The Use of Probiotics in Aquaculture

[Charney]

sorry coming into this conversation late. very interested in the http://www.bactri.com/products.html products.
I saw discussion of the bactri pond which is meant to trap excessive nutrients to control algae.
anyone look into the bactri pit which is meant for manure pits to facilitate the break down of solid and liquid waste?
sorry if this conversation has already been covered. if so please direct me the post. thank you

 

[RD.]

I haven't seen it sold locally, and it sounds like it is sold in bulk liquid, so not quite as inviting from my perspective.

I wanted to add, bactri pond doesn't just entrap excessive nutrients, according to the manufacturers it's designed to consume nitrogen, phosphorus, and "other" chemicals. So it's exact manner of reduction in organics may be different than their pit formula, but the end result in an aquarium are probably very similar. For what it's worth I have personally found a good balance between using Bactri-pond, and Septobac.

I still perform massive weekly water changes in my tanks, but the filter cleaning can be stretched out a lot further than prior to using these products.

 

[Matt68046]

I don't want to downgrade your post, as you ovbiously know way more than me about this, but isnt a fish tank LOADED with pro-biotics? We talk about "Benifical bacteria" why should we need to mix bactillus in food, the fish are literally swimming in it all day and grazing on it (getting it in their gut) as they graze the gravel.
Im not tryn to argue or be a smart ass, im just wondering how this "probiotic" is any better than what they are already surrounded by???
Could i just soak some food in stress zyme?
Mix the filter material in a bucket of water and pour it back into the tank and they go around eating and pooping it out, what is the diffrence in the stuff your talking about as opposed to this natural nitrifying bacteria?

 

[Hendre]

Normal beneficial bacteria won't give direct benefit to fish gut health and all that. These probiotics are designed to decompose solid waste and outcompete harmful bacteria if I recall correctly.

 

[skjl47]

isnt a fish tank LOADED with pro-biotics? We talk about "Benifical bacteria" why should we need to mix bactillus in food,

Hello; I do not have extensive experience with these "probiotics" in an aquarium but let me chime in anyway.
My take is that yes there are the "beneficial" bacteria strains we hope to cultivate for dealing with ammonia and nitrites. There are many other bacteria strains in an aquarium, some good to have, others cause problems such as cyanobacter. I figure there are many others somewhere in the middle neither hurting nor helping much.

All tanks with living things will generate organic waste materials. Excess food bits, fish poo which may retain some organic material due to less than 100% digestive efficiency in animals. Plant parts in a planted tank. Algae that may be scrapped off glass which winds up trapped in a filter.

These bits of organic "detritus" wind up in the filter or in the substrate and other nooks. Nature will provide decay organisms including bacteria and the stuff will rot wherever it happens to be. We might get lucky and have the ideal types of decay organisms drift into out tanks. May be that most of us do not get that ideal group of better decay types.

A septic tank has much the same situation as the rotting organics in a tank. When I talk to folks about the RID_X I put into my septic tank, some retort "just take a dump and the bacteria will be added that way."
My take is the folks at RID_X and the other such places have put together a mix of bacteria and "enzymes" more closely tailored to the job of reducing organics in waste. For me that means I have to have my septic pumped out much less often as the residual solids are fewer. I think the principal is much the same in an aquarium.

 

[RD.]

Post # 384 kind of says it all ......

 

[Matt68046]

SO your saying that your theory is that probiotics help brake down the nitrogen cycle like it would in nature, to the extent that there is not an excess of mulm and nitrates? I thought you were talking like probiotic food? Are you talking feeding the fish makes their poop more "brake-downable" ??? Intersted, serious guy here, not arguing...

 

[RD.]

I think that you need to go back to the beginning of this thread, and start there. Long read, but I don't feel like rehashing the entire discussion.

 

[duanes]

Probiotic really has nothing directly to do with food, and although they can aid in the nitrogen cycle, that's not the main point.
Probiotic in aquaria is the addition of certain strains of bacteria that help break down mulm, and....outcompete bacteria that can become either pathogenic, or just plain bad for the tank..
It is similar to adding certain strains of microorganisms to cheese or yogurt to help the product become the type desired. If other type proliferate, the product may be ruined.
Or adding microorganisms to beer to help make beer what it is.
Often times in aquariums certain none-desirable bacteria can proliferate making conditions bad for fish. Cyanobacteria, or disease causing strains.
These bacteria in Rid X and other products are grown to keep the process balanced in the favor of desirable strains.

 

[Matt68046]

i understand that, but from what ive heard about "probiotics" would mean adding them to feed.
Should i just go out and buy some stress zyme and dose my tanks more often?