wasp Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Well OK it's published by a manufacturer of a bacterial formulation to the aquarium trade (ie it's an advertisement), but contains some interesting information all the same. http://www.bioconlabs.com/nitribactfacts.html Summary of the important stuff:- Firstly, it is a fact that some bacteria are WAY more efficient than others. These are the ones we need to promote. From the article QUOTE "Nitrifying bacteria have long generation times due to the low energy yield from their oxidation reactions. Since little energy is produced from these reactions they have evolved to become extremely efficient at converting ammonia and nitrite. Scientific studies have shown that Nitrosomonas bacterium are so efficient that a single cell can convert ammonia at a rate that would require up to one million heterotrophs to accomplish. Most of their energy production (80%) is devoted to fixing CO2 via the Calvin cycle and little energy remains for growth and reproduction. As a consequence, they have a very slow reproductive rate". Also, I have wondered why we have to dose bacteria, when the aquarium is no doubt already loaded with them. Finally answered. Seems the most efficient bacteria are also the slowest to reproduce, and are rapidly overwhelmed by not so efficient bacteria. From the article QUOTE "Under optimal conditions, Nitrosomonas may double every 7 hours and Nitrobacter every 13 hours. More realistically, they will double every 15-20 hours. This is an extremely long time considering that heterotrophic bacteria can double in as short a time as 20 minutes. In the time that it takes a single Nitrosomonas cell to double in population, a single E. Coli bacterium would have produced a population exceeding 35 trillion cells". Seems also, we need to nurture our best bacteria, their hold in our aquarium might be tenuous. From the article QUOTE "None of the Nitrobacteraceae are able to form spores. They have a complex cytomembrane (cell wall) that is surrounded by a slime matrix. All species have limited tolerance ranges and are individually sensitive to pH, dissolved oxygen levels, salt, temperature, and inhibitory chemicals. Unlike species of heterotrophic bacteria, they cannot survive any drying process without killing the organism. In water, they can survive short periods of adverse conditions by utilizing stored materials within the cell. When these materials are depleted, the bacteria die". So to the final point, these desireable bacteria cannot form spores. So when we stock our tank with dried liverock, we get a host of other bacteria that have formed spores in the dried rock, but NON of the autotrophic marine adapted nitrosomanas. The only sure way to get them is we HAVE to dose them, or miss out. Just for completeness, I am going to add that there are several bacterial dosing formulations on the market in NZ, among them Prodibio, Zeovit, and a new product called TLC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 I didn't know TLC did a bacteria range? Do you know who sells them Wasp? I have been wanting to start Zeovit but I feed heavily... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Didn't want to breach any rules so I pm'd you. Also, if you do give this a try I would be interested to hear your thoughts in due course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Is it the TLC Marine SAT in the red bottle? quite cheap aye. Might talk to Michael at PetPlanet. Quite cheap and looks like only one part- unlike the other brands which have lots of different parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Yes, that's the specialists hair algae killing one, and there is also a more general one, presumably more emphasis on the nitrogen cycle. Cheap? All depends how much you have to put in the tank. The Zeovit one is 30 bucks for 10 mls, but I only dose 4 drops a week. If you try the TLC one let me know how it goes, both results, and price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 I think I will try it aye. Thanks Alistair. BTW all the corals you gave me are doing well. That small blue/green acro frag you gave me has not really coloured up really so I have moved it slightly higher to see how it goes. The pink cats-paw coral browned out a bit but is now bright pink- Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Nice wasp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Thanks Reef David good to hear that cats paw came back, a very pretty coral. That other one you mention, the parent colony is directly under a 400 watt halide & likes it & has good colour, so I'd say lots of light for it. I've heard from others with the same coral that it's a difficult one, but when it looks good, it looks Good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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