Selling live bacteria (not bottled)

[Jordanlp]

I live in the U.K. and have been interestingly reading about a company that sell actual live nitrifying bacteria and was wondering if this has ever really been done before? There’s lots of debate on this forum about bottled bacteria and if it really works but this does seem different.

They grow the filter gunk in a bacterial digester and then ship it (like they would live fish) in either pouches or added to sponge filters and claim an instant cycle. I know of companies in the US that ship matured sponge filters, but I’d assume these have been exposed to fish and therefore risk diseases and contamination.

This company are a huge online seller of fish with a system containing thousands of tanks and they claim that in between different stocks of fish they sterilise each tank and simply add the gunk when adding new fish. The obvious downfall is a lack of a shelf life, they say 48 hours.

thought it would be at least an interesting topic as the thought of an ‘instant cycle’ is often deemed as impossible.

Nitrico - Pages

 

[FinalFins]

Looking at their products, it seems they sell what sounds like filter gunk and actual matured filter.

For the latter, it is no different from taking some matured media from your own tank, if you run separate systems, and moving it into another tank. In theory this is an instant cycle, but it does take a bit for the bacteria to get up to speed especially if you have a large stocking. What they are doing is just shipping the matured media to you if you don't have it.

Their goop pouch sounds like a bunch of filter gunk they collect and ship off. I'm not sure what to think of it. It probably does have quite a bit of nitrifying bacteria.

 

[Azedenkae]

I live in the U.K. and have been interestingly reading about a company that sell actual live nitrifying bacteria and was wondering if this has ever really been done before? There’s lots of debate on this forum about bottled bacteria and if it really works but this does seem different.

They grow the filter gunk in a bacterial digester and then ship it (like they would live fish) in either pouches or added to sponge filters and claim an instant cycle. I know of companies in the US that ship matured sponge filters, but I’d assume these have been exposed to fish and therefore risk diseases and contamination.

This company are a huge online seller of fish with a system containing thousands of tanks and they claim that in between different stocks of fish they sterilise each tank and simply add the gunk when adding new fish. The obvious downfall is a lack of a shelf life, they say 48 hours.

thought it would be at least an interesting topic as the thought of an ‘instant cycle’ is often deemed as impossible.

Nitrico - Pages

If the shelf life is only 48 hours then I would highly doubt it is actual nitrifying bacteria. They are known to go for weeks to months starved of ammonia before even going dormant. So if it's two days and they already go dormant or die off or whatever... that's a red flag.

 

[Jordanlp]

Looking at their products, it seems they sell what sounds like filter gunk and actual matured filter.

For the latter, it is no different from taking some matured media from your own tank, if you run separate systems, and moving it into another tank. In theory this is an instant cycle, but it does take a bit for the bacteria to get up to speed especially if you have a large stocking. What they are doing is just shipping the matured media to you if you don't have it.

Their goop pouch sounds like a bunch of filter gunk they collect and ship off. I'm not sure what to think of it. It probably does have quite a bit of nitrifying bacteria.

From what I can tell it is exactly that, filter gunk but why they’re saying is different from simply taking mature media in this situation is that it’s made in a reactor, not a tank and therefore no contact with fish eliminating any chance of disease or anything else that can be passed on from swapping things from different tanks.

If the shelf life is only 48 hours then I would highly doubt it is actual nitrifying bacteria. They are known to go for weeks to months starved of ammonia before even going dormant. So if it's two days and they already go dormant or die off or whatever... that's a red flag.

I’ve just checked on the FAQ and they actually recommend using it with 72 hours, not 48, but that wouldn’t make any difference if it should last for weeks.

As I understand it nitrifying bacteria is very resilient, and like you say maybe in water could go without an ammonia source for a period of time, but you’d be asking a lot of taking a mature filter out of a tank for weeks on end and expecting it to function no? From what I can gather this is exactly that, a mature filter or filter gunk, just made in a reactor not a fish tank.

 

[Azedenkae]

I’ve just checked on the FAQ and they actually recommend using it with 72 hours, not 48, but that wouldn’t make any difference if it should last for weeks.

As I understand it nitrifying bacteria is very resilient, and like you say maybe in water could go without an ammonia source for a period of time, but you’d be asking a lot of taking a mature filter out of a tank for weeks on end and expecting it to function no? From what I can gather this is exactly that, a mature filter or filter gunk, just made in a reactor not a fish tank.

With their Bacterial Goop product, it seems like the bacteria is shipped in liquid, so yeah definitely reg flag there.

For their pre-matured aquarium filters - I guess it would depend on how long it takes for them to ship to their final destination I guess, and if they'd be stored in water.

Ironically lol, that for these kind of products a lack of a long shelf life would be a red flag. But yeah. I would definitely be keen to know more though. There are a lot of types of nitrifiers out there. Who knows, perhaps they have one that are not as resilient as others and die off quite quickly. My only fear is that they are not shipping true nitrifiers, but rather non-nitrifying heterotrophs that consume ammonia as a nitrogen source, rather than an energy source. But hopefully they are not doing that, on purpose or otherwise.

 

[Flyfisha]

I don’t mean to run down a company that has a great product but one could replace the word reactor or bacteria digester for “bucket with an air stone “ and someone putting ammonia in it often .

I have no doubt it was originally the real bacteria from a fish tank. We all know parasites etc die out without a fish host so by now it’s completely safe.

A local shop moved premises with undergravel filters. The gravel was only what I call damp without being covered in water. After three weeks the damp gravel was used and fish were added immediately.

 

[FishDin]

It would be good to hear the company's response to the comments here. Hopefully they would welcome the questions and give us more details. For example, do they include organisms that will cycle the tank at pH 6.2 as well as 8.0? Or they could be like Seachem, and say "$orry, you just have to trust us."

I bought a cycled sponge filter once. I got it from a discus breeder. Worked as advertised, but these days, I wouldn't bother. I honestly can'y remember why I bought it. I'm guessing it was due to my impatience.

 

[Azedenkae]

It would be good to hear the company's response to the comments here. Hopefully they would welcome the questions and give us more details. For example, do they include organisms that will cycle the tank at pH 6.2 as well as 8.0? Or they could be like Seachem, and say "$orry, you just have to trust us."

I bought a cycled sponge filter once. I got it from a discus breeder. Worked as advertised, but these days, I wouldn't bother. I honestly can'y remember why I bought it. I'm guessing it was due to my impatience.

That would be cool for sure, to see their response.

Anyone want to be the middle-person to collate our questions and then contact the company?

 

[DoubleDutch]

Isn't it a great idea to make money out of a natural process that takes place in all our tanks if we had the patience to wait a few weeks to add fish and cycle the tank.

Making a profit out of impatience hahaha.

The usage in a shop itself I get btw and isn't a bad idea at all.