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Here's Group 3 data.
I'm really enjoying how many different cycling curve shapes I'm getting from the different nitrifying products.
Group 3 Total Ammonia and Nitrite
Fritz Turbo start, and Caribsea Ocean Direct responded to ammonia-only quickly and cleared it in about the same time, but the sand started slower and sped up while fritz slowed way down at the very end after the fastest initial activity - note how the curve really flattens compared to the live sand.
On NO2, the sand cleared it shortly after clearing ammonia, while Fritz was much slower on NO2 oxidation and there was still trace amount at 34 days, with a slowing consumption of nitrite as well.
The negative controls of "sterilized" and Tank water did precisely nothing to ammonia over the 33 days, and MB7 and PNS substrate sauce looked like the do-nothings.
Group 3 Final Nitrate and pH
Both Fritz and Caribsea OceanDirect had measured final NO3 that were in agreement with classic nitrification - the amount of NO3 produced is within error of what would be expected from total conversion of all ammonia to NO3.
The pH shows the same 2 products as being active as the ammonia & NO2 data: Caribsea OceanDirect sand and Fritz all had clear downward pH trends during the nitrification.
Commentary
A couple more non-responders in this group - MB7 and PNS substrate sauce join the non-responder products from earlier rounds: API Quick Start and Seachem Stability as products that do not seem to activate under the restrictive conditions of just ammonia and moving water in the dark. The Live Sands continue to impress - I'm going to drop the air quote "Live sand" from now on, all 3 live sand products available locally processed ammonia and nitrite in textbook fashion. Ocean Direct was a bit faster than Caribsea's other sand product arag-alive. In fact, only Biospira cleared ammonia+nitrite faster than OceanDirect. Fritz turbostart did what it is known for - extremely rapid immediate ammonia oxidiation. It seems to lose interest little bit as the ammonia levels get really low. I expected this from heterotrophs, but apparently Fritz is a type of nitrifier that really excels at high ammonia levels, but isn't so active against low levels. Fun thought: if you take Randy's suggestion to heart - that nitrifiers represent a competitor to coral nutrition and should be viewed as "bad guys" in an established reef tank, then this behavior from Fritz may actually be just what you want: aggressive against high levels, but doesn't care about low levels of ammonia, leaving it for corals. (I don't agree with the "bad guy" premise, but that's a diff thread). This slow-down of Fritz turbostart for low-level ammonia and nitrite was also observed by @Dan_P a couple of years ago. We might also speculate that if it's very slow in uptake against the low levels in a reef tank, it's highly likely that it eventually fades to nothing and other strains replace it over time. Other true nitrifier products measured so far did not indicate any notable slow-down at low concentrations.
I'm a bit surprised at the number of people in threads who use MB7 as cycling bacteria (BRS apparently promoted it for that purpose in videos?), but I'm confident it's one of the heterotroph types, and so addition of food later should be much more illuminating.
I'm really enjoying how many different cycling curve shapes I'm getting from the different nitrifying products.
Group 3 Total Ammonia and Nitrite
Fritz Turbo start, and Caribsea Ocean Direct responded to ammonia-only quickly and cleared it in about the same time, but the sand started slower and sped up while fritz slowed way down at the very end after the fastest initial activity - note how the curve really flattens compared to the live sand.
On NO2, the sand cleared it shortly after clearing ammonia, while Fritz was much slower on NO2 oxidation and there was still trace amount at 34 days, with a slowing consumption of nitrite as well.
The negative controls of "sterilized" and Tank water did precisely nothing to ammonia over the 33 days, and MB7 and PNS substrate sauce looked like the do-nothings.
Group 3 Final Nitrate and pH
Both Fritz and Caribsea OceanDirect had measured final NO3 that were in agreement with classic nitrification - the amount of NO3 produced is within error of what would be expected from total conversion of all ammonia to NO3.
The pH shows the same 2 products as being active as the ammonia & NO2 data: Caribsea OceanDirect sand and Fritz all had clear downward pH trends during the nitrification.
Commentary
A couple more non-responders in this group - MB7 and PNS substrate sauce join the non-responder products from earlier rounds: API Quick Start and Seachem Stability as products that do not seem to activate under the restrictive conditions of just ammonia and moving water in the dark. The Live Sands continue to impress - I'm going to drop the air quote "Live sand" from now on, all 3 live sand products available locally processed ammonia and nitrite in textbook fashion. Ocean Direct was a bit faster than Caribsea's other sand product arag-alive. In fact, only Biospira cleared ammonia+nitrite faster than OceanDirect. Fritz turbostart did what it is known for - extremely rapid immediate ammonia oxidiation. It seems to lose interest little bit as the ammonia levels get really low. I expected this from heterotrophs, but apparently Fritz is a type of nitrifier that really excels at high ammonia levels, but isn't so active against low levels. Fun thought: if you take Randy's suggestion to heart - that nitrifiers represent a competitor to coral nutrition and should be viewed as "bad guys" in an established reef tank, then this behavior from Fritz may actually be just what you want: aggressive against high levels, but doesn't care about low levels of ammonia, leaving it for corals. (I don't agree with the "bad guy" premise, but that's a diff thread). This slow-down of Fritz turbostart for low-level ammonia and nitrite was also observed by @Dan_P a couple of years ago. We might also speculate that if it's very slow in uptake against the low levels in a reef tank, it's highly likely that it eventually fades to nothing and other strains replace it over time. Other true nitrifier products measured so far did not indicate any notable slow-down at low concentrations.
I'm a bit surprised at the number of people in threads who use MB7 as cycling bacteria (BRS apparently promoted it for that purpose in videos?), but I'm confident it's one of the heterotroph types, and so addition of food later should be much more illuminating.