all such additions are in most cases totally pointless. Only exception is in the beginning of a tank, where addition of bacteria may speed up mature process some.
I work with human biology (surgeon) and there is absolutely no evidence at all of any kind that dosing "good" bacteria can compete out bad ones or cure any diseases. We have antibiotics for that...
Also, I have seen studies of those products with an extremely variation of what it really contains...not what the bottle promise.
I do not think it hurts though, but in most cases probaly waste of money.

Jonas

 

[Dan_P]

If you go by the outrageous claims test, you would be right in calling BS on bacteria additives, the probiotics of the hobby world. While the premise of altering the bacteria population’s metabolic capabilities to deal with an aquarium “condition”, bottled bacteria suppliers fail to explain what capabilities your system will gain and most importantly utterly fail to guarantee that the bottled bacteria even contains bacteria with that capability. You will also have noticed, bottled bacteria suppliers never provide any proof that the product works. Just based on the lack of information about bottled bacteria, you might choose not to touch it with a 10 foot barge pole.

There might be a benefit of adding a specific bacteria genus to deal with a “condition”, like when @Randy Holmes-Farley added purple bacteria to discourage cyanobacteria growth. I don’t doubt that this was also a waste of money but at least the rational was more defensible than believing a manufacturer’s outrageous claims.

There is anecdotal evidence that bottled bacteria have an effect, but never any proof that the effect would not have been observed after dosing just the sterile liquid.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I'm in the snake oil camp too. Bottled bacteria can never compare to real bacteria. Just add a new coral to your tank, its the best and most fun way to add multitudes of new and different bacteria and biodiversity to your tank.

 

[Michael Hughes]

I haven't used microbacter 7, and probably never will as I generally agree with the consensus above.

But I will say that I skeptically dosed MicrobacterClean to see what would happen with a bad cyanobacteria outbreak I had been dealing with.

The theory here is that the bacteria in MicroBacter clean theoretically colonize the same surfaces as cyanobacteria, thus preventing them from growing on those surfaces. I'd seen repeated anecdotal cases on R2R of this helping. I tried it out of curiosity, not expecting much to happen. Within a few weeks the cyano was completely gone and has never returned.

I'm not saying bottled bacteria is a cure-all, just that in this specific case, it really did seem to outcompete the cyano.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

the only bottled bacteria i trust are the ones that are kept cold like fritz turbo. I have used clean as well and it seemed to work well for my first cyano problem but not my second one.

 

[exnisstech]

I haven't used microbacter 7, and probably never will as I generally agree with the consensus above.

But I will say that I skeptically dosed MicrobacterClean to see what would happen with a bad cyanobacteria outbreak I had been dealing with.

The theory here is that the bacteria in MicroBacter clean theoretically colonize the same surfaces as cyanobacteria, thus preventing them from growing on those surfaces. I'd seen repeated anecdotal cases on R2R of this helping. I tried it out of curiosity, not expecting much to happen. Within a few weeks the cyano was completely gone and has never returned.

I'm not saying bottled bacteria is a cure-all, just that in this specific case, it really did seem to outcompete the cyano.

This is worth a try I would say. Hopefully I won't need it but based on your results. I'd be willing to try it. Did you notice any negatives? I've uses chemiclean in the past for cyano and ended up with GHA. Not sure if it was coincidental or if the chemiclean killed some good stuff that had been out competing the GHA before.

 

[DmitryB]

I think when there's a problem to be fixed, anything is worth a try! But it does seem that as general dosing, Microbacter7 seems useless.

 

[Reef Jedi]

I've uses chemiclean in the past for cyano and ended up with GHA. Not sure if it was coincidental or if the chemiclean killed some good stuff that had been out competing the GHA before.

Every time I’ve used it I’ve ended up in this camp also. I think it not only attacks cyano bacteria but some beneficial as well. Then, I think with out a couple sufficient w/c after treatment it allows the build up of bacteria to then fuel GHA. Just my experience and speculations. But in all honesty I’d rather the small GHA outbreak after vs the cyano. So I still use it if ever needed.

 

[Michael Hughes]

This is worth a try I would say. Hopefully I won't need it but based on your results.is be willing to try it. Did you notice any negatives? I've uses chemiclean in the past for cyano and ended up with GHA. Not sure if it was coincidental or if the chemiclean killed some good stuff that had been out competing the GHA before.

I agree it's worth a try. Didn't notice any negatives, but I did dose quite a bit less than the recommended amount on the bottle.

One thing I will caution is to make sure the factory seal is intact if ordering online. The first bottle from Amazon had a factory seal, and it produced the results above. The liquid inside was cloudy and smelled of bacteria (which is a good thing). The second bottle - from a different vendor on Amazon - came with no factory seal. The liquid was not cloudy and had no smell. I'd heard of cases where people use a product, refill it with water, then return it. I suspect that was the case here. I'm guessing it was just water, but didn't trust it enough to put it in the tank.

This is not a reflection of the product itself, just a caution if ordering online.

 

[slingfox]

I am not a fan of Microbacter7 (I purchased hundreds of dollars worth during my first year in the hobby so I have tested it extensively!), but I do keep other bottled bacteria on hand, mostly notably MicrobeLift Special Blend.

I don’t don’t bottled bacteria regularly but there is little to no harm in doing so.

I use bottled bacteria primarily for two purposes 1) when I have some uglies issue such as Dino’s the bottled bacteria is one of the tools I used to tip the microbial balance away from the uglies, and 2) when I restart my QT tank to quarantine new livestock the bottled bacteria is very useful to keep ammonia within check during the first week when nitrifying bacteria is repopulating the tank surfaces.

These bottled bacteria definitely do something. Whether it is from the microbes in the bottles or whether it is the food in the bottled feeding the microbes in your tank is up for debate, but something happens if you dose enough. If you want to test this out on your tank, dose 2x the recommended dosage of MicroBacter Clean (not Microbacter7) on your tank and see what happens!

 

[exnisstech]

I agree it's worth a try. Didn't notice any negatives, but I did dose quite a bit less than the recommended amount on the bottle.

One thing I will caution is to make sure the factory seal is intact if ordering online. The first bottle from Amazon had a factory seal, and it produced the results above. The liquid inside was cloudy and smelled of bacteria (which is a good thing). The second bottle - from a different vendor on Amazon - came with no factory seal. The liquid was not cloudy and had no smell. I'd heard of cases where people use a product, refill it with water, then return it. I suspect that was the case here. I'm guessing it was just water, but didn't trust it enough to put it in the tank.

This is not a reflection of the product itself, just a caution if ordering online.

Ya I don't issues buy chemicals on Amazon for that reason other than powder to make nitrate or phosphate. I've read too many reports of possible counter fit products.