PNSB phosphate testing

[cwills75]

I picked up these four brands of PNSB (Purple Non Sulfur Bacteria) to try on my tank to add some bacterial biodiversity. I was rotating donating the recommended dosage between products and looked for changes. After only a few days of dosing, I noticed a couple of my torch corals were somewhat retracted and I was getting some diatom growth I wasn't previously. I test my phosphate levels bi-weekly and upon checking they were skyrocketed after normally being stable around 0.02ppm.

At that point I stopped dosing all of these and started some testing. I mixed up five gallons of RO/DI saltwater and split it into five separate batches. I then added the manufacturer's recommended dose to each one and tested the phosphate levels of each, along with the gallon with no PNSB. The results were the following:

Control (No PNSB) - 0 ppm phosphate
Seachem Pristine - 0 ppm phosphate
PNS Probio - 0 ppm phosphate
Microbe-Lift Special Blend - 0 ppm phosphate
Brightwell MicroBacter Purple M - 0.09198 ppm phosphate

After getting my phosphate levels back under control everything started looking normal again. I know the Purple M is pretty new to the market and all of these products have different blends of bacteria and other additives. Pristine and Purple M are pretty odorless, for example, and PNS Probio smells horrible, but Microbe-Lift takes the cake and just opening the bottle can make your house smell like raw sewage for hours.

I'm not going to get into all of the claims these products make, whether they work or not or just snake oil, but Purple M does specifically say this:

"Brightwell Aquatics MicrōBacter PURPLE M reduces the concentrations of organic nitrogen, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, and organic carbon in all marine and reef ecosystems, leading to greatly improved water quality; better water quality typically leads to healthier aquarium inhabitants."

I have not noticed an increase of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate with using any of these products, but the results on my tank and the direct test results were pretty obvious to me that adding the recommended dosage of 1.25ml/gallon did not do anything to reduce my phosphate levels and in fact, raised them significantly.

I think I'm going to add the remaining three products to see if/how the tank reacts without the boost in phosphate. Just thought I'd throw this out there in case anyone was considering using Purple M, you might want to keep a close eye on your levels if you do.

 

[Rocks reef]

Nice write up and comparison, thank you for sharing this.

 

[cwills75]

Someone else mentioned to me that they don't know if Seachem Pristine actually has any PNSB in it or not as it's not listed on their site, and they don't list what bacteria are in it, so take that one with a grain of salt as a freshwater/saltwater "sludge remover" that purportedly breaks down nutrients including nitrate in low oxygen environments. If anybody has any specifics of the bacteria in this product, let us know. Seachem lists them as:

"The species of bacteria in Pristine™ are a unique blend, specifically developed for hardiness and their ability to adapt to a wide variety of environmental conditions."

I originally thought they were PNSB as that's what my LFS owner told me when I was trying to pickup some of these products, and Google's AI says it does, but I'm now thinking that may be wrong.

 

[Rocks reef]

Well, those AI programs only take other peoples responses. The AI can't "think" for itself.
However, there is a guy on here goes by Telegraham. He does a lot of product analysis.
I'd be skeptical if there is PNS in Pristine. What color is the product?

 

[Rocks reef]

By the way, I see your posts on Euphyllia Kings and you have some great info man!

 

[cwills75]

Well, those AI programs only take other peoples responses. The AI can't "think" for itself.
However, there is a guy on here goes by Telegraham. He does a lot of product analysis.
I'd be skeptical if there is PNS in Pristine. What color is the product?

It's clear and has no odor, so I'm guessing not.

 

[spicymikey]

Here is my post in a related thread. You might find it interesting.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/microbacter-purple.1102172/post-13650560